General Manager System Stewardship and Partnership

New Zealand Ministry Of Economic Development; Wellington; On-site; NZD 255,000 - 319,000; Full time

Job summary

MBIE invites applications for the General Manager, System Stewardship and Partnerships role in Wellington. The role leads international engagement, stakeholder relationships and system stewardship, reporting to the Deputy Secretary, Immigration New Zealand, within MBIE.

You will drive organisational resilience, public trust and cross-government collaboration while shaping policy and crisis responses across international channels and ministerial services.

Qualifications

• Senior leadership experience in a large public sector, regulatory or service delivery environment.
• Proven leadership of strategic functions, organisational capability and enterprise-wide outcomes.
• Success leading organisational change, performance improvement and cultural transformation.
• Experience managing significant incidents, crises or high-profile events.
• Strong strategic and systems thinking with a government-wide perspective.
• Proven ability to build influential relationships across government, Ministers' offices, international partners and stakeholders.
• Exceptional people leadership, with a track record of building high-performing teams and culture.
• Strong influencing, relationship management and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Excellent communication skills and judgement in complex environments.
• Demonstrated commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and integrating Te Ao Māori, Te Reo Māori and tikanga into leadership practice.
• Strong understanding of the machinery of government, public sector accountability and ministerial processes.
• Be a New Zealand citizen or hold a permanent resident visa.
• Consent to and satisfactorily complete a credit check.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Top-Secret Security Clearance.

Responsibilities

• Lead international engagement, representation and liaison networks.
• Drive stakeholder engagement across New Zealand and offshore.
• Represent MBIE and INZ in cross-agency forums and initiatives.
• Lead responses to significant incidents and organisational readiness.
• Oversee mass arrival prevention strategy and response planning.
• Provide oversight of ministerial services, official information, privacy, complaints and resolution functions.
• Strengthen trust, stewardship and continuous improvement across the immigration system.
• Champion Te Tiriti o Waitangi commitments and cultural capability.
• Build strategic relationships with Ministers, agencies and international partners.

Skills

Senior leadership

Strategic thinking

Stakeholder engagement

Crisis/incident management

Te Tiriti o Waitangi knowledge

Job description

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General Manager System Stewardship and Partnership

Date: 8 Oct 2026

Location: Wellington, NZ, 6011

Discover a career with purpose at MBIE

• Lead international engagement, stakeholder partnerships and system stewardship.
• Strengthen organisational resilience, public trust and cross-government collaboration.
• Permanent, full time | Wellington location
• Salary Range: $255,498 - $319,373 TFR

The General Manager, System Stewardship and Partnerships is a key member of Immigration New Zealand's Leadership Team, providing strategic leadership across international engagement, stakeholder relationships, organisational response capability and system stewardship.

Reporting to the Deputy Secretary, Immigration New Zealand, you will lead a diverse portfolio that strengthens public trust in the immigration system, enhances organisational resilience and ensures effective engagement with Ministers, government agencies, international partners and stakeholders.

In this role, you will:

• Lead international engagement, representation and liaison networks.
• Drive stakeholder engagement across New Zealand and offshore.
• Represent MBIE and INZ in cross-agency forums and initiatives.
• Lead responses to significant incidents and organisational readiness.
• Oversee mass arrival prevention strategy and response planning.
• Provide oversight of ministerial services, official information, privacy, complaints and resolution functions.
• Strengthen trust, stewardship and continuous improvement across the immigration system.
• Champion Te Tiriti o Waitangi commitments and cultural capability.
• Build strategic relationships with Ministers, agencies and international partners.

This role holds the primary relationship with the Associate Minister for Immigration and plays a pivotal role in managing Immigration New Zealand's public information affairs.

Skills and Experience Required - Ngā pukenga me ngā wheako e hiahiatia ana:

T o be successful in this role, you will bring:

• Senior leadership experience in a large public sector, regulatory or service delivery environment.
• Proven leadership of strategic functions, organisational capability and enterprise-wide outcomes.
• Success leading organisational change, performance improvement and cultural transformation.
• Experience managing significant incidents, crises or high-profile events.
• Strong strategic and systems thinking with a government-wide perspective.
• Proven ability to build influential relationships across government, Ministers' offices, international partners and stakeholders.
• Exceptional people leadership, with a track record of building high-performing teams and culture.
• Strong influencing, relationship management and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Excellent communication skills and judgement in complex environments.
• Demonstrated commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and integrating Te Ao Māori, Te Reo Māori and tikanga into leadership practice.
• Strong understanding of the machinery of government, public sector accountability and ministerial processes.
• Be a New Zealand citizen or hold a permanent resident visa.
• Consent to and satisfactorily complete a credit check.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Top-Secret Security Clearance.

MBIE's goal is to create a resilient and high-performing economy that delivers real and ongoing quality of life for all New Zealanders.

We do this by working with others to create an environment that supports businesses to be more productive and internationally competitive, enables all New Zealanders to participate in the economy through improved job opportunities and by working to ensure quality housing is more affordable.

People are at the heart of our mahi, our way of working is guided by our values which shape our behaviours.

• Māia - Bold and brave
• Pae Kahurangi - Build our Future

Our aspirations are echoed in our Māori identity - Hīkina Whakatutuki - which broadly means 'lifting to make successful'.

MBIE recognises the partnership founded under TeTiritio Waitangi between Māori and the Crown and is committed to giving effect to TeTiritio Waitangi. We will do this through enduring, meaningful and effective partnerships with iwi, Māori, other Māori groups/organisations and the Crown, as this is critical to enable economic and social development, both for Māori and for wider Aotearoa New Zealand. We are committed to continuing to partner with iwi in order to find new sustainable solutions to address long standing systemic and cross-cutting issues facing Māori and wider Aotearoa New Zealand and we are also committed to identifying opportunities for iwi to lead and creating an enabling environment for iwi to leverage these opportunities.

Applications close on Sunday, 18th October 2026 at 23:59