Job Description
About the Department of Education Victoria.
The department is responsible for delivering and regulating state-wide learning and development services to approximately one-third of all Victorians across the early childhood and school education sectors.
It is also one of Victoria's biggest employers, with approximately 80,000 teaching staff and around 5,000 public service employees.
The Legal Division provides highly valued legal services to support the delivery of the department's strategic objectives, key reforms and to manage legal risk.
In doing so, Legal Division provides direct, practical and strategic legal advice to portfolio ministers, the secretary, other senior staff and over 1,600 Victorian government schools, supporting approximately over 650,000 Victorian Government school students.
Key Responsibilities
* Strategic procurement support in the preparation of grants, specific procurements of services, curriculum connected software and with ICT procurement for both the department and schools;
* Strategic support in relation to the procurement, negotiation and management of a broad range of contracts, service agreements, funding agreements and other commercial documents;
* Advice before going to the market, tailoring of standard documents to make them fit for purpose, supporting supplier selection through responding to requests for contract departures, assessment of any best and final offers, subsequent contract negotiation and drafting, and consequential contract management (primarily in relation to disputes).
A focus of the role is advising the department and schools on legal risk management and ensuring contracts used by the department and schools support compliance with applicable policy, standards and laws of relevance to the department and schools, especially privacy, data protection and child safety.
Main Objectives
* To support the Principal Lawyer and Managers of the Commercial Law Unit and the Director of the branch to achieve the unit's and branch's objectives by being a senior technical expert and a leader in Commercial Law in accordance with the department's values and objectives.
* To provide specialist technical and strategic legal advice in the areas of law relevant to the work of the Commercial Law Unit, with particular focus on funding and procurement activity that complies with department policy and supports specific department education programs and initiatives, enterprise wide procurement, supporting commercial activities of Victorian government Schools, and for settling and supervising the work of other lawyers and law clerks in the team.