Job Description

Principal Advisor, Talent & Organisational Development

Type: Permanent

Location: Wellington

Mō tēnei tūranga mahi | About this role

The Talent and Organisational Development function plays a key role in shaping NEMA's future success. As a small team with a broad mandate, we partner with leaders across the organisation to strengthen leadership, culture, capability and organisational performance.

We're looking for an experienced Principal Advisor who brings the breadth of a strategic People and Culture generalist and the depth of an organisational development specialist. You'll combine systems thinking with practical delivery, moving confidently between strategy and action to create meaningful and lasting impact. This is not a narrow organisational development or learning and development role. It's an opportunity to work across the full people system, helping shape leadership, culture, capability and organisational effectiveness in ways that support NEMA's future success.

The purpose of the Principal Advisor, Talent and Organisational Development role is to:

• Partner with senior leaders across NEMA to deliver strategic organisational development initiatives that strengthen organisational performance and support long-term success.
• Provide expert advice and thought leadership on leadership development, workforce capability, talent management, organisational culture, organisational effectiveness and organisational change.
• Lead enterprise-wide initiatives that strengthen leadership capability, workforce readiness, succession planning and future organisational capability.
• Influence and shape organisational culture, creating the conditions for high performance, engagement, wellbeing and belonging.
• Support organisational transformation by helping leaders navigate complexity, make informed decisions and deliver sustainable outcomes.
• Design and facilitate impactful workshops, strategic conversations and interventions that build capability and drive action.
• Build trusted relationships and influence outcomes through credibility, expertise and strong stakeholder partnerships.
• Bring contemporary thinking, external insights and evidence-based practice to strengthen organisational capability and ensure NEMA remains fit for the future.

This is an exciting role for someone who enjoys working with complexity, sees opportunities where others see challenges and is motivated by making a meaningful difference. It offers a unique opportunity to help shape the future capability, leadership and culture of New Zealand's national emergency management agency while contributing to work that ultimately supports the resilience of communities across Aotearoa.

NEMA is a small operational agency and has a very dynamic work environment as we are required to respond to emergency activations. This means that all staff are often required to pivot and change focus at short notice. Adaptability, agility, resilience and curiosity are important attributes in both business-as-usual and emergency response environments.

Ko wai koe | About you

You're an experienced People and Culture professional with deep expertise in organisational development and a strong understanding of how leadership, culture, capability, talent and performance work together to drive organisational outcomes. You bring the breadth of a strategic P&C generalist and the depth of an OD specialist, enabling you to connect the bigger picture with practical solutions that deliver results. Curious, pragmatic and people-focused, you're equally comfortable influencing senior leaders, facilitating meaningful conversations and delivering outcomes. You build trust quickly, bring sound judgement and enjoy working alongside others to create positive organisational impact.

You will bring:

• A relevant tertiary qualification or equivalent work experience in Human Resources, Organisational Development, or related discipline.
• Significant experience providing strategic organisational development advice to senior leaders across areas such as leadership development, workforce capability, talent management, organisational culture, organisational effectiveness and change.
• Demonstrated ability to take a whole-of-system view, understanding the connections between leadership, talent, workforce capability, culture, organisational design and performance.
• Experience leading complex organisational development and transformation initiatives that deliver meaningful and enduring improvements.
• Strong understanding of contemporary people and organisational practices and how they contribute to organisational success.
• Experience using organisational insights, evidence and data to identify opportunities, diagnose challenges and develop strategic solutions.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder engagement and facilitation skills.
• The ability to communicate complex ideas in ways that are clear, engaging and actionable.

And with the following attributes:

• A strategic and future-focused thinker who sees connections, patterns and opportunities across the organisation.
• A trusted advisor who builds strong relationships and credibility with leaders at all levels.
• Comfortable operating with a high degree of autonomy, initiative and professional judgement.
• Curious and continually seeking new ideas, perspectives and approaches to strengthen organisational capability and performance.
• Energised by complexity and motivated by making a meaningful difference.
• An excellent communicator and facilitator who creates engagement, encourages new thinking and brings people together to achieve results.
• Warm, authentic and approachable, with a genuine passion for people, leadership and organisational success.

Ko wai mātou | About us

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) provides national leadership to New Zealand's distributed emergency management system. NEMA's primary focus is on the performance and capability of the emergency management system as a whole, across all hazards and all risks and the 4 Rs of risk reduction, readiness, response and recovery.

NEMA values diversity and inclusion. We want our workforce to reflect the diversity of our communities. We value and respect the contributions of our people with diverse backgrounds, experiences, skills and perspectives. We are committed to doing our part to deliver on the Crown's commitments to Māori under Te Tiriti o Waitangi. We strive to actively build te Ao Māori perspectives and capability into our day to day work, values and practices.

Ta matou e tuku | What we offer

We pride ourselves on the quality of our people and understand the importance of fostering a working environment where excellence is recognised and where staff are encouraged to develop their own talents and potential. We welcome diversity, in all its forms and we believe it is a strength. NEMA values staff health, safety and wellbeing, and a positive work life balance is encouraged.

The indicative BASE salary range for this role is $151,000 - $185,000. NEMA offers other benefits such as Department leave, Wellbeing allowance, Vision allowances and more.

Whakaritenga Haumaru | Security Requirements

Due to the security requirements of this role, applicants must be a New Zealand citizen or New Zealand Permanent Resident.

Me pehea te tono | How to apply

To read the full job description please click here. Follow the links to apply. Please note that recruitment emails, including verification codes and application updates, will be sent from eqqg.fa.sender@workflow.email.ap-sydney-1.ocs.oraclecloud.com, so you may need to check your span/junk folders.

We do not accept unsolicited approaches from agencies or 3rd parties.

Applications Close: 5pm Tuesday 29th September