Refugee and Protection Officer

New Zealand Ministry Of Economic Development; Auckland; On-site; NZD 70,000 - 85,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Extensive training and support

Permanent full-time position

Job summary

MBIE is offering a challenging permanent full-time role in the Refugee Status Unit (RSU) in central Auckland. As a Refugee and Protection Officer (RPO), you will determine refugee/protection status under NZ and international law, interview claimants, conduct investigations, analyze information and write decisions.

You will join a dedicated team committed to upholding NZ’s obligations and delivering fair outcomes.

Qualifications

• Familiarity with the Refugee Convention, CAT and ICCPR.
• Understanding of the Immigration Act 2009 and other rights instruments.
• Knowledge of NZ refugee case law and IAPT decisions.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Tertiary qualification or equivalent in a relevant field.
• Ability to gain and maintain a national security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Make refugee and protection status determinations under NZ and international law.
• Interview claimants and conduct investigations.
• Analyse information and write high-quality decisions.
• Work with a dedicated team in central Auckland.

Skills

Refugee law

Immigration Act 2009

NZ refugee case law

Excellent communication

Tertiary qualification

Security clearance

Education

Tertiary qualification or equivalent

Job description

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• Challenging and rewarding career opportunity
• Exciting opportunity to join a fun, supportive and high performing team
• Extensive training and support provided
• Permanent full-time position
• Starting salary: $77,359 | Auckland CBD

We have a challenging and exciting permanent full-time opportunity within the Refugee Status Unit (RSU) in central Auckland. You will be joining a dedicated team who are passionate about their work. As a Refugee and Protection Officer (RPO) you will be making decisions on refugee and protection status in accordance with New Zealand and international law. This will involve interviewing claimants, conducting investigations, analysing relevant information, and writing quality decisions.

• The RSU plays a key role in upholding New Zealand’s obligations under certain international human rights instruments.
• We are part of the Refugee & Migrant Services Branch of Immigration New Zealand, which manages the Government’s commitments to asylum seekers, quota refugees and recent migrants.
• As an RPO you will utilise your research, analysis, writing and communication skills to make fair and balanced refugee and protected person status determinations.
• You will need to be agile, flexible, organised and able to meet deadlines.
• You will interact with people from a wide variety of backgrounds, as such cultural competence is important.

Ngā pukenga me ngā wheako e hiahiatia ana - Skills and Experience Required

• Familiarity with the Refugee Convention, Convention Against Torture, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
• Understanding of the Immigration Act 2009 and other relevant international human rights instruments.
• Knowledge of New Zealand refugee case law, particularly decisions from the Immigration and Protection Tribunal.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• A tertiary qualification in a relevant field or equivalent knowledge and experience in refugee status determination.
• Ability to gain and maintain a national security clearance as required.

Our ideal applicant is someone who has excellent writing skills, the ability to apply legal principles in making objective, well-reasoned decisions, and the ability to work under pressure. For your application to be considered, you must have New Zealand citizenship or hold a Permanent Resident Visa.

MBIE's goal is to create a resilient and high-performing economy that delivers real and ongoing quality of life for all New Zealanders.

We do this by working with others to create an environment that supports businesses to be more productive and internationally competitive, enables all New Zealanders to participate in the economy through improved job opportunities and by working to ensure quality housing is more affordable.

People are at the heart of our mahi, our way of working is guided by our values which shape our behaviours.

• Māia– Bold and brave
• Pae Kahurangi – Build our Future

Our aspirations are echoed in our Māori identity – Hīkina Whakatutuki – which broadly means ‘lifting to make successful'.

MBIE recognises the partnership founded under TeTiritio Waitangi between Māori and the Crown and is committed to giving effect to TeTiritio Waitangi. We will do this through enduring, meaningful and effective partnerships with iwi, Māori, other Māori groups/organisations and the Crown, as this is critical to enable economic and social development, both for Māori and for wider Aotearoa New Zealand. We are committed to continuing to partner with iwi in order to find new sustainable solutions to address long standing systemic and cross-cutting issues facing Māori and wider Aotearoa New Zealand and we are also committed to identifying opportunities for iwi to lead and creating an enabling environment for iwi to leverage these opportunities.

Applications close on Wednesday 4 November 2026 at 11.59pm.