Senior Policy Officer                 

• Salary: $113,022 - $136,747 (Plus Superannuation)
• Ongoing position
• Usual hours of work: Full time (flexibility may be available)
• Usual work location: 121 Exhibition Street, Melbourne VIC 3000 (flexibility may be available)

The Role

We are seeking a motivated and analytically strong Senior Policy Officer with a solid grounding in economics or a related discipline, and a passion for informing public policy. The ideal candidate will bring excellent problem-solving and communication skills, and the ability to clearly translate complex insights for non-technical audiences.

The Senior Policy Officer will join a high-performing multi-disciplinary team and have the opportunity to develop and influence the policy settings for Victoria's funded training system and the commissioning of training, along with system structure design for government funded Vocational Education and Training.

Main accountabilities:

• Formulates policy options and advice.
• Applies complex concepts to policy development or research.
• Develops briefs on highly complex issues that provide options for discussion and consideration and will contribute to the development of a set of final options for decision.
• Innovative thinking and analysis influences developments within area of responsibility.
• Negotiates with stakeholders and peers with the object of gaining co-operation and meeting timelines for delivery of project, service or advice.
• Advice and analysis influences policy development.

The Team

This position of Senior Policy Officer forms a part of the Policy and Strategy branch, in the Skills and TAFE (S&T) group. Skills and TAFE (S&T) group focuses on enabling Victorians to access the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to participate in today's workforce, prepare for future jobs, and achieve their educational aspirations.

Policy and Strategy Branch (PSB) leads the system and strategic policy settings of Victoria's vocational education and training (VET) system so that it delivers high quality outcomes for learners and the Victorian economy. PSB monitors VET system trends and performance and oversees its financial management. PSB works with the Commonwealth, state and territory governments and other stakeholders (including universities) to influence national reform across Australia's tertiary education system, encompassing both higher education and VET.

 About You

To be successful in this role, you would need to have the following main skills and experience:

• ​​Policy Design and Development: Formulates and communicates public policy options and recommendations; Develops a clear narrative for the policies and business cases including clear problem definition and objectives.
• Policy Design and Development: Considers impact of policy to strategic plans, community needs, complementing programs and policies across the service. 
• Project Delivery: Defines governance e.g. success measures, roles and responsibilities, progress monitoring) required to manage risks and maximise probability of success. 
• Communicate with Impact: Makes a positive impression on others and comes across with credibility; Communicates in a manner that is clear, fluent and holds the listeners' attention; Able to deal with difficult and sensitive topics and questions. 
• Stakeholder Engagement: Identifies and responds to stakeholder's underlying needs; Uses understanding of the stakeholder's organisational context to ensure outcomes are achieved.

Further Information

For a confidential discussion, please contact Nick MacArthur, Manager, Policy in the Commissioning Policy and Reform via email nick.macarthur@ecodev.vic.gov.au

The Department is committed to creating and maintaining a child safe organisation. We have zero tolerance of child abuse and are committed to taking the necessary steps to protect children from harm by adopting a preventative, proactive and participatory approach to child safety in accordance with the Child Safe Standards.

Successful candidates will be required to undergo a National Police Records Check prior to commencing employment with the Department. To be eligible for this position you must hold the mandatory qualification as outlined in the position description. For further information on the position, please refer to the attached position description.

For Finance Roles:

The Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry, and Regions is an accredited CPA Australia Recognised Employer Partner.

Please note: We are committed to inclusive recruitment. If you require an adjustment to participate in any stage of the recruitment process or have a particular requirement to be communicated with by either telephone or email only, please notify the DJSIR Talent Acquisition Team on 0472 875 685, or via email at recruitment@ecodev.vic.gov.au with the position number in the subject line.

How to Apply

Please click the ‘Apply Now' button. As part of the application process, you will need to provide a copy of your resume and a cover letter responding to the key selection criteria in no more than 2 pages.

Applications close at 23:59pm on 28 January 2026.