The Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions (DJSIR) is focused on growing Victoria’s prosperity, building the productive capacity of our economy and increasing participation – by creating more opportunities for people through skills and jobs; helping businesses and industries to thrive; and building vibrant communities and regions. For more information, see the DJSIR Strategic Plan 2023-2027.
Established on 1 January 2023, our work spans numerous portfolios, supporting departmental ministers and operating across metropolitan, regional and international offices. We oversee various public entities, including public corporations, regulatory authorities and specialist boards.
Our values are accountability, integrity and respect, and underpin everything we do. For more information about the department, please visit our website: www.DJSIR.vic.gov.au.
Program Manager (Tiny Towns)
- Salary: $113,022 - $136,747 (Plus superannuation)
- Fixed-Term position until 30 June 2026
- 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
As a Program Manager (Tiny Towns), you will play a key role in supporting the delivery and coordination of the Victorian Government's Tiny Towns initiative across Victoria.
The Victorian Government established the Tiny Towns Fund to support local projects in communities of fewer than 5,000 people in regional Victoria and interface metropolitan councils. The $20 million Tiny Towns Fund includes funding announced in the 2023-24 State Budget as well as funding announced through the $2 billion Regional Package (July 2023).
The position will work closely with the Regional Package team in the Place Based Strategy, Insights and Coordination branch, across RDV, the broader Department and with a range of internal and external stakeholders to ensure effective outcomes.
The role is required to be flexible in relation to program delivery and the workload of the Programs and Investment team and may also involve working on other programs and priorities as required, such as the Regional Workforce Accommodation Fund (RWAF) or the Council Support Fund, which are also programs under the $2 billion Regional Package.
Key accountabilities include:
- Manage the review and analysis of applications from groups/ applicants from towns in eligible regional Victorian local government and interface metropolitan government areas seeking funding through the Tiny Towns Fund against the established program guidelines, review and evaluate the delivery and impact of the fund, reporting to the Manager Regional Programs and Investment.
- Prepare accurate and high-quality reports and grant documentation, briefings, presentations, advice and correspondence that are clear, concise, and grammatically correct on time and that demonstrate an understanding of the policy, political and legal context.
- Develop, implement and maintain effective systems and procedures to ensure efficient and transparent administration and reporting of grants through the Tiny Towns Fund, with particular regard to Departmental and Government policies and financial management procedures.
- Initiate and maintain collaborative working relationships, ongoing communication, and successful negotiations with key stakeholders both internal and external to the Department, gain cooperation, influence views on complex, contentious and sensitive matters, within established parameters and contribute to a positive and collaborative culture in the workplace.
- Lead the ongoing development, review and delivery of the Tiny Towns initiative and identify gaps and areas for process improvements.
- Work flexibly and collaboratively across the business to deliver branch, group and department priorities and initiatives as required, which may include working on other programs such as the Regional Workforce Accommodation Fund (RWAF) or the Council Support Fund, which are also part of the Regional Package announced in July 2023.
The Team
The position of Program Manager (Tiny Towns) will work within Regional Economic Growth and Investment branch, which sits within Regional Development Victoria.
Regional Development Victoria works with businesses, communities and across government to deliver economic growth, create jobs, build resilience, and support economic recovery in our regions. We have a strong role in activating networks; building partnerships; realising outcomes that boost local economic and community resilience; and bringing the lived experien
ce of communities into government decision making. In delivering our portfolio priorities, we work closely with parts of government given the many synergies and linkages with other priorities across government.
About You
To be successful in this role you will have the following skills and experience:
- Project Management: Consults, liaises with and influences key stakeholders; produces detailed project plans where objectives are clearly defined and action steps for achieving them are clearly specified; monitors performance against objectives and manages project risks and issues; ensures project objectives are met.
- Systems and Strategic Thinking: Formulates potential courses of action to achieve objectives based on an understanding of the business environment and systems; High level conceptual and analytical skills, ability to apply complex concepts to program development and translating concepts to operational activities and strong issue analysis and resolution skills.
- Written and Verbal Communication: Ability to seek and analyse all relevant information to develop coherent, high quality and comprehensive submissions, briefings, and reports. Able to analyse information from different perspectives and draws sound inferences from information available.
- Planning and Organisational Skills: Sets clearly defined objectives and priorities and operates accordingly, reviewing and adjusting as required; identifies processes, tasks and resources required to achieve a goal; establishes systems and procedures to guide work and track progress; recognises actual and potential barriers and finds effective ways to deal with them.
- Stakeholder Management: Identifies issues in common for one or more stakeholders and uses to build mutually beneficial partnerships; identifies and responds to stakeholder's underlying needs; uses understanding of the stakeholder's organisational context to ensure outcomes are achieved; find innovative solutions to resolve stakeholder issues.
Further Information
For a confidential discussion, please contact Rob Byrne, Director, Programs and Investment on 0407 889 578.
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. For further information on the position, please refer to the attached position description.
Please note: We are accredited as a Disability Confident Recruitment (DCR) organisation and 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 Recruitment Team on 0472875685, or via email at [email protected] with the position number in the subject line. For additional contact details for our team please review the attached Position Description, located under Job Attachments in the right hand menu.
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 respond to the Key Selection Criteria in your Cover Letter as outlined in the position description.
Applications close at 23:59pm on Sunday, 14th Se
ptember 2025.