OHSMS Senior Officer

Shape the establishment, design and delivery of health, safety and wellbeing policies and services for the first ever Victorian Government owned and operated Early Learning and Childcare Centres, as part of the Best Start Best Life initiative. Join us in creating the culture of an exciting new team in the Department of Education and contribute to the establishment and operation of innovative, excellence-driven Early Learning and Childcare Centres.

This is a full time, two-year fixed term opportunity ending 30/06/2026

Are you looking to work on a new and exciting project and be part of a positive and dynamic team? An exciting opportunity exists to apply for an ongoing role as VPS5 OHS Senior Officer in the Employee Safety Wellbeing and Inclusion Division.

This role will contribute to the establishment of 50 government-owned and operated, Early Learning and Childcare Centres. These centres will offer childcare, three and four-Year-Old Kindergarten and, where applicable, Pre-Prep. The first four will open in 2025, with all 50 opening by 2032. These Early Learning and Childcare Centres will have a positive impact on local children and their community.

This role will report to and work closely with the Manager, working in a project team responsible for establishing and monitoring the project, developing, and implementing health safety and wellbeing policies and promoting collaboration and engagement with other teams in the Division, other Divisions and external stakeholders.

This role is responsible for providing high level expertise and effective occupational health and safety (OHS) advice to develop and deliver high quality policies and programs to support the health and wellbeing of all Early Learning and Childcare Centres (ELCC) employees, and support workplace managers to create safe and healthy workplaces across Victoria.

In this role, you will have the opportunity to:

• Applying your skills to design, maintain and review the OHS Management System for Early Learning and Childcare Centres (ELCC)
• Developing prevention and capability policy and programs to improve the OHS and wellbeing of employees, influencing program design and implementation and informing decision making
• prevent against known and expected risks to health, safety and wellbeing
• Design OHS Assurance Program for ELCCs and assist with its implementation
• Oversee the contract management and promotion of key health, safety and wellbeing services such as Employee Wellbeing Support Services, Early Intervention Program and Proactive Wellbeing Support Program for ELCCs staff
• Progress and support workforce diversity and inclusion initiatives in ELCCs
• Assist with project management activities to enable effective service delivery
• Evaluating and analysing the effectiveness of OHS systems of work to enable continuous improvement
• Establishing and maintaining effective relationships with a diverse set of stakeholders
• Identifying and leveraging opportunities for innovation to promote better and more systematic business processes
• undertake OHS compliance and emergency management planning tasks in ELCCs, including tasks conducted in preparation for OHS Assurance assessments and implementing recommendations post audits.
• Build positive stakeholder relationships, strategic thinking and skilled problem-solving in a complex service delivery environment.
• promote and encourage the use of health, safety and wellbeing support services among ELCCs
• developing proactive and supportive communications for Victorian ELCCs on health, safety and wellbeing risks and supports available.

The successful candidate will be passionate about health and safety and experienced in OHS, project management and stakeholder consultation, and the ability to deve