Regional People & Culture Officer

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora (Health NZ) is seeking an accomplished senior People & Culture leader to partner with regional leadership and help shape the future of healthcare delivery across one of New Zealand's four health regions.

Reporting to the Executive Regional Director, the role also has professional accountability to the Executive National Director, People, Culture, Health & Safety. This critical leadership role is responsible for ensuring the effective delivery of people services within its region.

As the trusted strategic People & Culture partner to the Executive Regional Director, you will lead the regional People & Culture function, providing both strategic and operational leadership across areas such as workforce planning, employment relations, organisational development, recruitment, culture, change management, and people advisory services.

Key responsibilities include:

• Providing strategic people leadership and advice to the Executive Regional Director and Regional Senior Leadership Team.
• Leading the delivery of regional People & Culture services, ensuring high-quality, consistent and legally sound people practices.
• Identifying workforce risks, challenges and opportunities, and developing practical strategies to strengthen workforce capability and sustainability.
• Supporting organisational transformation and change initiatives across a large and complex health environment.
• Building productive relationships with unions, professional groups and key internal stakeholders to support effective workforce outcomes.
• Leading and developing multidisciplinary People & Culture teams across the region.
• Driving continuous improvement in people systems, processes, workforce reporting and service delivery.
• Working closely with national People & Culture teams to ensure consistent implementation of organisational strategy, policy and practice.

You will bring meaningful senior leadership experience within large, complex and politically nuanced environments, ideally within health, government, or similarly scaled public sector organisations. Your ability to balance strategic priorities with operational delivery, navigate complexity, and influence across multiple stakeholder groups will be critical to your success.

You will have a strong track record in workforce leadership, organisational change, industrial relations, and building high-performing teams. Equally important will be your ability to develop trusted relationships, provide sound judgement, and lead through ambiguity and transformation.

A relevant tertiary qualification and extensive experience leading People & Culture functions in large organisations would be preferable. This is an opportunity to play a pivotal leadership role in shaping workforce capability, organisational culture, and service delivery outcomes within New Zealand's largest public service organisation.

To express your interest,

Please submit your CV and cover letter to ***email_hidden***, quoting the following vacancy reference for the Regional People & Culture Operations role you are applying for.

#174 Regional People & Culture Officer – Northern

#175 Regional People & Culture Officer – Te Manawa Taki

#176 Regional People & Culture Officer – Central

#177 Regional People & Culture Officer – Te Waipounamu

You can find the position description via taumata.co.nz/opportunities

Applications close: Sunday, 28th June 2026

For further enquiries, contact Simon Urquhart-Hay, 029 494 2229, [email protected]; John Bell, 021 599 586 [email protected], or David Hollander, 021 892 882, [email protected]