Experience Developer

New Zealand Government; Wellington; On-site; NZD 92,000 - 109,000; Full time

Job summary

Te Papa is seeking an innovative Experience Developer to join our Audience and Experience Directorate in Wellington. You will develop experiences that inspire learning for non-expert audiences and guide cross-functional teams to turn concepts into compelling museum experiences.

Successful candidates will bring audience-centred concept development, interpretive planning expertise, and a passion for kaupapa Māori and Pacific engagement.

Qualifications

• Experience in audience-centred concept development and interpretive planning within museums or similar visitor-focused environments.
• Ability to collaborate with curators and cross-functional project teams to shape experiences.
• Interest in kaupapa Māori and Pacific projects and engaging Māori and Pacific audiences.

Responsibilities

• Develop and refine experience concepts, identify target audiences and communication objectives, and guide cross-functional project teams.
• Assess and integrate content-delivery solutions from various expert contributors.
• Create key concept documents, pitches and presentations to share project vision.

Skills

Audience-centred design

Interpretive planning

Cross-disciplinary collaboration

Kaupapa Māori engagement

Job description

Te Papa is looking for an innovative Experience Developer. This is an exciting opportunity to be part of a world-leading, Tiriti-led, cross-disciplinary museum. Here, you can make a real difference for Aotearoa New Zealand's communities and contribute to Te Papa's reputation as a place of creativity and learning. You'll play a key role in developing experiences that inspire learning for non-expert audiences, informed by their motivations and needs in the museum context.

Working alongside our curators and other experts, you'll develop and refine experience concepts (pinpointing the big ideas, identifying target audiences and communication objectives, and guiding cross-functional project teams), assess and offer content-delivery solutions generated by various expert contributors, and create key concept documents, pitches, and presentations to share project vision.

Our ideal candidate will have experience in audience-centred concept development and interpretive planning within museums, galleries, heritage organisations, or similar visitor-focused environments. We'd highly encourage applications from people with experience working on kaupapa Māori and Pacific projects, collaborating with iwi/communities and meeting the needs of Māori and Pacific audiences. We recognise that strong candidates may come from a variety of backgrounds. If you have experience in a creative, educational, storytelling, cultural, or audience-focused role and can demonstrate the skills, curiosity, and potential to succeed in this position, we'd encourage you to apply.

Key qualities we are looking for:

• committed to biculturalism and accessibility
• a big-picture thinker and doer
• positive, collaborative, and confident, with an ability to communicate concisely and convincingly
• able to adapt and thrive in contexts characterised by uncertainty, with a focus on solutions over barriers and an ability to prioritise effectively

The position sits in the Audience and Experience Directorate, and reports to the Manager Exhibition Business Development. The salary range for this position is $91,773 to $108,980. Starting salary will be determined based on the successful candidate's skills and experience, taking internal relativities into account. This is a permanent position and all applicants must have, and be able to maintain, the legal right to work in New Zealand. Applications close on 15 November 2026.

Before Te Papa confirms any offer of employment, pre-employment checks will be undertaken, including criminal-conviction history and reference checking as a minimum. Interviews will be held in December 2026. Interviewees can expect to prepare a task/assignment as part of the selection process. A start date will be negotiated with the successful candidate, on or after 18 January 2027.