Manager/Senior Manager, Partnerships and Innovation (ICPD)

About the role

This role supports the work of the Careers and Employment Services (CES) sector by deepening strategic partnerships, developing programmes and pilots, and managing grants and funding arrangements that support career planning, employment services and capability building. You will lead partnership workstreams, shape programme concepts, ensure sound grant governance and turn ground insights into recommendations.

Key responsibilities

• Develop and implement partnership and engagement plans with training providers, higher learning institutions, employers, industry associations, sector agencies and community partners.
• Build and sustain strategic partnerships across public, private and people sectors, turning them into co-created initiatives that expand career planning support and sector capability building.
• Lead the design, implementation and review of programmes, pilots and innovation projects, including objectives, operating model, delivery modality, governance, funding model and success indicators.
• Turn feedback, observations and data into proposals, budget requests and implementation and evaluation plans.
• Oversee grant administration and funding matters, including eligibility, claims, disbursements, budget use, performance monitoring, compliance, risk management and audit readiness.
• Monitor milestones, partner performance, risks, outcomes and budget drawdown, and recommend timely mitigation or course correction.
• Evaluate partnership and grant-funded initiatives to decide what to refine, scale, hand over or discontinue.
• Identify new partnership models, technology-enabled approaches and process improvements, and prepare management papers, briefing decks and recommendations for stakeholders.
• Guide junior officers or temporary staff on stakeholder management, grant administration, project documentation and reporting.

Required profile

• Experience in partnership management, industry engagement, programme development, grant administration, funding management, innovation work, policy implementation and/or public-sector programme delivery.
• Experience leading projects or workstreams with external stakeholders, funding governance and cross-functional coordination.
• Good understanding of public-sector governance, grant processes, budgeting, procurement, outcome reporting and risk management.
• Advantageous: experience with training providers, employers, sector agencies, community partners and education institutions; exposure to innovation methodologies or human-centred design.

Required skills

• Strategic partnership development and programme and pilot design.
• Finance and grants governance, including budgets, claims and compliance.
• Stakeholder influence and analytical, systems thinking.
• Project leadership and strong written and verbal communication.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, especially PowerPoint and Excel.
• Advantageous: familiarity with grant management, CRM tools, digital project management tools or dashboards.

Candidates are offered a contract initially, which may be extended or converted to a permanent tenure. Applicants are encouraged to create a SkillsFuture CSP account and include their public profile in their resume.