Regulatory Services Team Leader

Kaikoura District Council; Kaikōura; On-site; NZD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Kaikōura District Council is seeking a Regulatory Services Team Leader to oversee daily regulatory functions and lead a team through inspections, enforcement and customer‑focused service delivery. The role emphasizes practical compliance work and staff supervision across animal control, parking, noise, and food safety, with a strong community orientation.

You will report to the Community and Resilience Manager, coordinate workloads, and drive continuous improvement while ensuring timely,

Qualifications

• Experience in regulatory compliance and enforcement.
• Experience supervising staff, contractors and seasonal resources.
• Full, clean New Zealand driver license.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate day‑to‑day regulatory compliance activities and service responses.
• Provide direction and support to regulatory staff, contractors and seasonal resources.
• Undertake and support compliance, inspection and enforcement work across a broad regulatory portfolio.
• Respond to customer requests, complaints and compliance matters, including on‑site and after‑hours responses where required.
• Prepare and contribute to operational reporting, workload monitoring and process improvement.
• Support the review and implementation of bylaws, policies, strategies, management plans and procedures.
• Collaborate with internal teams, government agencies, contractors and the wider community.

Skills

Regulatory leadership

Regulatory compliance

Inspection/enforcement

Stakeholder engagement

Team supervision

Tools

NZ Driver License

Job description

Are you an experienced regulatory professional who is ready to step into a hands‑on leadership role?

Kaikōura District Council is looking for a Regulatory Services Team Leader to coordinate the day‑to‑day delivery of our regulatory services and help achieve fair, consistent and effective compliance outcomes for our community. This is a varied role where no two days are the same. You will guide and support regulatory staff, contractors and seasonal resources while also getting involved in practical compliance, inspection and enforcement work across areas such as animal control, parking, freedom camping, noise, alcohol licensing, food safety, resource consent compliance and building compliance functions.

About the role

Reporting to the Community and Resilience Manager, you will provide operational supervision, coordinate service delivery, monitor workloads and support continuous improvement across Council’s regulatory services. You will use an approach based on engagement, education, enabling and enforcement, ensuring responses are timely, proportionate, well documented and aligned with relevant legislation, bylaws, policies and delegations while delivering a positive, professional and customer‑focused experience for our residents, businesses and visitors.

Key responsibilities

Coordinate day‑to‑day regulatory compliance activities and service responses.

Provide direction, guidance and support to regulatory staff, contractors and seasonal resources.

Undertake and support compliance, inspection and enforcement work across a broad regulatory portfolio.

Respond to customer requests, complaints and compliance matters, including on‑site and after‑hours responses where required.

Prepare and contribute to operational reporting, workload monitoring and process improvement.

Support the review and implementation of bylaws, policies, strategies, management plans and operational procedures.

Work collaboratively with internal teams, government agencies, contractors, consultants, other councils and the wider community.

Champion a customer‑focused approach to regulatory services, ensuring interactions are respectful, responsive, solution‑focused and consistent with Council's service standards

About you

You will bring sound judgement, strong communication skills and confidence working with legislation, bylaws and compliance processes. You will be comfortable managing competing priorities, supporting others and having constructive conversations in sometimes challenging situations.

Ideally, you will have experience in regulatory compliance, enforcement, inspections, local government or a comparable customer‑facing compliance environment. Experience providing guidance, coordination or informal supervision to staff, contractors or operational teams will be important, along with a full, clean New Zealand driver license.

At Kaikōura District Council, we are committed to delivering excellent service and supporting strong, connected communities. We believe effective regulation and excellent customer service go hand in hand. Our approach is to engage, educate and enable wherever possible, while taking proportionate enforcement action when required..

For a full position description please visit our website: www.kaikoura.govt.nz

Applicants must be a New Zealand citizen, resident or have a valid work permit.

Applications will be processed as they are received so we encourage you to apply early. Applications will close on 27 September 2026, or sooner, should we find a suitable candidate earlier.