Operations Manager - Operations Centre

JobSpace; Porirua; On-site; NZD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora in Wellington is seeking a senior manager to lead the MHAIDS Operations Centre's after-hours and capacity planning for acute mental health services. You will partner with the Operations Manager, Clinical Director, and external stakeholders to ensure seamless care delivery 24/7.

The role requires strategic leadership, Te Tiriti o Waitangi experience, strong stakeholder relations, and the ability to work across complex networks in a high‑stakes health system.

Qualifications

• Relevant tertiary level business qualification or equivalent in health leadership.
• Professional registration with current APC.
• Experience implementing Te Tiriti o Waitangi in action.
• Proactive management to achieve outcomes.
• Ability to work across networks and handle complexity.

Responsibilities

• Lead operations with the Operations Manager and Clinical Director in acute mental health services.
• Oversee after-hours decision making and staff allocation in the OC.
• Collaborate with external stakeholders to ensure 24/7 care delivery.
• Drive capacity demand management and data-driven decision making.

Skills

Stakeholder management

Strategic thinking

Leadership

Change management

Decision making

Time & organisational management

Resilience under pressure

Education

Tertiary health leadership qualification

Professional registration with APC

Job description

Jora New Zealand will close on 9th September 2026. Thank you for being with us, we are cheering you on as you continue your career journey.

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is firmly grounded in the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and is dedicated to serving all New Zealanders. Through integration and collaboration, we're building a health system underpinned by partnership, equity, sustainability, whānau-centred care, and excellence.

About the Role

This management role partners alongside the Operations Manager, Acute Inpatient Services After Hours District Hospital Function, Group Manager and Clinical Director of the Mental Health and Addiction Service, and key external stakeholders to deliver care to tāngata whaiora and whānau who require intensive specialist mental health and addiction support 24/7.

About the Team/Service/Location

The MHAIDS Operations Centre uses information data, predictive analytics and innovative problem-solving to enhance the experience of tāngata whaiora who use acute mental health services from service entry to exit including in and out of hospital. This includes after hours where the OC have full operational oversight. After-hours management in the Operations Centre have decision making authority in place to support and allocate casual staff when and where their skills and time will be most effectively used.

The Care Capacity Demand Management programme provides an overall service specification for the establishment of an operations centre. These include:

• An integrated operations centre is a dedicated space in which operational decisions are made
• about care capacity demand management
• in the moment (and over time)
• with the right data and
• The right stakeholders in the room.

Healthcare organisations are complex and dynamic. Therefore operational decisions need to be:

• Precise - use data to make the right decisions now and in the future.
• Agile - change decisions quickly to take advantage of opportunities and threats
• Consistent - provide consistent messaging
• Fast - take action in the moment.
• Effective - balance quality, safety and best use of resources.

The MHAIDS Operations Centre main focus is on capacity/demand prediction, aiming to elevate to senior management any issues in an organised and coordinated way and working together as a sector alongside other functions and localities to address any acute issues.

About You

• Relevant tertiary level business qualification or equivalent in health leadership
• Professional registration with current APC
• Experience in implementing Te Tiriti o Waitangi in action.
• Valuing the contribution of others
• Managing stakeholder relationships
• Pro-active management to achieve outcomes
• Devolution of decision making
• A commitment to contribute at a strategic level
• A commitment to promote research
• Broad and lateral thinker who can articulate thinking well at all levels
• Adept at working across established networks and structures
• Emotionally resilient
• Flexible and adaptable
• Works well with complexity and ambiguity
• Proactive and motivated - responds positively to new challenges
• Skilled in time and organisational management
• Works well under pressure - keeps a balanced perspective

Working at Health New Zealand

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is 'the weaving of wellness'. We're dedicated to ensuring excellent healthcare for the people of Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Our people are at the heart of everything we do. Health New Zealand are committed to being good employers and honouring our equal employment opportunity obligations. We embrace diversity and welcome application from all people, including all gender identities, ages, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and disability. A workforce that is diverse and inclusive means that we are better positioned to understand and service our community. We are pro-equity health organisation, with a particular focus on Māori, Pacific Peoples, and the Disability Community.