Senior Legal Counsel

Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand; Auckland; On-site; NZD 140,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Health New Zealand is seeking an experienced Senior Legal Counsel to join the Legal team in the Northern region. You will provide high-quality medico-legal advice to clinical staff and leadership, support external investigations, and contribute to policy development within a large public health system in Auckland.

You will coordinate with external counsel, manage complex health-law matters, and help ensure safe, effective care for New Zealanders while maintaining integrity and professional

Qualifications

• Qualified lawyer with NZ practising certificate eligibility.
• Experience providing medico-legal advice in health care settings.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, and stakeholder management.

Responsibilities

• Provide trusted medico-legal advice to clinical staff and leadership across the Northern region.
• Manage complex medico-legal matters, including investigations and external inquiries.
• Draft responses to external agencies and support court appearances when required.
• Develop guidance on health law, policies, and procedures; train staff as needed.
• Build relationships with clinical teams, regulators, Police and external legal providers.

Skills

Communication

Relationship building

Solution-focused advice

Education

Law degree (LLB)

Eligible for practising certificate in NZ

Job description

• Permanent, full-time position based in Auckland.
• Provide trusted legal advice and support to clinical staff and leadership on a wide range of medico-legal matters.
• Join a collaborative legal team contributing to safe, effective healthcare and better outcomes for patients and whānau.

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is the country's largest employer, delivering universal public healthcare to 5 million New Zealanders.

We provide essential hospital, specialist, and community health services across 80+ locations - from large urban centres to rural towns and remote communities.

Our goal is to improve health outcomes for all New Zealanders by delivering equitable, accessible and innovative care.

About the Role

We're looking for an experiencedSenior Legal Counsel, Northernto join our Legal team in the Northern region. Reporting to the Principal Legal Counsel, Northern, you'll provide high-quality, pragmatic legal advice and support to clinical staff and leadership across the Northern region on a wide range of medico-legal matters, while also contributing to broader legal work across Health New Zealand.

You'll advise on complex health law and privacy issues and external investigations involving agencies such as the Health and Disability Commissioner, Privacy Commissioner, Ombudsman and Coroner. Your work will include coordinating and drafting responses to external agencies and provisional coronial findings, reviewing draft medical reports for coronial inquiries, supporting staff who provide statements to Police, and acting as liaison for significant Police investigations.

You'll advise on applications under the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988 and applications for non-party disclosure orders under the Criminal Disclosure Act 2008. You'll also instruct and support external counsel in legal proceedings involving Health NZ and support staff appearing in court.

Alongside your advisory and litigation support work, you'll provide training and develop guidance on health law and other relevant legal matters, and contribute legal input to the development and review of policies and procedures. You'll build strong relationships with clinical teams, leaders, regulators, Police and external legal providers, delivering timely, clear and workable advice in a complex public healthcare environment.

About you

You'll be an experienced legal professional with sound judgement, strong relationship skills and the ability to provide clear, solution-focused advice on complex matters. You'll bring:

• A tertiary qualification in Law and eligibility to hold a practising certificate as a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand.
• At least eight years' post-qualification experience gained in a private law firm or an in-house legal team.
• Experience in health law or a related field.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain complex legal issues clearly and practically.
• The ability to build trusted relationships with diverse stakeholders and work confidently both independently and collaboratively.
• Experience putting Te Tiriti o Waitangi into action, alongside a commitment to professionalism, integrity and continuous improvement.

An understanding and appreciation of public healthcare services in New Zealand would be an advantage.

You'll be able to manage a busy and varied workload, adjust priorities, maintain positive relationships at all levels, and navigate sensitive and complex situations with professionalism, integrity and care.

Working for Health New Zealand

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is dedicated to ensuring excellent healthcare for the people of New Zealand. We embrace a workforce that is diverse and inclusive so that we are better positioned to understand and service our community. We welcome applications from our diverse Māori, Pacific, disabled, and rainbow communities.

The full position description is available on the Health New Zealand Careers site.

We will review applications as received and may proceed with the recruitment process before the closing date of this advert.

Job details

Job Reference:

Job Reference: HNZ/1951179

Location:

North Island - Auckland - Central Auckland