Senior Commercial Advisor

Greater Wellington Regional Council; Wellington; On-site; NZD 109,000 - 163,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

Learning and development

Medical and trauma insurance

Generous annual leave

Inclusive culture

Job summary

Greater Wellington Regional Council in Wellington is seeking a Senior Commercial Advisor to lead commercial strategy and drive new contracts and services across Metlink. You will build strategic relationships, provide commercial guidance, and oversee procurement decisions that impact thousands of commuters daily.

You will engage with rail, bus and ferry stakeholders, support negotiations, and manage projects to deliver value for money, sustainability and operational improvements.

Qualifications

• Strong project management with multiple relationships, deadlines and budgets.
• Curiosity and pragmatism at the intersection of finance, strategy, people and contracts.
• Experience in complex negotiations within commercial frameworks.
• Knowledge of procurement and contract management principles.
• Strategic thinking with the ability to close a deal.
• Ability to build consensus among multiple parties.
• Comfort with complexity and ambiguity; bring order when needed.
• Commitment to te Tiriti o Waitangi and Māori perspectives.
• Background in transport/public transport or infrastructure delivery is advantageous.
• Strong interpersonal skills.

Responsibilities

• Work extensively with external service providers to explore new opportunities or significant changes to terms (with contract advisors and legal support).
• Support Analysts and Principal Account Managers to ensure opportunities are informed by robust analysis and best practices.
• Assist the Manager Commercial in leading complex contract negotiations.
• Identify and drive value-for-money cost efficiencies and sustainable improvements.
• Coordinate and lead project teams through negotiations, contractor management and budget oversight.
• Share knowledge and insights to help colleagues learn and grow.

Skills

Project management

Commercial negotiations

Procurement

Stakeholder management

Strategic thinking

Financial acumen

Te Tiriti awareness

Interpersonal skills

Job description

Jora New Zealand will close on 9th September 2026. Thank you for being with us, we are cheering you on as you continue your career journey.

Greater Wellington Regional Council – Wellington Central, North Island

We are looking for a motivated self-starter to join our small, high performing and dedicated team. We need someone with excellent commercial acumen and analytical skills who has a proven ability to build and cultivate effective cross functional relationships and lead projects. You'll help shape big strategic decisions and drive commercial outcomes, in an organisation that impacts our community and tens of thousands of people every day.

Under our Metlink brand, Greater Wellington Regional Council support the delivery of our regions interconnected public transport network. Via our Transport Operators this requires carrying over 100,000 Wellingtonians on bus, train, ferry and Total Mobility services as they go about their daily lives.

With Greater Wellington's public transport contracts up for renewal, the Commercial Partnerships team was established to lead the review, redesign, development, and tendering of these contracts. Above and beyond traditional procurement, the priority for this team is securing cost-effective outcomes.

About the role:

The Senior Commercial Advisor plays a lead role across all parts of Metlink by being at the forefront of our commercial strategy. Delivering new commercial initiatives, contracts and services by:

• Building and maintaining strategic relationships and commercial arrangements.
• Supporting the Manager Commercial in strategic commercial negotiations.
• Providing commercial advice to the Principal Account Managers and Principal Advisors for rail, bus and ferry.
• Advising on future procurement strategies and process.
• Project management and delivery of new services and projects.
• Relationship Management with key external stakeholder

What you'll do:

As a Senior Commercial Advisor at Metlink, you will:

• Work extensively with external service providers to explore new commercial opportunities or significant changes to commercial terms and conditions (with the support of the team's contract advisors and legal support.
• Support the Commercial Analysts and Principal Account Managers, ensuring new commercial opportunities are informed by robust analysis and research, and follow best practice business case/assessment processes and procurement practice.
• Support the Manager Commercial to lead complex contract negotiations.
• Work across the business to proactively identify and drive value for money cost efficiencies, sustainable resource management and operational improvements.
• Coordinate, manage and lead project teams to deliver key functional elements of new services, including commercial negotiations, contractor management, stakeholder engagement and budget management.
• Support colleagues to learn and grow by sharing your knowledge and insights.

Skills and experience required:

• A strong demonstrated grasp of effective project management including managing multiple relationships, deadlines, stakeholders while ensuring delivery of objectives on time, on budget and to agreed quality standards.
• Curiosity, and a passion for working at the intersect of financial/commercial strategy, people, and contracts, with demonstratable pragmatism.
• Experience in being involved in complex negotiating and working within commercial frameworks.
• Working knowledge and understanding of procurement and contract management principles, processes and practices.
• Strong business acumen, and the ability to think strategically and close a deal.
• An ability to build consensus with multiple parties on the best way forward, especially when dealing with differing opinions and motives.
• Comfort working with complexity and ambiguity, as well as having the ability to bring order to situations when appropriate.
• A commitment to the principles of te Tiriti o Waitangi and an awareness of Māori perspectives and values, and a willingness to learn in this area.
• A background in the transport industry, public transport, or infrastructure delivery and commercial contacts will be a significant advantage.
• Strong inter-personal skills and the ability to get on with colleagues while providing advice, feedback and insights.

What we offer:

• Work to suit your life and whānau with our flexible working policy.
• We’ll encourage you to grow and prosper with a range of learning and development opportunities, internal secondments and career progression.
• Your wellbeing is our priority - we’ll provide medical and trauma insurance support through our employee assistance programme, including Rongoā Māori partner providers, generous annual leave along with Tangihanga leave and support.
• We want you to have a sense of belonging, where you can reflect your personal and cultural identity in the way that you work.
• Social clubs, staff networks and a friendly and inclusive culture.
• Great working environments across our beautiful region.

Come help treasure and grow our rohe together

Our rohe and its lands, waterways, animals, plants and people can only grow stronger if they are nurtured.

To join our team is to step up and commit to playing an active part in this important mahi. That means restoring nature, connecting people and places, reducing environmental impacts and helping this rohe and its people prosper.

We are part of a collective movement alongside mana whenua and community members whose hopes for the future of this region are just as high as your own.

Our efforts across environmental management, public transport, flood protection, regional parks and water supply are interconnected and integral to treasuring our rohe and growing our future.

Greater Wellington is proud to be a member of Te Uru Tāngata Centre for Workplace Inclusion. We value diversity and are committed to an inclusive, flexible, and supportive workplace. We encourage candidates from all backgrounds and welcome the unique talent and experience you will bring to our team.

We are passionate about ensuring our recruitment processes are fair and equitable. Please let us know if you have any accessibility needs or adjustments that need to be made so we can offer a recruitment process that is more accessible to you.

All applicants will be required to provide proof of their eligibility to work in New Zealand as we are unable to provide sponsorship for this position.

For further information, please contact Michael Freeman Manager Commercial, ***************@gw.govt.nz

Applications close: 5.00pm, Sunday 13 September 2026. However, we will be shortlisting applications as they come in and will interview as soon as possible to secure the right person.

Greater Wellington is an accredited Living Wage Employer. We're committed to making sure our people, including people in our supply chain, earn enough to meet life's basic needs, support their whānau, and participate fully in their communities.

The remuneration for this position, inclusive of all benefits, is $108,673 to $163,010 with a midpoint of $135,842. Starting remuneration will depend on the skills and experience of the successful applicant.