Senior Adviser

Job Description

Job title: Senior Adviser

Role type: Fixed term ending 30 April 2027

Location: Wellington

Salary band & range: $102,953 to $120,365 depending on skills and experience

About the Role - Kōrero mō te Tūranga

This is an exciting, fixed term or secondment opportunity at the heart of New Zealand Food Safety's (NZFS) Strategy and Performance function, supporting the delivery of clear, consistent, and high-quality official correspondence and reporting across the organisation. You will help ensure NZFS meets its obligations to senior leaders, officials and Ministers by coordinating and managing key documents, briefings, and reporting.

In addition, you will provide high-quality advice, insights and business case development to enable New Zealand Food Safety to develop and execute its strategy.

This role is varied, fast paced, and central to how NZFS communicates and demonstrates accountability across the Ministry and to the Minister's office.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Assuring the quality of briefings, replies, and correspondence

• Tracking, reviewing, and coordinating key NZFS documents

• Leading Annual Review and Estimates coordination

• Collating weekly and monthly reporting for the Minister

• Supporting the DDG with timely, accurate information on strategic initiatives

About You - Mōu

You are someone who thrives in complex and fast paced public‑sector environments where clarity, accuracy, and well‑structured thinking are essential. You enjoy producing high‑quality written work, analysing information, and collaborating with people across teams.

You may be working, or have worked, in a Crown Research Institute, Government Department, or another organisation where official correspondence, stakeholder engagement, and strategic communication are central to your role. You may also be a Senior Advisor or an Advisor looking for the opportunity to step into a role with broader organisational influence and visibility.

You will bring strong judgement, an eye for detail, and the ability to read people, situations, and organisational context. You understand how government operates and can apply this understanding to support decision‑making and ensure correspondence meets required conventions. You work calmly under pressure, manage competing priorities without losing sight of quality, and build constructive relationships across teams. Your written communication skills are a strength that enables you to influence effectively, collaborate across boundaries, and ensure information is clear, relevant, and fit for purpose.

You'll bring:

• A relevant tertiary qualification or equivalent capability or practical experience

• Strong drafting, proofreading and analysis skills for official documents

• Ability to engage effectively with senior leaders and Minister's office

• Confidence collaborating across teams and providing clarity

• Thorough understanding of strategic project reporting

• Ability to use a range of digital productivity tools

About the Team - Mō tō mātou Rōpū

You will join the Strategy and Performance team within the Regulatory Support & Performance directorate at New Zealand Food Safety. The team works across NZFS to drive delivery of the NZFS Action Plan 2025-27, work programme, and performance frameworks, ensuring priorities are aligned and well supported. This includes governance, performance reporting, official correspondence, and partner engagement.

The team is collaborative and responsive, working at pace to deliver high‑quality outputs that support senior leaders and organisational success. Drawing of diverse backgrounds and experience, team members work closely together and with stakeholders to achieve shared outcomes.

Your mahi will make a direct contribution to NZFS achieving its strategic objectives and maintain effective relationships across MPI and with the Minister's office.

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

• 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 FOR THIS JOB” 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.

If you intend on applying for this role as a secondment, please seek your manager's approval before applying.

Applications close at midnight on Sunday 8 November 2026.

If you have any questions about the role, please email Olivia.Murphy@mpi.govt.nz

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