Mō mātou | About JEDI

Te Hunga Mārama o Te Taiao / Joint Evidence, Data & Insights (JEDI) Group was established a year ago.

We sit at the heart of the Ministry's stewardship and system leadership responsibilities, to provide insights about the environment that create change in how we live and make a living in Aoteraoa. We describe and understand the path the environment is on – from mountains to the sea – to inform how interventions are performing to achieve our Strategy, a flourishing environment for every generation.

We work as one for the organisation, with three core functions: Data Collections & Management; Strategic Assessments & Insights; and Science Investment & Services.

Mō tÄ“nei tÅ«rangi mahi | About this role

We believe in the mahi, products, and services we offer, but we stay curious and strive to continuously enhance our offering and create an awareness of what we do, within the Ministry and beyond. Our people are here because they want to make a difference to future generations.

We have a senior leadership position for a talented Director of Science strategy, Capability and Investments.

This role will be focused on influencing the broader research, science and innovation system through an environmental research strategy and how we measure and report on our environmental performance into the future. These insights will feed into and inform the products we offer, ensuring these engage senior decision makers and New Zealanders, as well as continuously advance our longer-term system and stewardship goals. You will work across JEDI and Tūmatakōkiri on Māori science strategy and science investments initiatives, ensuring we embed Te Ao Māori and Mātauranga Māori in all that we do.

This Director role reports to the Deputy Secretary of the JEDI Group and is a member of the Ministry's Senior Leadership Team. You will work closely with other groups in MfE, forming a culture of connectedness.

At the Ministry, our Directors Team are responsible for translating strategic direction into action by ‘running the business', ensuring continuous alignment of activities, and work collaboratively to achieve shared organisational outcomes. You will understand the importance of our people, encourage diversity in thought, pave the way forward in our kaupapa, and enable us to succeed as a collective. This is a great opportunity to utilise your skills in leadership, outreach, strategy, and political nous.

You will be responsible for:

• Medium- and long-term enablement and delivery of strategy. You will bridge the gap between strategy and delivery, the present and the future. Being relatively young in our inception, there is huge opportunity to review and utilise the learnings of others to leapfrog us forward.
• Drive participation from internal and external partners in initiatives while upholding the mana of the organisation. A large part of your role will be to drive, develop and own relationships at senior leadership level across our business and our critical external statutory data delivery partners such as government agencies, universities, regional councils, crown research institutes and iwi authorities.
• Embed Te Ao Māori and Mātauranga Māori in what we do and how we do it, including implementing our Māori Science Strategy. Proactively strengthen Treaty partnerships, working closely with Māori communities, and understand issues facing iwi/Māori. To be an effective steward we must excel in weaving together knowledge systems and data, before generating actionable insights that support effective and enduring change.
• Working collectively across agencies and boundaries to ensure a cohesive, system approach to initiatives that impact New Zealanders. This includes excellent political nous and understanding of the machinery of government.

Ngā pūkenga me ngā wheako | Your skills and experience

You'll have demonstrated experience leading in a way that enables our people to take action, encourage curiosity and innovation. By nature, you are an influencer, connecter, and creative thinker. For the JEDI Group to succeed, we need to always lift as one.

You'll have a passion for science, our environment and the power of meaningful insights to create change. You will command awareness across the Ministry and externally of the value and importance our science research, data and insights to support decisions.

Using your well-honed communication and relationship skills, you'll drive and support our people to reach out to partners across the system and diverse communities.

You value and enjoy fostering diversity of thought and finding ways to weave knowledge systems.

Our ideal candidates will also bring:

• Experience building high-performing leaders and teams, with diverse capabilities, backgrounds, and being geographically dispersed.
• Strong background leading the strategic and business direction of a Group; including business planning and operational components such as financial, contracts, and people management.
• Experience leading, managing, and implementing products or services to inform policy development; including cross-agency collaboration, legislative processes, and experience advising and working effectively with Ministers.
• Experience negotiating on behalf of the New Zealand Government, including an in depth understanding of the machinery of government

• A curiosity to develop and drive bringing Te Ao Māori and Mātauranga Māori into all Group outputs, wider system improvements, and build organisational capability to do so.

• System thinking and an agile approach with a desire to make a lasting difference.

Mō mātou | About Ministry for the Environment

The Ministry for the Environment was established under the Environment Act 1986 and is the government's primary adviser on environmental matters. We are a public service agency, serving the government of the day.

Our Act requires us to think broadly as we develop our advice – to consider the intrinsic values of ecosystems, the values people place on the environment, the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, the sustainability of natural and physical resources, and the needs of future generations.

We want to see a flourishing environment for every generation. He taiao tōnui mō ngā reanga katoa.

To achieve this, we need a Ministry that is more impactful than ever – a system leader with the ability to influence in the right way, at the right time, to best effect and with the intergenerational impact firmly in our sights.

Ultimately, our aim is to transition to an economy and society that doesn't just address the environmental symptoms of our way of life, but where we all take responsibility for ensuring the environment flourishes for generations to come. We can gift future New Zealanders a healthier world.

We offer:

• a flexible by default approach to support your work-life balance
• agile working, allowing you variety and challenges across the organisation as we work as ‘One MfE'
• generous leave entitlements
• training to competently and effectively engage with Māori as our Treaty Partner, this includes te reo me ona tikanga Māori courses
• active social club and employee networks, including a Māori staff network
• opportunities for development and education.          

A key priority for the Ministry is Te Ao Māori. This means we work with our Treaty partner to advance Māori priorities for the environment and for environmental success. We will be confident and coordinated in our ongoing engagement with Māori and lead the natural resources system in engaging for success with tangata whenua. We will grow our capability and capacity to accurately reflect Māori views in our work.

We embrace diversity and inclusion and are committed to equal opportunities. What's important to us is ‘he rau kotahi tangata' – embracing our multiple talents – by harnessing our diversity and being inclusive. We actively encourage applications from all backgrounds.

Tono ināianei | Apply Now 

Apply directly by completing the online application form and submit your CV and cover letter. In your cover letter, please highlight how your experience relates to the key skills required for this role. 

If you require further information about this position, please contact Deputy Secretary Natasha Lewis at natasha.lewis@mfe.govt.nz.

Salary range | $212,313 to $259,495 per annum. 

Appointment within this range will be based on skills and experience. 

Rā Katinga | Applications close: midnight Sunday 13 March

 MfE's COVID-19 Vaccination Policy requires all employees who come to our offices, work at non-MfE offices (this does not include remote workers working from home) or interact with the public in the course of their work must be fully vaccinated.  During the application process you will be asked to provide details of your vaccination status, and depending on the nature of your work, you may be asked to provide evidence of your Vaccine Pass prior to an offer being made.