Senior Solicitor

Maritimenz; Wellington; Hybrid; NZD 119,000 - 154,000; Full time

Job summary

Maritime NZ is seeking a Senior Solicitor to provide expert legal advice and lead complex litigation across regulatory and enforcement work. This senior role sits in the Litigation and Operations unit and requires close collaboration with investigators and operational leaders to safeguard maritime safety and environmental outcomes.

Based in Wellington with the option for other regions, the role involves court appearances, prosecutions, and advising on investigations, with opportunities to

Qualifications

• Qualified lawyer with a Bachelor of Laws or higher and admission to the NZ High Court.
• Current practising certificate (or eligibility to obtain one).
• Minimum of 7 years' post-qualification experience.
• Proven criminal litigation and prosecution experience.
• Experience in transport law, maritime, environmental, security and health & safety issues.
• Ability to obtain Prosecutor classification at Level 2 or higher.
• Experience advising on investigations or regulatory enforcement matters.
• In-house public sector experience and understanding of Public Law and machinery of government.
• Ability to apply legislation and common law to maritime obligations.
• Ability to independently manage complex files and advise senior stakeholders.
• Strong advocacy skills and confidence appearing in court.
• Excellent judgement, problem-solving, relationship management, communication and influencing skills.
• Sound leadership and coaching skills.
• Pragmatic, commercially-minded approach to legal risk.

Responsibilities

• Provide expert legal advice and litigation support across regulatory and enforcement activities.
• Support incident investigations, health and safety regulatory functions, prosecutions and court proceedings.
• Work with investigators and operational leaders to provide pragmatic legal advice while managing complex litigation.
• Appear in court and advise on criminal investigations and enforcement decisions.
• Manage relationships with Crown Solicitors and external legal providers.
• Support Maritime NZ's response to significant incidents.

Skills

Criminal litigation experience

Public law understanding

Regulatory enforcement experience

Advising on investigations

Court advocacy skills

Interpreting legislation

Strategic legal advisory

Education

Bachelor of Laws or higher

Admission as a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of NZ

Current practising certificate

Job description

Our Vision: Preventing Harm. Saving Lives. Securing our Future

We play a key role in the guardianship of New Zealand waterways. We’re bringing together our aroha, work and skills to achieve our outcomes of sustainable supply chains and sectors, safe people and operations, secure ports and ships, and clean seas and waterways.

Our values are about who we are as individuals and the behaviours we expect from each other at Maritime NZ.

Care | Kia Tika - We care for each other and do the right thing

Courage | Kia Māia - We are brave, capable and confident

Legal Services is responsible for the provision of legal advice, and the management of strategic legal risk on behalf of the Director and the Authority to enable Maritime NZ to lawfully and effectively perform its functions, duties and powers. The wider team has five defined practice areas, being:

• Commercial and property law
• Litigation and operations
• Public and international law.

This role sits in the Litigation and Operations unit which is involved in advising on criminal investigations and managing litigation relating to maritime transport and marine pollution breaches. This includes Maritime NZ’s work as a designated regulator of health and safety in relation to ships and major ports. The unit also advises internally on policy and guidance relating to Maritime NZ’s regulatory operations, as well as advising on the exercise of other compliance functions.

Te tūnga | The role

The Senior Solicitor will provide expert legal advice and litigation support across Maritime NZ's regulatory and enforcement activities.

This is a senior role within a small, high-performing team, supporting incident investigations, health and safety regulatory functions, prosecutions, and court proceedings. You will work closely with investigators and operational leaders, providing pragmatic, business savvy legal advice while managing and conducting complex litigation and prosecution matters.

The successful candidate will be comfortable appearing in court, advising on criminal investigations and enforcement decisions, managing relationships with Crown Solicitors and external legal providers, and supporting Maritime NZ's response to significant incidents.

This role is Wellington based but open to candidates in other regions.

To be successful in this role you will:

• Bachelor of Laws or higher
• Admission as a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand and a current practising certificate (or eligibility to hold one)
• A minimum of 7 years' post-qualification experience
• Proven criminal litigation and prosecution experience
• Experience in transport law and/or maritime, environmental, security and health & safety issues
• Ability to obtain an in-house Prosecutor classification at Level 2 or higher
• Proven experience advising on investigations or regulatory enforcement matters
• Experience working in-house within the public sector and a strong understanding of Public Law, the regulatory environment, and machinery of government
• Demonstrated ability to interpret legislation and apply common law principles to relevant functions and obligations under the maritime law framework
• The ability to independently manage complex files and provide trusted advice to senior stakeholders
• Strong advocacy skills and confidence appearing in court
• Excellent judgement, problem-solving, relationship management, communication, and influencing skills
• Sound leadership and coaching skills
• A pragmatic and commercially‑minded approach to legal risk and decision‑making.

In‑house public sector experience is beneficial particularly in a regulatory or health and safety context but applications without this can be considered.

Management of Critical Risk (Psychological Trauma)

This role may, from time to time, expose the individual to potentially aggressive communication—such as emails or phone calls—as well as scenes of traumatic incidents, the collection and handling of evidence from such scenes, and interaction with individuals affected by traumatic events.

Maritime NZ provides training and support to employees exposed to this critical risk. We expect employees to undertake training and familiarise themselves with the relevant processes and the support available to them to manage traumatic events. Please consider carefully on whether any past experiences or resilience challenges may affect your ability to undertake this type of work.

Maritime NZ recognises and respects te Tiriti o Waitangi and we are committed to working with Māori to build strong, meaningful and enduring relationships to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes.

We aim to be a workplace where everyone feels valued, supported with a sense of belonging. We encourage our people to actively contribute to our workplace culture where we all thrive and authentically live our Maritime NZ values.

Upon joining us you’ll receive a full range of benefits including Income Protection & Life Insurance. We also have two employee led networks; Women’s Network or Rainbow Network, along with staff engagement groups such as Te Rōpū Māori that you may want to join. Check out our full range on our careers page to find out more about why we love working here.

Salary range

$119,318 to $153,514 depending on skills and experience + superannuation.