Site Transition Lead

Site Transition Lead

Role type: Fixed-term until March 2029, full-time

Location: Auckland (St Johns)

Salary band & range: General Salary Range C: $119,376 to $139,700 depending on skills and experience

About the Role - Kōrero mō te Tūranga

The Site Transition Lead plays a critical role in delivering the successful relocation of operations from the existing Tāmaki site to a new, state-of-the-art facility as part of the Plant Health & Environment Capability (PHEC) Programme. This position leads the end-to-end transition, ensuring business continuity, operational readiness, and the safe, compliant movement of highly specialised laboratory environments. Working across a complex landscape of stakeholders – including operations, property, scientific teams, and business support services – you will coordinate a highly technical relocation involving sensitive, and sometimes volatile, biological and chemical materials where biosafety and containment are paramount.

This role is highly collaborative and demands a strong facilitator who can bring together diverse teams, vendors, and technical experts to deliver a seamless transition. You will oversee planning, relocation, commissioning, and post-move activities, ensuring all operational functions are fully functional at go-live with minimal disruption. Success in this role requires adaptability, exceptional attention to detail, and experience in complex, high-risk environments, such as laboratory, medical, scientific, agricultural, or similarly regulated settings.

Your key responsibilities will include:

• Leading the development and delivery of the end-to-end transition and relocation plan, including detailed schedules, sequencing, and resource planning
• Coordinating cross-functional stakeholders through an established Transition Working Group, ensuring alignment, accountability, and clear communication
• Overseeing the safe and compliant relocation of specialised materials, including biological collections, chemicals, and critical laboratory assets
• Managing vendor engagement, onboarding, and performance, ensuring scopes of work and delivery plans meet operational and compliance requirements
• Driving operational commissioning, including installation, testing, validation, and readiness of facilities, equipment, and systems
• Developing and implementing operational readiness and business continuity plans to ensure stability before, during, and after the transition
• Monitoring risks, dependencies, and progress, proactively implementing mitigation strategies and escalating issues as needed
• Facilitating go/no-go readiness decisions, ensuring all criteria are met for a successful transition
• Leading post-move activities, including decommissioning of the existing site, quality assurance checks, and capturing lessons learned for continuous improvement

About You – Mōu

To be successful in this role, you'll be an experienced and highly organised professional with a track record of delivering complex site transitions or relocations in technically demanding environments. You bring a strong understanding of operational readiness, risk management, and stakeholder coordination, and are comfortable working across multidisciplinary teams. Whether your background sits within laboratory environments, medical or agricultural settings, or construction and facilities projects, you apply a meticulous, detail-oriented approach to ensuring critical transitions are executed safely, efficiently, and with minimal disruption.

Your experience will include:

• Tertiary qualification in Project Management, Engineering, Operations, Property, Business, or a related discipline (or equivalent practical experience)
• Strong experience delivering complex relocation or site transition programmes
• Proven capability in developing and executing operational readiness and commissioning frameworks
• Experience working within regulated or technically complex environments (e.g. laboratories, research, manufacturing)
• Strong experience managing vendors, contractors, and external partners
• Demonstrated ability to manage risks, dependencies, and continuity throughout transition phases
• Experience in post-move reviews, quality assurance, and transition to business-as-usual operations
• Sound financial management skills with the ability to track budgets and manage costs
• Strong stakeholder engagement and relationship management capability across diverse groups
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to convey complex information clearly
• Experience leading multidisciplinary teams and driving accountability across workstreams
• Familiarity with health and safety requirements, including hazardous materials and containment protocols (desirable)
• Background in business change, operations, facilities, or logistics (desirable)

In addition to your technical skills and experience, you will be adaptable, collaborative, and thrive in environments where coordination across multiple teams is critical to success. A natural facilitator, you are able to bring people together, navigate competing priorities, and maintain momentum in complex programmes of work. You demonstrate high attention to detail — particularly where safety and compliance are non-negotiable — and bring a calm, solutions-focused approach to problem-solving. Above all, you build trust quickly, communicate effectively at all levels, and contribute positively to a team delivering high-impact outcomes.

About the Team -

Mō tō mātou Rōpū

The PHEC Programme Site Transition Lead is part of a collaborative, cross-functional team responsible for safely and effectively delivering site transitions within the programme. The team includes programme and project managers, business analysts, change and communications specialists, technical experts, operational leaders and local site stakeholders, all working together to ensure continuity of service and alignment with programme objectives.

About MPI - Mō Te Manatū Ahu Matua

We're a large organisation with massive scope from the frontline to policy development and beyond.

To find out more about the Ministry and what we do please click here.

Security checks – Ngā Taki Whakahaumaru

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

CONFIDENTIAL 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 five (5)‑year background history that can be verified and assessed by the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) to determine your suitability for a CONFIDENTIAL national security clearance.

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

If you do not meet these minimum criteria, we will not be able to accept your application.

Drug and Alcohol Screening - Whakamātau Whakapōauau me te Waipiro

Please note, given this position is safety sensitive the preferred candidates(s) for the position will be required to undergo a drug and alcohol pre-employment screening test. Further information on this process can be found on our careers site, here.

Benefits of working at MPI - Ngā hua o te mahi i te Manatū Ahu

• Additional MPI leave days
• Annual Wellness payment
• Bi-annual paid eye test and contribution to the costs of corrective lenses/frames

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.

To view the position description and/or apply online, please click “Apply” or visit the MPI Careers Site. To apply, you must hold the right to work in New Zealand or be eligible to obtain it – click here to find out more about work visa eligibility and options.

Applications close at 11:59pm on Sunday, 31 May.

If you have any questions about the role, please email [email protected]

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