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 Victorian School Building Authority

The Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA) is part of the Department of Education. Established in 2016, it oversees Victoria's largest school building program since the state introduced free public education in the 1870s. 

The VSBA upgrades and expands existing schools and plans, designs and builds new schools to meet enrolment demand. We also support schools to maintain their buildings and grounds by offering expert advice and coordinating maintenance programs and grants.  

With Victoria recently introducing two years of funded kindergarten, the VSBA is also working with the early childhood sector on a massive kindergarten construction program. 

About the Division

The Strategy and Planning Division is responsible for the VSBA's operating framework, investment strategy, policy setting, asset information management, budget strategy and coordination, along with the delivery of specific school strategies, costings, allocate resources for growth, maintenance, and projects through school application- 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.

Asset Strategy Branch

The Asset Strategy Branch sits within the Strategy and Planning Division in the VSBA. The Asset Strategy Branch is responsible for asset strategy and operating framework, investment strategy, policy setting, information management, budget strategy and coordination.

The Branch carries out activities such as developing business cases for the State Budget, developing and reviewing policies for school and early childhood learning asset management, and developing strategies to improve asset management practice and asset performance.

Evaluation and Analysis Unit (EAU)

The Evaluation and Analysis Unit (EAU) forms part of the Asset Strategy Branch of VSBA. The unit is responsible for leading the evaluation and analysis of asset related data for all Victorian government schools and establishing budgets and funding for these schools. This involves the analysis of all asset management data and school condition and building data from over 1,800 school campus sites in an asset portfolio of approximately $20 billion.

EAU provides a range of analyses to support core functions of the VSBA, including:

• examining building data for planning and delivering capital works projects for schools and kindergartens
• the development, implementation, and evaluation of VSBA initiatives such as Facility Area Schedules and Student Resource Package
• analysing capacity data for investment modelling for the annual state budget process
• analysing enrolment and building data for planning and delivering maintenance programs for school assets
• providing innovative visual and pictorial representation of data for various stakeholders. 

EAU advises on complex data management issues, including analysis and recommendations of asset management methodologies for assessing and evaluating the condition of the existing school portfolio.

About the Role

The Senior Data Advisor leads the delivery of analytical expertise to support informed decision-making and strategic initiatives, within the department. The incumbent will generate new insights from complex datasets, to build an understanding of system dynamics and model future scenarios.

The Senior Data Advisor operates as part of the team in the Evaluation and Analysis Unit (EAU) in the Asset strategy Branch responsible for managing the evaluation and analysis of asset related data from over 1,800 school campus sites, comprising an asset portfolio of approximately $20bn.

The Senior Data Advisor is responsible for analysing a range of data sets and producing reports, briefs, dashboards, insights and complimentary data sets to support development of strategies and systems designed to facilitate the effective analysis and use of school asset data. 

The data is used for a range of program and project related purposes including those relating to relocatable movements, financial reporting, school funding for upgrades, maintenance and cleaning services. The Senior Data Advisor actively works with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders and requires a high level of technical skills, professionalism, initiative and collaboration.

Key responsibilities of the role include:

• Developing, building and maintaining various data templates and reporting tools to enable and support analysis
• Develop implementation plans and frameworks for improving data quality and integrity, and translating these requirements to system modifications and improvements
• Manage a team of Senior Data Analysts in the extraction, cleansing, updating and analysis of multiple datasets and data models – internal and external to the unit
• Actively contribute to the continuous improvement of business processes and systems
• Analysing and assessing issues, identifying and recommending options through the application of appropriate research techniques and methodologies
• Translating business needs and operational requirements to data products and support the Senior Data Analysts within EAU to develop data analysis and outputs to support strategy and policy development
• Managing and developing asset based budgets and funding frameworks to support annual maintenance funding to schools
• Developing and managing the preparation of the team's strategic documents including the development, implementation and evaluation of VSBA initiatives such as Facility Area Schedules and Student Resource Package, including all budgeting and financial reporting
• Providing data analysis to inform a range of documentation, including reports, briefing notes, project proposals, correspondence and submissions for a range of stakeholders
• Managing and procuring external data, technical and asset experts to inform best practice and updates to asset maintenance and funding models and facility accommodation requirements

The EAU team is responsible for conducting a high volume of work within tight timelines and communicating with stakeholders on a regular basis. In addition to having proven specialist technical expertise in the data analytics field, the successful candidate will be able to demonstrate their capabilities in relation to building and maintaining effective stakeholder relationships, work planning, organisational skills and project management.

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

The ideal candidate will have a solid understanding of Building Quality Standards Handbook, policy development and management practices along with strong communication skills.

Desirable Qualifications and Experience

• Desirable: Tertiary qualification in Economics, Finance, Data Manipulation and Modelling, Data Analytics, Building, Facility Management or a related field.
• Desirable: Considerable/demonstrated experience in a similar role within government
• Further Information

For more details regarding this position please see attached position description for the capabilities to address in application.

The department values diversity and inclusion in all forms - gender, religion, ethnicity, LGBTIQ+, disability and neurodiversity. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. For more information about our work, working for the Department, diversity and inclusion, and our employment conditions visit the Department website and our Diversity and Inclusion page

Applicants requiring adjustments can contact the nominated contact person. David Makris - David.Makris@education.vic.gov.au.

Information about the Department of Education's operations and employment conditions can be located at www.education.vic.gov.au.

For further information pertaining to the role, please contact David Makris, Manager, Evaluation and Analysis Unit - via email (david.makris@education.vic.gov.au).

Preferred applicants may be required to complete a police check and may be subject to other pre-employment checks. Information provided to the Department of Education will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Please let us know via phone or email if you require any adjustments to ensure your full participation in the recruitment process or if you need the ad or any attachments in an accessible format (e.g large print) due to any viewing difficulties or other accessibility requirements.