Senior Project Officer

The Department of Health plays a critical role in the Victorian health system and is responsible for shaping it to meet the health needs of all Victorians. We’re focused on supporting Victorians to be as healthy as they can; whether through alerting them to seasonal risks like thunderstorm asthma, notifying them of contact with communicable diseases, safeguarding their drinking water, developing the best health, wellbeing and care facilities in the world, being at the forefront of mental health and wellbeing treatment or accelerating medical research. It’s all part of the way we partner with the community to help every individual lead a healthy life.

About the role:

The Senior Project Officer, Service System Design – Adult and Older Adult, fulfills a key role in the Community and Core Functions, Service System Design Team. A key focus for the Team in the immediate future is to continue to progress the design of community-based mental health and wellbeing services, in response to recommendations of the Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System. The objective of this work is to establish holistic services, delivered in community settings, near to where people live. To be successful in this role, you will be a high performing team member with strong policy development and systems thinking skills; complemented by superior communication, problem solving, and project management capabilities. You will also have experience in monitoring program budgets, analysis and presentation of data, and ability to work flexibly to respond to a range of emerging issues and evolving priorities.

About us:

At the Victorian Department of Health we want a future where Victorians are the healthiest people in the world. A Victoria where our children and people thrive, our workplaces are productive and safe, and our communities are more connected.

We see it as our job to support Victorians to stay healthy and safe. And to deliver a world-class healthcare system that ensures every single Victorian can access safe, quality care that leads to better health outcomes for all.

How you'll make a difference:

• Provide authoritative advice, reasoned recommendations and innovative solutions to complex and sensitive issues based on comprehensive research.
• Develop policy initiatives that meet government and departmental objectives within resourcing, timeline and budget parameters.
• Demonstrate how the actions and outcomes of this role and work unit impact clients and the department's ability to deliver, or facilitate the delivery of, effective support and services.
• Provide high quality policy advice, options and recommendations to senior management and government based on comprehensive research and analysis.
• Monitor and report on high priority issues, risks and trends and prepare and present reports, ministerial briefs, and Cabinet submissions.
• Manage key unit projects to include setting up, monitoring and managing contracts with external providers to ensure high quality outputs are delivered within agreed timeframes and budget and results can inform policy development.
• Represent the department on key stakeholder committees and groups concerned with achieving government and departmental objectives and contribute to relevant committee and governance processes.
• Forge strong connections across the department and with the health sector to share information and facilitate a partnership approach to implementation of key initiatives.
• Coordinate and develop complex briefing products for Cabinet, Ministerial, senior departmental executive and executive sector stakeholders.
• Work across multiple projects, including engaging with stakeholders, and working in multidiscipli