Senior Support Officer - Whakatane

Kumara Vine; Whakatāne; Remote; NZD 62,000 - 74,000; Full time

Job summary

Kumara Vine in Whakatāne, Bay of Plenty, is seeking a proactive administrator with strong customer service to join our team. The role centers on front-desk duties including welcoming visitors, answering calls, and routing enquiries to the correct teams, while supporting fleet, events, and purchasing needs.

You will work closely with the regional Business Support Team, managing multiple tasks with accuracy and a can-do attitude in a busy office environment.

Qualifications

• Applicant must have superb customer service and strong personal interactions.
• Organised, able to multitask and meet deadlines.
• Proficient with Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, Word, Outlook.
• Experience in administration and reception preferred.
• Tech-savvy with ability to learn new systems quickly.
• Able to handle visitors, suppliers, and internal requests.

Responsibilities

• First point of contact for Whakatāne office.
• Welcome visitors and manage reception.
• Answer phone calls and refer enquiries to relevant teams.
• Assist with fleet, events, and purchasing requests.
• Provide IT support and broader business support across portfolios.
• Maintain visitor access cards and security.
• Support Accounts Payable and procurement processes advantageous.

Skills

Customer service

Reception duties

Office software

Telephone etiquette

Time management

Multitasking

Team player

Tools

Excel

Word

Outlook

Databases

Job description

We work to shape an education system that delivers equitable and excellent outcomes

Our organisation is made up of talented and committed people around Aotearoa, from a wide range of backgrounds and cultures. While we work in different groups and on different things, we all strive every day to make the biggest difference we can for our students in our education system.

Permanent, full-time role

Whakatāne, Bay of Plenty

We have an exciting opportunity for a customer service superstar with administrative experience to join our Whakatāne office as part of the Bay of Plenty-Waiariki Business Support Team.

If you are energetic, organised, thrive in a busy environment where attention to detail is imperative, can manage conflicting priorities, enjoy taking responsibility, have a bubbly personality and can develop good working relationships, then this could be the role for you.

This position has a key focus on being the first point of contact for our Whakatāne office. You will welcome our visitors as they arrive at our reception area, answer telephone calls and refer enquiries to the different Ministry teams, including those in other regions. You will support our suppliers and contractors when they arrive at our site and maintain security by issuing visitor access cards. You will also assist with fleet and event management, processing purchasing requests, responding promptly to internal staff requests, assisting staff with technology issues and providing business support to the broader Ministry team across a range of funding portfolios and work programmes.

As this role is part of the regional Business Support team, it is necessary that you are a strong team player, have excellent organisational and time management skills, and multi-task with superb accuracy and attention to detail. You must also be flexible with a desire to learn.

This permanent, full-time role is based at our Whakatāne Office in one of New Zealand's sunniest locations, offering a fantastic lifestyle and work-life balance opportunity. Whakatāne is the cultural hub of the Whakatāne District which has many local attractions that showcase the rich heritage and history of the area.

Salary range: $61,879 - $73,999 per annum + KiwiSaver. The successful candidate will be appointed at a salary which reflects individual skills and experience.

This position could interest you if you enjoy working with people, take pride in going that extra mile and thrive on working in a busy, collaborative team within a corporate office environment.

To be successful in this role, you will need to have the following capabilities and competencies:

• superb customer service skills with a positive, can-do attitude
• a professional telephone manner
• sound computer literacy and knowledge of the Microsoft Office suite, with a particular emphasis on Excel, Word and Outlook and working with spreadsheets and databases
• tech-savvy and the ability to learn new technology and systems fast
• the ability to troubleshoot basic information and communications technology (ICT) and mobile device queries
• strong organisation skills with impeccable time management and the ability to multi-task and meet deadlines
• the ability to work unsupervised while maintaining a high degree of accuracy
• previous administration experience is preferred
• experience with accounts payable and purchasing/procurement processes and systems would be advantageous
• the ability to work well as part of a team and under pressure
• flexibility and a desire to learn
• excellent written, oral and interpersonal communication skills

The Education Services Group provides well-designed, integrated education services that support the impactful and effective operation of education settings to support student achievement and participation. The services help to remove barriers to participation and learning and provide regulatory advice, support and oversight to early learning providers, schools and kura.

The Group has three key priorities for Education Services:

• Practice & Guidance: Managing practice and guidance to improve national coordination and consistency, whilst enabling regional autonomy for education service delivery.
• Integration & Delivery: Providing education support directly to education settings via integrated regional and national services. This includes intervening when necessary to ensure a high standard of operation to support student outcomes and owning key stakeholder relationships to support schooling improvement and stronger outcomes for learners.
• Monitoring & Improvement: Monitoring and advising on improvements to the effectiveness, efficiency and equity of services for achievement and progression, and attendance and participation. This includes monitoring education provider performance against regulations and intervening as required.

We want our people to feel valued for their unique qualities and have a sense of belonging. If you require assistance or adjustments to fully participate in the recruitment process, please let us know.