Principal Advisors | Transformation | Wellington

Ministry of Social Development; Wellington; On-site; NZD 143,000 - 178,000; Full time

Job summary

Ministry of Social Development in Wellington seeks a Principal Advisor to act as a trusted strategic partner to the Directors of Business Service Design or Readiness, guiding priorities and leading across a complex portfolio.

You will identify risks and opportunities, connect programmes, and influence governance forums, while building trusted relationships with MSD and external partners to deliver lasting improvements for New Zealanders.

Qualifications

• Significant experience as a Principal Advisor or similar in large, complex organisations.
• Ability to advise Directors and influence senior leaders.
• Strong written and verbal communication.
• Ability to manage risks, issues and dependencies.
• Experience in governance boards, forums and workshops.
• Commitment to Te Ao Māori and Te Tiriti o Waitangi in work.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic oversight across multiple programmes and initiatives.
• Build and maintain trusted relationships with MSD leaders and external partners.
• Identify risks, opportunities and interdependencies to inform decision-making.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Stakeholder management

Risk management

Governance

Relationship building

Communication skills

Job description

Select how often (in days) to receive an alert:

• 1 role with Business Readiness and Implementation
• Influence senior leaders, governance groups and cross-agency partners on complex strategic issues
• Based at National Office in Wellington

Business Service Design & Readiness sits at the heart of MSD’s transformation agenda, bringing together two complementary teams that help shape, prepare for and embed how services will be delivered in the future.

Business Service Design is responsible for the design and evolution of MSD’s Delivery Operating Model. The team translates strategic direction into practical business service designs, future-state operating models and business blueprints that guide organisational change.

Business Readiness and Implementation brings together specialist readiness and implementation disciplines to ensure transformational change is planned, sequenced and delivered in a connected way that the organisation can understand, adopt and sustain.

Together, the two teams connect the design of MSD’s future services with the practical work required to prepare the organisation for change and successfully embed it, helping deliver better outcomes for New Zealanders.

New Zealand is changing, and so are we. MSD is transforming to build a smarter, simpler, more responsive welfare system.

This is a rare opportunity to help shape a once-in-a-generation transformation to deliver better outcomes for New Zealanders. Join a multidisciplinary team driving people-led, technology-enabled change at scale.

About the role | Mō te tūnga

As a Principal Advisor you will be a trusted strategic advisor to the Director Business Service Design, or the Director Business Service Readiness, helping drive strategic priorities and providing leadership across a complex portfolio of work.

These roles operate at the centre of MSD’s transformation, ensuring alignment across programmes of work, initiatives, and stakeholders. You will support effective decision-making by identifying risks, opportunities, interdependencies and emerging issues, while maintaining oversight of multiple moving pieces of work.

You will act as a key representative for the Director, building strong relationships across MSD and with external partners, participating in governance forums, workshops and meetings, and influencing outcomes through trusted advice and collaboration.

While strategic service design or business readiness expertise is important, your success will come from your ability to navigate complexity, connect people and work programmes, provide strategic oversight, and ensure organisational priorities are delivered effectively.

You will also contribute to the development of MSD’s future operating environment by providing strategic advice, supporting service design initiatives, and ensuring business, operational and delivery considerate are integrated into decision-making.

We are looking for a highly credible and influential professionals who can operate confidently in complex environments and build trusted relationships at all levels.

• Significant experience operating as a Principal Advisor, Senior Advisor, Programme Lead, or similar role within large and complex organisations.
• Strong strategic thinking and the ability to understand enterprise-wide impacts, risks, opportunities and interdependencies.
• Proven experience identifying, managing and escalating risks, issues and dependencies across multiple programmes or workstreams.
• Exceptional stakeholder management skills, with the ability to build trusted relationships and influence senior leaders, managers and partners.
• Demonstrated ability to represent senior leaders in meetings, workshops, governance forums and engagements, exercising sound judgement and decision-making authority.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including developing strategic advice, presentations and thought leadership.
• Knowledge of strategic service design, operating model development or business readiness and implementation approaches, with the ability to apply these pragmatically to organisational challenges.
• Experience coaching, mentoring or providing leadership to others to strengthen capability and performance.
• A commitment to embedding Te Ao Māori, Te Reo Māori, tikanga, kawa and Te Tiriti o Waitangi into the way we work.

What’s in it for you | Nōu te rourou

This is an opportunity to have enterprise-wide impact. Working across MSD’s transformation portfolio, you will support leaders, programmes and design teams to create aligned, integrated solutions that connect service, process, workforce and technology perspectives. These roles are ideal for applicants who enjoy working at the intersection of strategy, delivery and leadership. Your expertise will help strengthen successful design practice, enable successful implementation, and ensure the changes we make deliver lasting value for New Zealanders.

Salary | Utu-ā-tau: $142,874.00 - $177,798.00

The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) is a people-centred organisation. We’re in communities across the motu, working with partners to help New Zealanders be safe, strong and independent.

We provide social policy advice to government, and assistance including income, employment and housing support to people of all ages, families, whānau and communities.

As a Te Tiriti o Waitangi partner, we are committed to supporting and enabling Māori, whānau, hapū, Iwi and communities to realise their own potential and aspirations.

Our people are as diverse as the communities we serve. We care about the wellbeing and success of our people and provide a supportive and inclusive working environment where people can thrive and be who they are.

Joining MSD means being part of a whānau that celebrates the diversity each individual represents.

We show manaaki, we care about the wellbeing and success of people and want everyone to thrive and be who they are in a supportive and inclusive working environment. We work together to make a difference for communities while doing the right thing with integrity. You can find out more about our values here.