General Manager People and Culture

Chubb Life Insurance New Zealand; Wellington; On-site; NZD 260,000 - 360,000; Full time

Job summary

Chubb Life Insurance New Zealand is seeking a senior HR leader to sit on the Executive Leadership Team, reporting to the CEO and shaping the people strategy across the business. This role operates within a matrix structure that spans APAC and global HR, with dual accountability to NZ leadership and regional partners.

You will own talent, succession, governance, and the HR engine, including AI and automation governance, job redesign, skills uplift, and people data governance.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in highly complex, transforming, regulated environments.
• Senior HR leadership at executive level, with cross-functional partnering.
• Proven ability to develop and execute strategy across the business.
• Deep expertise in org design, workforce planning, talent, culture and change.
• Experience in matrix/global structures with dual accountability.
• Experience handling complex employee relations and people risk.
• Data-driven decision making using people analytics.

Responsibilities

• Partner with the CEO, Exec team, and Regional HR to deliver local and regional people strategy.
• Lead AI adoption: job redesign, workforce transition, and governance of AI in people processes.
• Advise CEO and senior leaders on performance, leadership effectiveness, and complex people matters.
• Own talent and succession planning, including workforce segmentation and recruitment strategy.
• Drive workforce performance and employee engagement, and advance inclusion and experience.
• Oversee employee relations, governance, and compliance with NZ employment law.
• Run HR operations end to end, including payroll oversight and people analytics.

Skills

Executive HR leadership

Org design

Workforce planning

Talent management

Culture change

Change management

Job description

Job Description

About the role

You’ll sit on the Executive Leadership Team of the fastest growing Life Insurance company in New Zealand, reporting to the CEO, shaping the people strategy that drives the business rather than sitting alongside it.

Chubb is a multinational insurer with a complex APAC and global structure, so this isn’t simply running HR for a standalone NZ business. You’ll work within a matrix, partnering with Asia Pacific HR, while staying accountable to the NZ CEO and Exec team.

Your remit covers the full senior HR spread including culture, workforce planning, org design, succession, talent, ER, governance, and the HR engine behind it all.

You’re also the one leading the people implications of AI and automation across the business, job redesign, skills uplift, and the responsible governance of people data.

What You’ll Own

• Partner with the CEO, Exec team, and Regional HR to build and deliver the people strategy aligned to local and regional priorities
• Lead the future of work thinking for AI adoption: job redesign, workforce transition, skills uplift, and governed use of AI in people processes
• Act as trusted adviser and coach to the CEO and senior leaders on performance, leadership effectiveness, and complex people matters
• Own talent and succession, including workforce segmentation and the recruitment strategy behind it
• Lead the workforce performance and employee engagement plan, and drive measurable progress on inclusion and employee experience
• Oversee employee relations, governance, and fair conduct, aligned to NZ employment law
• Run HR operations end to end, including payroll oversight, systems, and people analytics that inform executive decisions

What Success Looks Like

• A commercially aligned people strategy that contributes to the execution of the business strategy, that leaders actually use
• A strong leadership pipeline with solid succession coverage for critical roles
• Measurable uplift in digital and AI related capability across the business
• An HR function that’s trusted, well governed, and efficient to deal with
• Confidence from the CEO, Exec team, and regional stakeholders that people risk is well managed

Qualifications

What you’ll bring

• Extensive experience operating in highly complex, transforming, regulated environments
• Senior HR leadership experience in a complex organisation, including executive level partnering
• Proven ability in developing and executing strategy
• Deep experience across org design, workforce planning, talent, culture, leadership, and change
• Genuine experience in matrix, regional, or global structures, and the dual accountability that comes with it
• Solid experience handling complex employee relations and people risk
• Comfortable using people data and analytics to influence executive decisions

Executive Capabilities

• Strategic Leadership: Market-focused enterprise strategy and commercial choice.
• Execution: Disciplined global delivery and operational performance.
• People & Culture: High-performing teams and inclusive culture in Aotearoa.
• Influence: Global stakeholder engagement and board-level credibility.
• Risk & Ethics: Ethical judgment, resilience, and robust governance.
• Technology: Data-driven leadership and AI-enabled modernization.
• Partnering: Strategic alliances and value-driven external relationships.
• Agility: Adaptive leadership and entrepreneurial opportunity-spotting.
• HR Depth: Specialist expertise translated into business action.
• Collaboration: Enterprise-wide teamwork and executive accountability.

Why this is a great time to join

It’s a good time to join Chubb Life. We’re going after the number one spot in market, and we’ve got the leadership to back it, a seasoned executive team, some recently joined and bringing fresh thinking with them. If you want to help build something that’s actually moving, this is the time to get in.

Why you’ll love working for Chubb Life

Chubb Life is the international life insurance division of Chubb, the world’s largest publicly traded multiline insurer. Chubb Life operates in 31 markets within Asia Pacific, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East.

At Chubb Life Insurance New Zealand, we’re committed to providing high quality insurance products and services that help protect New Zealanders. Our people-centered culture is one of our greatest strengths, and we’re constantly striving to improve our processes and services to meet our customers’ needs.

Chubb Life is committed to equal employment and celebrates individual differences by creating a workplace environment in which everyone feels welcomed, respected, and valued; where we wear our Rainbow Tick with pride.

Applications close 11 October 2026