Executive Assistant

New Zealand Police; Wellington; On-site; NZD 80,000 - 101,000; Full time

Job summary

New Zealand Police is seeking an Executive Assistant to support the Chief Operating Officer at Police National Headquarters in Wellington. This permanent, full-time role provides trusted executive support to enable informed decision-making and effective leadership within the COO group.

You will manage calendars, coordinating meetings and travel, preparing briefings, and handling confidential information while building strong relationships with the wider leadership team and stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Experience as an executive assistant is advantageous.
• Ability to prioritise, manage competing requests, and stay composed under pressure.
• Strong organisational skills and professional integrity are essential.

Responsibilities

• Maintain proactive diary management and coordinate meetings, travel, and logistics.
• EnsureExecutive has timely papers, briefings, and context for decisions.
• Capture meeting notes, decisions, and actions, and follow up on progress.

Skills

Planning & calendar management

Email & correspondence management

Communication & confidentiality

Job description

Company description

We operate 24 hours a day in a complex environment actively enforcing the law, targeting and apprehending offenders and providing a priority service to victims. With around 15,000 staff, we work from urban and rural stations and larger policing hubs. We operate on land, sea and in the air, and respond to more than 1.2 million events per year - answering more than 992,000 111 calls and over 652,000 non-emergency calls.

Job description

Executive Assistant to Chief Operating Officer

• Based at Police National Headquarters in Wellington
• Permanent - full-time
• JR 6078151

Mō te tūnga | About the role

This is a unique opportunity to work at the heart of New Zealand Police, providing trusted, high-quality executive support to a member of Police's Executive. You will support and enable the Chief Operating Officer (COO) to be organised, informed, and ready to make decisions that support our people and the communities we serve.

The COO, as a member of Police's Executive, is accountable for leading and managing the performance of New Zealand Police, supporting good governance and enhancing the culture, integrity and reputation of the organisation. The business functions within the COO group include Finance; People Services; ICT; Policy & Planning; Capability & Infrastructure and Integrity & Conduct.

The role reports directly to the COO and you will be part of the functional group they lead, at times you will also provide relevant and required support to the wider business group.

The role requires flexibility, sound judgement, discretion, and the confidence to manage competing and changing priorities. An ability to work under pressure whilst managing competing demands is critical, as is the ability to identify, prioritise and escalation where required. Successful candidates will demonstrate initiative and high levels of motivation for their work.

If you are calm under pressure, highly organised, curious, and motivated by work that makes a real difference, this role offers variety, purpose, and the chance to contribute to a high-performing team.

Key Accountabilities

• Keep your Executive organised and well positioned through proactive diary management, meeting coordination, correspondence, email management, travel, and logistics.
• Make sure your Executive has the right information, papers, briefings, and context at the right time.
• Use technology and information management systems confidently to support efficient ways of working.
• Capture clear meeting notes, decisions, and action points, and follow up to help keep work moving.
• Build a strong understanding of your Executive's business group, priorities, stakeholders, and operating rhythm.
• Support the broader business group as and when required.
• Maintain awareness of priorities across the Executive and Office of the Commissioner so you can connect information, anticipate needs, and support collaboration.
• Develop trusted working relationships with the broader business group leadership team, other Executive Assistants, Chief Advisors, Police's Governance function and a wide range of other internal and external stakeholders.

To view the position description for this role please copy and paste this link into a new browser: Executive Assistant.pdf

He aha taau e kawe mai | What you'll bring

We are looking for someone who brings strong organisation, initiative, professionalism, and a genuine commitment to supporting others to succeed. Your skills and experience matter, but so does how you work: your judgement, integrity, values, adaptability, and ability to contribute to a positive, high-performing team.

Previous Executive Assistant experience is an advantage, but we are also interested in people who can show strong transferable skills, including:

• Planning, prioritising, calendar management, and event coordination.
• Managing correspondence, inboxes, information, or competing requests.
• Communicating clearly, maintaining confidentiality, building relationships, and staying composed when priorities change.

This role is at the Individual Contributor/Emerging Leader level. You can refer to Indicators for Success for further information about the expectations for this level.

Security Clearance

To be eligible for this role, you may be asked to obtain and maintain a TOP SECRET national security clearance.

The minimum criteria for this level of national security clearance is:

NZ Citizen who has resided continuously in NZ for the last 10 years, or:

• A Permanent Resident who has resided continuously in NZ for the last 10 years, or
• A citizen of or has resided continuously in one or more of the following countries for the last 10 years: Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, or United States of America, and has a background that can be verified by the NZSIS.

Use this online tool to self-check your eligibility for a security clearance. Please note that this tool is not part of the formal security clearance process:

http://www.protectivesecurity.govt.nz/eligibility-tool

Mo tātou | About us

New Zealand Police is the lead agency responsible for preventing crime and enhancing community safety. It works in partnership with individuals, communities, businesses, and other public sector agencies towards the vision of making New Zealand the safest country. Police is the government's largest front-line response agency with around 15,000 staff in large and small communities all over New Zealand and in liaison and policing development roles overseas.

The work you'll be engaged in is real, tangible work that directly benefits our frontline and communities.

Utu ā-tau | Salary

This position is covered by a collective agreement, and salary will commence between $80,295 and $100,902 dependent on skills and experience relevant to the role.

Applications close at 5:00pm on Friday 23rd October 2026. We may review applications and contact candidates before the close date.

If you have any questions about this vacancy, please contact Recruitment Manager [e-mail].