Office for Early Childhood Development
Job reference:
******
Location:
**** - ADELAIDE
Job status:
Long Term Contract
Eligibility:
Open to Everyone
Why work with
us:
The
Office for Early Childhood Development was created to champion
change and to help build a system that gives all South Australian
children a flying start to life.
Guided by
the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Early Childhood
Education and Care, the Office for Early Childhood Development is
the steward of the early childhood development system in South
Australia.
The
Office is tasked with a significant responsibility: bringing
together a holistic, connected system for early childhood
development across South Australia, with the goal of reducing the
rate of children entering school developmentally vulnerable.
Critical to this is the roll-out of universal 3-year-old preschool
from ****, giving every child access to 2 years of teacher-led,
play-based early learning before school by ****.
About this
role:
Reporting
to the Director, Enterprise Services, the Manager, Program
Management Office will provide strategic and tactical oversight of
the Program Management Office (PMO), including its direction,
governance and performance expectations.
The PMO
team is responsible for managing the whole of reform portfolio for
the Office for Early Childhood Development, including identifying
interdependencies across the work program, establishing program
benefits and KPIs and monitoring the implementation of the work
program to maximise strategic impact.
Your Key
Responsibilities:
Lead
enterprise portfolio management across the reform agenda to
optimise delivery outcomes.
Design, lead and
oversee program governance for the reform ensuring a high-level
of quality assurance and assessment of risk.




Oversee program
reporting for the reform agenda, providing executive
dashboards, strategic insights and evidence-based reporting to
the Minister, Chief Executive and Executive Leadership Team
(ELT).
Manage and motivate
a high performing team within a complex reform environment,
providing guidance to staff to encourage professional
learning.
About
you:
You will
bring extensive experience in applying contemporary project and
risk management frameworks, methodologies and government policy,
supported by strong communication skills that foster relationships
across the agency, including with senior leaders and
Executives.
To be
successful in this role, we are looking for someone who
brings:
Extensive experience
in delivering and applying strategic and creative thinking to
lead, manage and motivate a high-performing team to deliver
critical priorities.
Demonstrated
capability to oversee complex reform portfolios, providing
strategic prioritisation, portfolio health oversight, critical
path management and capacity planning to maximise
organisational outcomes.
Extensive knowledge
of program governance, reporting and evaluation methodologies,
including detailed knowledge of relevant government policies
and procedures.
Highly developed
interpersonal and relationship management skills with the
proven ability to build and sustain effective partnerships




across senior internal and external stakeholders.
Role
Benefits:
A
role with real influence and impact in government
reform.
Opportunities for
professional development and career growth within the public
sector
Work
with senior officials across government and early childhood
sectors.
Be
part of an agency with a clear mission to improve the lives of
South Australia's children and families.
Access to valuable
salary sacrifice benefits like car leases, portable electronic
devices, mobile phones, airline lounge memberships,
self-education expenses, and more.
Ask us about how you
can make your salary go further working at the
OECD.
Access to flexible
working arrangements to get that work life
balance.
Application
Instructions and Information:
Applications should be
made through the IWorkForSA website.
Applicants must submit a
CV, Pre-employment Declaration, and a cover letter outlining their
suitability against key competencies within the attached position
description.
Remuneration:
SM1 -
$144,421 (1.0 FTE) per annum, plus superannuation.
Additional
Note:
This is a
full time 2-year long term contract role (1.0 FTE) with potential
to be made ongoing.
Enquiries:
Enquiries
can be directed to ******
Special
Conditions:
For all
other special conditions please refer to the attached position
description.
Applications close:
06/09/2026 11:45 PM
Attachments:
- Position Description - SM1 Manager, Program Management Office.pdf
- Pre-employment Declaration.pdf
Flexibility Statement
The South Australian public sector promotes diversity and flexible ways of working including part-time.
Applicants are encouraged to discuss the flexible working arrangements for this role.

📌 Sm1 Manager, Program Management Office (South Australia)
🏢 Office for Early Childhood Development
📍 South Australia