Principal Advisor Readiness And Response

CGR Services; Wellington; On-site; NZD 141,000 - 172,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Income Protection

Life Insurance

Job summary

Maritime NZ in Wellington is seeking a Principal Advisor Readiness and Response to lead strategic programmes within the Readiness and Response Harm Prevention Programme and support the National SAR Coordination Work Programme. You will provide policy advice for senior decision-makers and craft Cabinet papers.

The role partners with senior leaders, delivering evidence-informed guidance to govern priorities, with opportunities to influence across government and emergency management sectors.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience providing strategic policy advice to senior executives and governance bodies.
• Experience leading complex cross-agency programmes or system-level initiatives.
• Strong systems thinking and analytical capability.
• Experience developing business cases, investment proposals and governance papers.
• Exceptional stakeholder engagement and influencing skills.

Responsibilities

• Leading complex strategic programmes and initiatives across the SAR system.
• Providing high-quality policy advice to senior leaders and governance groups.
• Developing business cases, investment proposals and funding recommendations.
• Supporting Maritime NZ's commitments to the New Zealand Search and Rescue Council work programme.
• Identifying emerging risks, opportunities and future capability needs.
• Building strong partnerships across government, emergency management and operational response organisations.
• Applying evidence, insights and lessons learned to improve system performance and outcomes.

Skills

Strategic policy advice

Cross-agency collaboration

Stakeholder engagement

Analytical capability

Job description

Principal Advisor Readiness and Response

• Based in Wellington
• Permanent, full‑time opportunity
• Salary: $140,683 - $171,946 pa depending on skills and experience

Mō mātou | About Us

Our Vision: Preventing Harm. Saving Lives. Securing our Future We play a key role in the guardianship of NewZealand waterways. We’re bringing together our aroha, work and skills to achieve our outcomes of sustainable supply chains and sectors, safe people and operations, secure ports and ships, and clean seas and waterways. Our values are about who we are as individuals and the behaviours we expect from each other at Maritime NZ. Care | Kia Tika - We care for each other and do the right thing Connect | Kotahitanga - We unite in a common purpose Courage | Kia Māia - We are brave, capable and confident

Mō tō mātou Rōpū - About the team

The Chief Executive (CE) Office, Strategy and People Group brings together strategy, governance, performance and organisational capability to support how Maritime NZ delivers on its priorities. Within this, the External Strategy and Programmes function plays a key role in translating strategy into coordinated action—ensuring programmes are aligned, well‑sequenced and delivering meaningful outcomes across the maritime system.

Te tūnga | The role

Reporting to the Manager External Strategy and Programmes, you'll partner closely with senior leaders to lead key initiatives within Maritime NZ's Readiness and Response Harm Prevention Programme and support delivery of the National Search and Rescue (SAR) Coordination Work Programme. You’ll work to deliver strategic policy advice to decision‑makers to enable them to make evidence‑informed choices and manage trade‑offs and priorities across the SAR work programme. Responsibilities will include the preparation of written and verbal advice, such as policy briefings, business cases and Cabinet papers for senior decision‑makers.

Key responsibilities

• Leading complex strategic programmes and initiatives across the SAR system
• Providing high‑quality policy advice to senior leaders and governance groups
• Developing business cases, investment proposals and funding recommendations
• Supporting Maritime NZ's commitments to the NewZealand Search and Rescue Council work programme
• Identifying emerging risks, opportunities and future capability needs
• Building strong partnerships across government, emergency management and operational response organisations
• Applying evidence, insights and lessons learned to improve system performance and outcomes.

Nōu te rourou | What you bring

You’ll be an accomplished principal‑level advisor with a reputation for navigating complexity, influencing across organisational boundaries and delivering outcomes through collaboration. To be successful, you'll bring:

• Demonstrated experience providing strategic policy advice to senior executives and governance bodies
• Experience leading complex cross‑agency programmes or system‑level initiatives
• Strong systems thinking and analytical capability
• Experience developing business cases, investment proposals and governance papers
• Exceptional stakeholder engagement and influencing skills
• Sound judgement, credibility and professionalism
• The ability to translate strategy into practical, achievable outcomes

Experience within search and rescue, emergency management, response, resilience or similarly complex operational environments will be highly regarded.

Mōu | For you

We aim to be a workplace where everyone feels valued, supported with a sense of belonging. We encourage our people to actively contribute to our workplace culture where we all thrive and authentically live our MNZ values. Upon joining us you’ll receive a full range of benefits including Income Protection & Life Insurance. Check out our full range on our careers page to find out more about why we love working here.

Salary range $140,683 - $171,946 depending on skills and experience + superannuation.

Please also note that you must have the legal right to live and work in NewZealand to be considered for this role.