Lead the Legal Division’s Practice Support Unit, overseeing legal intake, administration, recruitment and payroll support. Drive continuous improvement, develop staff and ensure effective, responsive services in a collaborative and dynamic legal workplace.

About us

The Department of Education is responsible for delivering and regulating state-wide learning and development services to Victorians across the early childhood and school education sectors. The Department is also one of Victoria's biggest employers, with more than 100,000 staff across its school, corporate and early learning workforce.

The Legal Division provides highly valued legal services across the Department's portfolios which include early childhood and schools. In doing so, Legal Division provides direct, practical and strategic legal advice to almost 1600 government schools supporting approximately over 660,000 Victorian Government school students.

About the role

An exciting prospect has arisen for an organised and collaborative people leader to manage the Legal Division's Practice Support Unit (PSU). This is an opportunity to lead a team that plays an important part in the daily operation of a busy legal practice.

The PSU provides legal practice services that support the division's daily operations. Its members work collaboratively with legal teams to deliver legal intake and coordination, administrative support, divisional induction, workforce administration and support with divisional reporting obligations.

Reporting to the Head of Legal Operations, the role will oversee the delivery of intake services, coordinate workloads and support staff to deliver accurate, timely and responsive legal support.



Alongside managing these services, the role will have responsibility for divisional recruitment processes and payroll support.

The successful candidate will lead initiatives to drive continuous improvement of the unit's processes and work practices and will contribute to broader divisional projects that strengthen the division's operations, in collaboration with the Systems and Capability Unit.

This role will suit someone who enjoys working with people, bringing order to competing priorities and finding better ways to get things done.

What you'll bring

To succeed in this role, you'll have:

- Experience leading and developing teams in a legal setting.
- Strong organisational skills and sound judgement in managing workloads and changing priorities.
- Well-developed interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to build positive working relationships.
- Experience setting clear expectations, coaching staff and managing performance.
- A practical approach to continuous improvement, with the initiative to identify opportunities and implement effective changes.

Why join us?

- Meaningful work that is varied, satisfying and rewarding – As part of a career in the public sector you can help shape Victoria's future, serve the community and follow your ambition.



Visit https://careers.vic.gov.au/why-work-for-vic to find out more about careers in the public service and the range of careers

- Flexible and hybrid working arrangements — part time, flexible start and finish times, work from home to help manage your work and personal commitments
- Competitive salary – Bi-annual salary increases in line with the Victorian Public Service Enterprise Agreement and reward for
- Diversity and inclusion - As one of Victoria's largest employers, the Department is committed to creating an organisation that is diverse, fair and inclusive and ensuring it has a diverse workforce that represents the community it serves.
- Values – The Department has adopted the public sector values which are set out in the Code of Conduct for Victorian Public Sect or Employees, which are Responsiveness, Integrity, Impartiality, Accountability, Respect, Leadership and Human Rights. DET's Values underpin how we interact with colleagues, learners and families, members of the community, suppliers and Government.
- Employee assistance program — for emotional, mental and general psychological wellbeing

How to Apply

For more information please review the attached position description.

Applicants are required to submit a CV and a cover letter (no more than 2 pages).

For a confidential discussion regarding the role please contact Sarah Thorne, Head of Legal Operations on (03) 7022 0*** or ************@education.vic.gov.au.

Visit http://www.careers.vic.gov.au/vacancies/tips-for-applying for guidelines and tips for applying for government positions.

Applications close on 11:59pm 30 October 2026.

📌 Manager, Practice Support (Melbourne)
🏢 Department Of Education
📍 Melbourne