Policy Advisor

**About the Department**

The role of the Department of Education is to support Victorians to build prosperous, socially engaged, happy and healthy lives. It does this by supporting lifelong learning and healthy development, strengthening families and helping to equip people with the skills and knowledge for a 21st century economy and society.

**About the Division**
- based programs. The Division also plans and co-ordinates delivery of new early childhood facilities and support for the wider early childhood sector to build, improve and upgrade infrastructure through a number of grants programs, including programs which provide funding to make kindergartens for inclusive for children of all abilities.

The Sector Partnerships & Grants branch supports the planning and coordination for the delivery of infrastructure needed for the successful implementation of the Three-Year-Old Kindergarten and Pre-Prep reforms. To support this work, the branch delivers a number of grant programs to the early childhood and non-government schools sectors. Grants available to the sector plan and build new kindergartens, as well as maintain, improve and upgrade existing infrastructure. This work is also undertaken in partnership with the sector to develop pipelines of kindergarten capacity-building projects through Building Blocks Partnerships. The Sector Partnerships & Grants branch also supports the non-government school sector to deliver the 21st century learning facilities that every student deserves. The branch delivers grants to low-fee Catholic and independent schools to expand and upgrade existing schools, as well as to plan and build new non-government schools across the state.

The Grants Unit sits within the Sector Partnerships Branch. This team administers the Building Blocks grants program and supports the Building Blocks Partnerships and Modular teams to help plan to deliver grants which support the sector to build new kindergartens or expand and improve existing kindergartens.

**About the Role**

**This is a fixed term full time role until 30th June 2026.**

Working as an integral member of the Capacity Stream, Early Childhood Grants Team, the position will work closely and collaboratively as part of a team responsible for the implementation of the infrastructure component of the Three-Year-Old Kindergarten implementation reform and the Best Start, Best Life reform program.

The Policy Advisor/Officer supports the effective administration of VSBA's Building Blocks Grants Program, working across its entire life cycle (from inception, launch, and assessment through to making payments, responding to enquiries, and assisting with monitoring the delivery of projects that have been awarded grants).In consultation with Senior Project Officers, and with reference to VSBA framework of grants-related policies and procedures, the Policy Officer is responsible for supporting the effective operation and on-going development of VSBA's Building Blocks Grants Programs by:

- Advising key stakeholders on the processes and requirements that underpin the allocation and administration of the Building Blocks Improvement Grants stream.
- Providing information and guidance to stakeholders which assists them in understanding the reporting obligations associated with funding allocation(s).
- Contributing to the preparation of accurate and informative briefing papers and media releases relating to the operation of the Building Blocks Improvement Grants stream.
- Maintaining data/information management systems (VSBA currently use SmartyGrants, iTwocx, and Aconex) to ensure the accuracy and currency of information.

All VSBA staff have a shared responsibility to meet the same service standards outlined in the _VSBA Customer Service Charter_. Our goal is to make every interaction with the VSBA a positive one for our customers, colleagues and key partners regardless of our individual role or team.

**Attributes**

**Desirable **Qualifications and Experience**
- Desirable: Bachelor's degree any discipline

**Further Information**

Applicants requiring adjustments can contact the nominated contact person.

**Applications close** 11:59pm on Wednesday 11th December 2024.