Team Manager Investigations

New Zealand Government; Auckland; On-site; NZD 122,000 - 131,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Additional MPI leave days

Ability to purchase extra annual leave

Annual Wellness payment

Job summary

New Zealand Government's Ministry for Primary Industries seeks a Team Manager Investigations in Auckland to lead complex regulatory investigations across animal welfare, biosecurity, fisheries, food safety, and forestry. You will coach investigators, manage caseloads, and drive high-quality outcomes while building stakeholder relationships.

In this leadership role you'll provide direction, ensure evidential handling through prosecution, and support field operations when needed.

Qualifications

• Significant experience leading criminal or regulatory investigations.
• Strong knowledge of investigation and prosecution processes.
• Proven leadership, coaching and mentoring capability.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Expertise interpreting and applying legislation.
• Experience preparing high-quality investigation files.
• Strong interviewing, evidence-gathering and analytical skills.
• Knowledge of evidence, disclosure and criminal procedure requirements.
• Sound judgement in complex and high-profile matters.
• Relevant investigation training or specialist investigative experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead complex regulatory investigations.
• Coach and develop investigators and analysts.
• Drive team performance and capability.
• Make sound case-direction decisions.
• Build effective stakeholder relationships.
• Manage caseloads, risks and escalations.
• Support operational field activities.
• Foster a high-performing team culture.

Skills

Investigations leadership

Regulatory investigations

Prosecution processes

Leadership coaching

Stakeholder management

Legislation interpretation

Evidence gathering

Criminal procedure knowledge

Decision making under pressure

Investigation file preparation

Job description

Job title: Team Manager Investigations Role Type: Permanent, full-time Location: Auckland Salary band & range: General Salary Range C $121,764 to $131,438 depending on skills and experience

About the Role

Kōrero mō te Tūranga As Team Manager Investigations, you will lead a team responsible for delivering complex regulatory investigations across the wide range of legislation administered by MPI, including animal welfare, biosecurity, fisheries, food safety, and forestry. This is a varied and rewarding leadership role operating within a dynamic regulatory environment where priorities can shift quickly. You will lead investigators and analysts through challenging and high-profile matters, ensuring investigations are progressed effectively and meet evidential, disclosure, and prosecution requirements. You will oversee investigations from initiation through to prosecution, providing coaching, guidance, and support to investigators and analysts while actively managing risk and escalation. You will make sound case-direction decisions, maintain oversight of team workloads, and ensure appropriate support is in place to deliver high-quality investigative outcomes. Success in this role requires resilience, sound judgement, and the ability to provide clear direction in situations where information may be incomplete or priorities are rapidly evolving. While predominantly office-based, the role includes opportunities to support operational activities in the field, including search warrants, interviews, field enquiries, and hands‑on coaching. You will work closely with colleagues across MPI and external partner agencies, translating complex legal and technical information for a range of audiences. This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced investigations leader who enjoys variety, values continuous learning, and is passionate about developing people while driving investigative excellence.

In this role, you will:

• Lead complex regulatory investigations
• Coach and develop investigators and analysts
• Drive team performance and capability
• Make sound case-direction decisions
• Build effective stakeholder relationships
• Manage caseloads, risks, and escalations
• Support operational field activities
• Foster a high-performing team culture

About You

Mōu You will bring significant experience leading complex criminal or regulatory investigations, with a strong understanding of investigative processes from case initiation through to prosecution. You will be confident interpreting and applying legislation, exercising sound judgement, and making decisions in complex and often high-pressure environments. Experience within a regulatory setting is highly desirable, although applicants from other investigative backgrounds will also be considered. You will be a capable people leader with a passion for developing others and sharing your expertise. An excellent communicator, you will build credibility with a wide range of stakeholders and be able to present complex information clearly and persuasively. You will combine strong technical investigation skills with resilience, adaptability, and a commitment to achieving high-quality outcomes. To be successful in this role, you will have:

• Experience leading criminal or regulatory investigations
• Strong knowledge of investigation and prosecution processes
• Proven leadership, coaching, and mentoring capability
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills
• Expertise interpreting and applying legislation
• Experience preparing high-quality investigation files
• Strong interviewing, evidence-gathering, and analytical skills
• Knowledge of evidence, disclosure, and criminal procedure requirements
• Sound judgement in complex and high-profile matters
• Relevant investigation training or specialist investigative experience

You must have a current full New Zealand driver licence (not temporary, learner, or provisional) or equivalent full foreign drivers licence, and any endorsements required for the type of driving you'll be doing. You do not need to meet all of the role requirements to apply. We offer a breadth of development and learning opportunities and will welcome an application if you think you could make a great fit.

About the Team

Mō tō mātou Rōpū The Investigations team sits within the Investigations and Compliance Support directorate and is responsible for delivering investigation services across a broad range of legislation administered by MPI. We investigate matters under Acts without a dedicated compliance function, accept referrals from other business groups and co-regulators, and provide specialist investigation support across the organisation. Our work is varied, challenging, and plays an important role in supporting regulatory outcomes across New Zealand. Our team is made up of investigators and investigation analysts who bring a diverse mix of regulatory, enforcement, analytical, and technical expertise. Working across a wide range of legislation creates opportunities to learn from experienced colleagues, build broad investigative knowledge, and contribute to complex and interesting work. We are a collaborative, supportive, and positive team that values knowledge sharing, continuous learning, and delivering high-quality outcomes together.

About MPI

Mō te Manatū Ahu Matua The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) partners with New Zealand's food and fibre sector to be the world's most trusted provider of high-value food and fibre products.

Benefits of working at MPI

Ngā hua o te mahi i te Manatū Ahu Matua

• Additional MPI leave days
• Ability to purchase extra annual leave
• Annual Wellness payment Security checks – Ngā Taki Whakahaumaru

This role requires a New Zealand national security clearance. To be considered for this role, you must meet the eligibility criteria set out below.

SECRET / TOP SECRET national security clearance

• You must be a New Zealand citizen or hold a New Zealand residence‑class visa (including permanent residence).
• You must have a minimum ten (10)‑year background history that can be verified and assessed by the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) to determine your suitability for a SECRET or TOP SECRET national security clearance (as applicable).

Find out more about the national security vetting process here and access the eligibility self‑check tool here.

Credit check - Tirotiro nama

Drug and Alcohol Screening - Whakamātau Whakapōauau me te Waipiro

Further information on this process can be found on our careers site, here.

Are you ready to make a difference? - Kua rite koe mō tēnei mahi whaitake? We are committed to being a good partner under Te Tiriti o Waitangi which includes working closely with iwi, hapū, whānau and hāpori. We aspire to reflect the diverse communities we serve, so we welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds, and identities. As an organisation, we are committed to making Manatū Ahu Matua Ministry for Primary Industries a great place to work for all.

In your cover letter we'd like to know about you, your values; your interest and motivations for this role; the abilities, strengths, personal attributes, and diverse perspectives you will bring to the role and this organisation, which may have also been gained outside of the workforce.

Applications close at 11.59pm Sunday 11 October 2026

If you have any questions about the role, please email [e-mail]

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Team Manager Investigations • Auckland MPI Centre, NZ