Head Of Customer Strategic Relationships

New Zealand Government; Wellington; Hybrid; NZD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work arrangements

Wellbeing programme and wellbeing day

Formal and informal professional发展

Five weeks annual leave after two yrs

Job summary

Tiaki Wai is seeking a senior relationship leader to drive the council and major customer partnerships across the Wellington region. You will establish a coordinated front door for customers, oversee strategic account planning, and guide issue resolution with senior stakeholders.

You will act as a trusted advisor to council executives, balance multiple perspectives, and support service design and long-term planning with customer insights. A rare chance to shape a critical public service.

Qualifications

• Senior relationship leader with experience in complex organisations.
• Strong understanding of local government and governance processes.
• Proven track record in managing high-value public and commercial relationships.
• Experience building high-performing teams and partnerships with mana whenua.

Responsibilities

• Lead Tiaki Wai's key customer partnerships and strategic accounts.
• Create a single access point for customers and councils and oversee account planning.
• Advise senior leaders, ensure customer insights inform investment and service design.
• Develop and implement risk and opportunity management across relationships.

Skills

Strategic relationship leadership

Stakeholder engagement

Local government knowledge

High-value customer relationships

Team leadership

Māori partnership (te ao Māori)

Job description

Lead Tiaki Wai's key customer partnerships

• Lead Tiaki Wai's key customer partnerships
• Help shape the future of water services
• Based in Petone This is a full time position of 40 hours per week.

The opportunity

Reporting to the Chief Customer Officer, you will lead a team responsible for Tiaki Wai's most important relationships, including shareholding councils and our highest-value commercial, institutional, trade waste and development customers. You will create a coordinated relationship model that provides a single front door for customers and councils, oversees strategic account planning, and manages issue resolution and escalation pathways. Acting as a trusted advisor to senior leaders, council executives and key customers, you will ensure customer insights inform investment, service design and long-term planning, while supporting the transition of key customer‑facing services into Tiaki Wai. Success in this role will come from building strong partnerships, proactively managing risks and opportunities, and ensuring Tiaki Wai is easy to work with. While the role provides leadership and coordination across strategic relationships, accountability for strategy, decisions and delivery remains with the relevant operational leaders. This is a rare opportunity to build a new function from the ground up, influence the future direction of a critical public service, and make a lasting impact on communities across the Wellington metropolitan area.

About you

You're a senior relationship leader who thrives in complex environments and can confidently engage with council executives, senior stakeholders, commercial leaders and community partners. You understand the dynamics of local government and the needs of major customers, and you know how to balance multiple perspectives while maintaining focus on long-term outcomes. To be successful, you'll bring:

• significant experience leading strategic relationship, stakeholder engagement or key account functions within a complex organisation
• a strong understanding of local government, governance processes and customer-focused service delivery
• experience managing high-value commercial, institutional or public-sector customer relationships
• proven success leading and developing high-performing teams
• an appreciation of te ao Māori and a commitment to building meaningful partnerships with mana whenua.

Benefits

At Tiaki Wai, our purpose extends beyond delivering great water services for the region; we foster a thriving community, support a diverse workforce, and offer supportive development opportunities. We genuinely care about your safety and wellbeing.

• flexible working arrangements including up to two days working from home
• comprehensive wellbeing programme, including one paid wellbeing day annually
• formal and informal professional development opportunities
• five weeks annual leave accrual will be available following two years of continual service.

For a full list of our employee benefits.

About us

Tiaki Wai is a council-owned organisation responsible for managing the delivery of drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater services across Hutt Valley, Porirua, and Wellington. We manage public-owned extensive water infrastructure and oversee the delivery of safe and reliable services for our communities. We focus on long-term investment, asset management, maintenance, and delivering major infrastructure projects that support public health, environmental protection, and regional growth. Water is a precious taonga. At Tiaki Wai, we put care into every drop and are guided by our values of Integrity, Care, and Leadership. We work directly with water consumers and in partnership with councils and mana whenua to deliver better water outcomes for current and future generations.

Applications close : Thursday, 29 October.

Applicants for safety sensitive roles will be required to undergo drug and alcohol testing prior to commencing employment with Tiaki Wai. You must also be legally entitled to work long-term in New Zealand or eligible to obtain a working visa.