Manager Community Resilience/Group Recovery

Greater Wellington; Wellington; On-site; NZD 210,000; Full time

Job summary

A regional council in Wellington is seeking a Manager, Community Resilience/Group Recovery to lead and enhance community resilience and emergency preparedness. This role involves building high-performing teams, coordinating recovery efforts, and fostering partnerships. The ideal candidate will have crisis leadership experience, strong decision-making abilities, and a collaborative approach. A comprehensive benefits package is offered, including medical insurance and a flexible working policy.

Benefits

Flexible working policy

Internal secondments and career progression

Full-use vehicle as Duty Group Controller

Medical and trauma insurance

Generous annual and sick leave

Supportive workplace culture

Qualifications

• Proven people leader, capable of motivating high-performing teams.
• Crisis leadership experience demonstrated by handling high-pressure situations.
• Understanding of community development and social change theories.
• Strong decision-making skills and risk assessment.
• Resilient and adaptable, capable of leading under pressure.
• Ability to engage with stakeholders, media, and public in emergencies.
• Collaborative approach with strong relationship-building skills.
• Strategic mindset balancing immediate and long-term needs.
• Understanding of Te Ao Māori and Te Tiriti.

Responsibilities

• Lead and support teams to enhance community resilience.
• Develop and implement community capacity-building initiatives.
• Foster partnerships with councils and community organizations.
• Coordinate recovery efforts post-emergency.
• Ensure effective operation of recovery processes.

Job description

We're looking for an exceptional people leader and systems thinker to take on a critical role in Wellington's emergency management leadership team, based in our Thorndon office. This role is not just about managing processes-it's about leading people in high-pressure situations, ensuring teams are prepared, capable, and ready to respond when it matters most.

About the role:

As the Manager, Community Resilience/Group Recovery, your focus will be on building, leading, and supporting high-performing teams to enhance community resilience and strengthen the region's emergency preparedness for disaster recovery. You'll be responsible for developing and implementing evidence-based community capacity building initiatives, operational systems, and recovery strategies, ensuring that when disaster strikes, our people are ready to act. This role involves regular travel around the region.

You will also serve as the Group Recovery Manager, a statutory leadership role under the CDEM Act 2002. In the Transition to Recovery, you will lead, coordinate, and inspire council teams and partners, making decisive calls in high-stakes situations and ensuring a unified, effective recovery across the region.

This is your opportunity to lead from the front, ensuring that our region is ready to respond to and recover from any emergency. If you are someone who leads with kindness and compassion, works to make the world a better place and thrives in ambiguous high-stakes environments we want to hear from you. This is your opportunity for a career like no other.

Responsibilities:

• Lead people to perform at their best - Develop, Inspire, and support, and lead teams in BAU and in stressful environments.
• Build systems - Ensure Community Resilience initiatives meet the needs of our diverse communities and our Recovery processes and platforms function smoothly and the products and services we offer meet the needs of our customers
• Foster meaningful partnerships - - Collaborate with councils, mana whenua, NGOs, emergency services, private sector government agencies
• Make a real impact - Our work protects lives and livelihoods. This will be one of the most meaningful jobs you'll ever have.
• Varied and dynamic role - No two days are the same in this fast-moving, high-pressure environment.

Skills and experience required:

• A proven people leader - Able to motivate, develop, and support high-performing teams.
• Crisis leadership experience - You can demonstrate leading others in crisis situations.
• Community Development experience - You have a demonstrated understanding of community development and social change theories and practices.
• Strong decision-making skills - Able to absorb information quickly, assess risks, and take decisive action.
• Resilience and adaptability - Capable of leading in uncertainty and maintaining composure under pressure.
• Engagement - Confidence to engage with senior stakeholders, media, and the public during emergencies.
• A collaborative approach - Skilled in building strong and trusting relationships across multiple agencies and organisations.
• A strategic mindset - Able to balance immediate response needs with long-term readiness and team development.
• Understanding of Te Ao Māori and Te Tiriti - We are on a journey to apply a genuine partnership approach to the emergency management system.

What we offer:

• Work to suit your life and whānau with our flexible working policy.
• We'll encourage you to grow and prosper with a range of learning and development opportunities, internal secondments and career progression
• A full-use vehicle is included in your remuneration package as part of your role as Duty Group Controller.
• Your wellbeing is our priority - we'll provide medical and trauma insurance, support through our employee assistance programme, including Rongoā Māori partner providers, generous annual and sick leave, along with Tangihanga leave and support.
• We want you to have a sense of belonging, where you can reflect your personal and cultural identity in the way that you work.
• Social clubs, staff networks and a friendly and inclusive culture.

Come help treasure and grow our rohe together

Our rohe and its lands, waterways, animals, plants and people can only grow stronger if they are nurtured.

To join our team is to step up and commit to playing an active part in this important mahi. That means restoring nature, connecting people and places, reducing environmental impacts, and helping this rohe and its people prosper.

We are committed to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and support mana whenua as Kaitiaki. We're also part of a collective movement alongside our community members whose hopes for the future of this region are just as high as your own.

How to apply:

Greater Wellington is proud to be a member of Diversity Works. We value diversity and are committed to an inclusive, flexible, and supportive workplace. We encourage candidates from all backgrounds and welcome the unique talent and experience you will bring to our team.

Please note that applications close: 5.00pm, Sunday, 5 October 2025.

The remuneration for this position, inclusive of all benefits, is $167,749 to $251,623 with a midpoint of $209,686. Starting remuneration will depend on the skills and experience of the successful applicant.