Vacancies

Principal Advisor, Continuous Improvement

Type: Permanent

Location: Wellington

Application Closing Date: 5pm Sunday 25th May 2025

Summary of job:

Emergencies test our systems - but they also offer powerful opportunities to learn, adapt and improve.

We're looking for a Principal Advisor to join our Continuous Improvement team to help shape how we capture, analyse and embed lessons from emergency events to strengthen resilience across New Zealand.

If you're passionate about driving system-wide change, building collaborative partnerships, and turning insight into action, this is your opportunity to make a lasting difference for communities across Aotearoa.

Essential Skills & Requirements

• Significant experience and knowledge in lessons management and/or continuous improvement — ideally in an emergency management, public sector, or high-pressure operational environment.
• Proven ability to lead the design and implementation of frameworks or strategies at a system level and translating them into functional and operational plans
• Strong track record of working across agencies and with diverse stakeholder groups
• Skilled in facilitation, particularly in complex, sensitive, or high-pressure contexts
• Skilled in analysing qualitative and quantitative data to generate insights and recommendations

Find out more and Apply

Senior Advisor, Continuous Improvement

Type: Permanent

Location: Wellington

Application Closing Date: 5pm Sunday 25th May 2025

Summary of job:

Every emergency holds powerful lessons.  Your job is to make sure we don't miss them.

We're looking for a proactive, collaborative Senior Advisor to join our Continuous Improvement team.  You'll help ensure that what we learn from real-world events and exercises leads to lasting, meaningful improvements in how we prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies.

In this role you will plan and lead after-action reviews, analyse complex information, and engage with diverse stakeholders to support continuous improvement across the emergency management system.

Essential Skills & Requirements

• Proven experience and knowledge in lessons management and/or continuous improvement — ideally in an emergency management, public sector, or high-pressure operational environment.
• Strong facilitation skills, with experience leading debriefs and post-event reviews across diverse stakeholder groups.
• Analytical skills to identify systemic issues, draw insights, and develop evidence-based recommendations.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to build trust and work collaboratively across organisations.
• Be a strong communicator, able to confidently communicate data and insights in written form to non-technical audiences.
• Sound technical acumen, particularly IT and communication systems.

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Senior Advisor, Planning

Type: Permanent

Location: Wellington or Christchurch

Applications Close: 5pm Monday 2^nd June

Are you looking for a role that makes a real difference in the national emergency management planning space? If so, nau mai, haere mai! 

NEMA is looking for an experienced and dynamic planner who can collaborate across the emergency management system, use initiative, and develop planning products to address readiness across Aotearoa's vast hazardscape.

 The position sits with the Planning and Sector Partnerships Unit, responsible for the development and maintenance of New Zealand's national emergency management planning framework and partnering with social and infrastructure sectors to build resilience across the 4 Rs of risk reduction, readiness, response and recovery in support of communities.

 Key requirements:

•  A tertiary qualification in emergency management or related discipline OR an equivalent body of knowledge and experience.
• Experience in meeting stakeholder/customer requirements at a high level
• Experience in building and maintaining effective relationships
• Experience in developing and implementing functional and operational plans
• Knowledge, understanding and ability to interpret, develop and apply national policies
• Experience working in complex, high-pressured environments
• Ability to think strategically with strong initiative and problem-solving abilities,
• Demonstrates resilience, agility and curiosity

Find out More or Apply

Applications close: 28 May 2025

Location: Auckland

Type: Permanent full-time

Auckland Emergency Management is looking for an experienced and passionate leader to take on a permanent full-time role of Community Planning & Readiness Manager. This role is based in the Auckland city centre with some flexibility to work from home.

Reporting to the Head of Planning, this pivotal position plays a key role in ensuring Auckland’s diverse communities are informed, prepared, and resilient in the face of emergencies — from natural disasters to pandemics and other crises.

You’ll lead and support a team of seven Senior Planning Advisors, helping to grow their capability while shaping a collaborative, high-performing team culture. With a focus on both strategic direction and community impact, you'll design and deliver a tailored work programme that reflects the unique needs and aspirations of our communities across Tāmaki Makaurau.

You could expect to:

• Lead the development of innovative, community-based emergency readiness initiatives
• Lead a programme of activities to refresh and embed comprehensive local board emergency response plans in collaboration with local boards and communities
• Build and maintain strong relationships with local boards, elected members, and community leaders to ensure coordinated, inclusive, and trusted emergency planning and readiness activities
• Identify risks and build resilience by conducting detailed risk and vulnerability assessments
• Develop and deliver risk mitigation strategies that support long-term community preparedness.

Find out more