Principal Advisor Readiness and Response

New Zealand Government; Wellington; On-site; NZD 156,000 - 172,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Income Protection

Life Insurance

Superannuation

Job summary

Maritime New Zealand is seeking a Principal Advisor Readiness and Response to lead strategic programmes and provide high-quality policy advice to senior leaders. You will develop business cases, funding proposals and governance papers while strengthening partnerships across government and emergency management to improve maritime safety outcomes.

You will influence across organisational boundaries, manage complex initiatives within the SAR system, and ensure practical, evidence-informed policy

Qualifications

• 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 and professionalism.

Responsibilities

• Lead complex strategic programmes and initiatives across the SAR system.
• Provide high-quality policy advice to senior leaders and governance groups.
• Develop business cases, investment proposals and funding recommendations.
• Support Maritime NZ's commitments to the NZ Search and Rescue Council work programme.
• Identify emerging risks, opportunities and future capability needs.
• Build partnerships across government, emergency management and operational response organisations.
• Apply evidence and lessons learned to improve system performance.

Skills

Strategic policy advice

Cross-agency collaboration

Stakeholder engagement

Systems thinking

Analytical capability

Influencing senior leaders

Governance governance

Job description

# Principal Advisor Readiness and Response at Maritime New Zealand, Wellington## Mō tēnei tūranga mahi | About this role**Principal Advisor Readiness and Response*** Based in Wellington* Permanent, full-time opportunity* Salary: $156,314 - $171,946 pa depending on skills and experience**Mō mātou | About Us** Our Vision: Preventing Harm. Saving Lives. Securing our FutureWe play a key role in the guardianship of New Zealand 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 thingConnect | Kotahitanga - We unite in a common purposeCourage | 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 include:* 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.**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 outcomesExperience 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** $156,314 - $171,946 depending on skills and experience + superannuation.**Me pēhea te tuku tono | How to apply**We are unable to accept applications via email. Please click the apply button to submit your application.We're committed to ensuring our application process is accessible to everyone. Please reach out to our recruitment team below if there is any support we can provide to ensure the process is accessible to you.Applications for this role close **midnight 20 September 2026**. Please also note that you must have the legal right to live and work in New Zealand to be considered for this role.If you have any questions please e-mail [e-mail]