System Design Manager, Mental Health and Addictions

Mō tēnei tūranga mahi | About this role

• Based anywhere in the Midland | Te Manawa Taki, Permanent Full-time with a hybrid model

• Help shape how people access and experience mental health and addictions care across Te Manawa Taki.

• Bring evidence, ideas and people together to design services around the needs of communities.

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is the country's largest employer, delivering universal public healthcare to 5 million New Zealanders.

We provide essential hospital, specialist, and community health services across 80+ locations — from large urban centres to rural towns and remote communities.

Our goal is to improve health outcomes for all New Zealanders by delivering equitable, accessible and innovative care.

About the Role

Ready to bring your health-sector experience into regional service design? This role offers the opportunity to explore complex challenges, work across organisational boundaries and turn evidence and ideas into practical recommendations for better care.

As System Design Manager, Mental Health & Addictions, you will lead agreed programmes of regional system and service design within the broader mental health and addictions portfolio across Te Manawa Taki. Your workplan may span mental health, addictions, or a combination of both as priorities evolve. While your primary focus will be mental health and addictions, you may also support other system design portfolios from time to time, in line with agreed priorities.

Your work will help answer important questions: Where are people missing out on care? What needs to change? And how can services work better together?

You will bring together evidence, insights and service design expertise to shape integrated models of care that improve access and outcomes for consumers and whānau. This includes understanding population needs and current service provision, identifying gaps and inequities, and translating findings into prioritised options and recommendations for commissioning. This senior role offers the opportunity to influence regional and national direction while ensuring a consistent approach to service planning and implementation.

Working alongside Health New Zealand colleagues, iwi, providers, consumers, whānau and clinicians, you will co-design service and funding solutions and build the partnerships needed to turn strategy into action. You will provide expert advice to inform commissioning decisions; guide complex change and support Funding & Integration teams through mentorship and portfolio oversight. You will also represent your portfolio at regional and national forums, helping shape policy and future service direction.

About the Team and Location

Based in Te Manawa Taki within System Planning, Design and Improvement, you will report to the System Design Lead. You will work closely with regional teams and Funding and Integration colleagues, alongside Hauora Māori Services, Pacific Health and wider sector partners. Collaboration across teams, providers and communities is central to the role, ensuring regional planning and service design reflect the needs and aspirations of the people we serve.

About you

You will bring a relevant tertiary or professional qualification, or equivalent experience in health commissioning, strategic planning, or system and service redesign within a complex healthcare environment. You will be curious about how services work, comfortable exploring problems without an obvious answer, and motivated to turn what you learn into practical improvements. You will be a strategic thinker and collaborative leader who can work autonomously, navigate ambiguity and bring people together around a shared direction. You will bring:

• Understanding of mental health and addictions services and the connections between primary, community and specialist care.

• Expertise in system design methodologies, service design thinking and programme or portfolio management tools.

• Advanced analytical and conceptual thinking skills to interpret complex data and develop insights for system-level change.

• The ability to articulate a clear strategic vision and lead complex projects and service redesign through to delivery.

• Strong relationship-building and co-design skills, bringing together clinical, provider, community and sector perspectives.

• Highly developed political acumen, negotiation and influencing skills to navigate complex organisational and inter-agency environments.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including turning complex information into clear advice for decisionmakers and diverse audiences.

• Leadership and mentoring capability to build system design expertise and support collaborative delivery across teams.

• A commitment to equitable outcomes and trusted partnerships with Māori and diverse communities; experience applying Te Tiriti o Waitangi in practice is desirable.

Working at Health New Zealand

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is dedicated to ensuring excellent healthcare for the people of New Zealand. We embrace a workforce that is diverse and inclusive so that we are better positioned to understand and service our community. We welcome applications from our diverse Māori, Pacific, disabled, and rainbow communities.

How to Apply

To apply, please click “apply now.”  All applications must be submitted through our online careers portal by 11:59PM Sunday 15th November 2026. For further information, please contact Jenita Spencer on Jenita.Spencer@TeWhatuOra.govt.nz.

The full position description is available on the Health New Zealand Careers site.

We will review applications as received and may proceed with the recruitment process before the closing date of this advert.