Job Description

Team Manager – New Central Auckland Peer Support Cafe

• Permanent, Full-time (40 hours per week)

• This position will be based on site, at a location a short distance from Te Toka Tumai Auckland City Hospital.

• The successful Team Manager will work a roster that will include either Tuesday-Saturday or Sunday-Thursday shifts.

• The service will eventually operate 7 days a week. Final operating hours are currently being confirmed and will include extended evening availability.

Ember values our employees — they are our secret sauce, and we are committed to doing the best we can for our kaimahi. We believe our people’s abilities, knowledge and experience are irreplaceable. To support this, we offer an attractive remuneration package, comprehensive leave entitlements and ongoing professional development.

About Ember Korowai Takitini | Nga Matapono

Ember Korowai Takitini blends professional expertise and lived experience to offer a range of services and supports for anyone with mental health, addiction or intellectual disability needs.

At Ember we support people to live the lives they choose, and we challenge the systems that hold them back. We desire a society that better understands and responds to mental distress, addiction and intellectual disability.

Ember Offers:

• Additional leave including recreation days, study leave

• Comprehensive Health & Wellbeing programme including health checks, vaccinations and Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)

• Training opportunities for upskilling, professional development and career progression

About the Service | Ko Te Whare O Te Toka Tumai Peer Support Cafe

The Peer Support Café offers an alternative to emergency departments, grounded in a mana-enhancing, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive approach.

We provide a calm, welcoming environment where people can walk in, be listened to, and receive support during periods of distress. Support is delivered by trained peer support workers with lived experience, focused on helping people feel steadier through difficult moments. No referral is needed.

We support people who are seeking immediate support and benefit from a non-clinical setting.

About the Role | Nga Mahi

We are seeking an experienced and values-driven Team Manager to lead our new Peer Support Cafe in central Auckland. This exciting new service will provide a welcoming, peer-led alternative for people experiencing mental distress and addiction challenges, offering immediate support in a safe, non-clinical environment. The Team Manager will lead, coach, and support a team of Peer Support Workers, fostering a culture of hope, recovery, and excellence. Working closely with community partners, and the wider Ember whānau, you will play a key role in shaping a service that helps people feel heard, connected, and supported during some of life's most challenging moments.

Key responsibilities include:

• Provide day-to-day leadership, supervision and coaching to a team of support workers, facilitators and peer staff

• Ensure services are delivered in a safe, culturally responsive and recovery-focused manner that aligns with Ember values and clinical standards

• Support staff performance and development through regular supervision, training needs identification and capability building

• Coordinate service rostering and resource allocation to meet client needs and service demands

• Manage operational tasks including incident reporting, quality improvement, risk management and contract compliance

• Build and maintain strong working relationships with external stakeholders, funders and partner agencies to support pathways for clients

• Contribute to service planning, evaluation and continuous improvement activities, including data collection and reporting

• Role-model Ember’s equity, tikanga and inclusion commitments and promote a workplace culture of safety, respect and learning

You will bring | Nga Pukenga

• Proven leadership experience in health, social services or a community setting

• Understanding of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and commitment to working in a culturally responsive way.

• Experience supervising and developing multidisciplinary teams, with a strengths-based and trauma-informed approach

• Strong knowledge of quality and risk systems, and experience with incident management and continuous improvement

• Excellent interpersonal, communication and problem-solving skills with the ability to engage diverse stakeholders

• Ability to role model and encourage positive behaviours, participation and communication in all activities and in line with our values.

• Competency in managing teams, rosters, and service operations, and some competency in financial management to support Ember’s procedures.

• Relevant qualification in health, social services, management or equivalent experience is desirable

• Full NZ Driver’s License

• Valid work visa, residency or citizenship

Don't meet every single requirement? We still encourage you to apply — you might be just the right person for the role.

When applying please provide | Kia Whakauru

• An up-to-date CV prepared

• A Cover Letter detailing

o Why you’re interested in the role

o What leadership skills, competencies and experience you would bring to the role

“He aha te mea nui o te ao? Maku e ki atu, he tangata, he tangata, he tangata.”

What is the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people.

Ember is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome and embrace diversity and inclusion in the workplace and are committed to providing a safe and supportive environment for all. We particularly welcome applications from our Māori, Pacific and Rainbow communities.

We will interview candidates as applications come through rather than waiting until the advertisement closes. The vacancy may be filled earlier if a suitable candidate is identified.