Senior Legal Advisor

New Zealand Police is working with the community to make New Zealanders be safe and feel safe. With over 13,000 staff, we provide policing services 24 hours a day, every day. We operate by land, sea and air, manage over 860,000 emergency calls a year and are always actively preventing crime and crashes.

We’re working towards specific goals and targets that highlight our intent to work collaboratively with iwi and communities, other government sectors and business partners to deliver ‘Our Business’ and achieve long-term change.

**Senior Legal Advisor**: Employment Relations, it starts with you
- Based at Police National Headquarters, Wellington
- Police Employee
- Permanent - Full Time x 2
- JR 4821448

E tῡ ki te kei o te waka, kia pakia koe e ngā ngaru o te wā.
Stand at the stern of the canoe and feel the spray of the future biting at your face

Mō te tūnga | About the role

Are you looking for an opportunity to take your legal career to the next level and gain experience in a fast paced and exciting area?

Employment Relations has an exciting opportunity for two Senior Legal Advisors to join the Employment Relations Legal Team based at PNHQ in Wellington. You will be working in a team of 6-8 who provide Employment Relations legal services nationally across Police.

Police is one of New Zealand's largest employers, and the employment issues that arise are complex and interesting. The Employment Relations Legal team provides advice on high risk and complex employment law matters, projects, change management processes, and disciplinary matters for Police nationally as well as providing advice on employment investigations that are complex or of a serious nature. The team provides advice on all aspects of the employment relationship, manages personal grievances, and provides advice on the interpretation of legislation, employment agreements and policies.

The successful applicant will have a high degree of integrity, and their personal attributes will reflect Police's Values and Code of Conduct. You will work in a collegial team environment in PNHQ, and be supported by the team manager, and will be interacting with many work groups internally as well as with Districts and external partner agencies across Aotearoa.

**Key Accountabilities**:

- Demonstrate a broad range of experience in a legal advisory or in house counsel role
- Manage personal grievances including representing employers at mediation
- Provide legal advice as and when required on employment issues, including interpretation of collective employment agreements and the Holidays Act
- Manage a high case load, with the ability to prioritise matters and manage competing deadlines
- The ability to take a constructive approach to building relationships internally and externally
- Prepare written and verbal communication clearly and concisely, and present comfortably to both large and small groups
- Expert communicator able to adapt to working with a broad range of customers both internally and externally in an environment that is committed to Our People
- A working knowledge of relevant NZ law applicable to employment law and in-house roles in Government
- The ability to develop, maintain and maximise effective partnerships to develop sound, achievable and sustainable legal solutions.

He aha taau e kawe mai | What you’ll bring

Whilst we are looking for skills, knowledge and experience relevant to the role, we also place high importance on your state of mind, the alignment of your values with ours, your ability to contribute to and build high performing teams, and the way that you lead yourself or others.

Whakaritenga motuhake | Special requirements

This role is set at Team Leader/Manager level, this means your key purpose is “to lead the activities for Our Business and enable people to deliver them.”

**You’ll be required to**:

- Hold an LLB and a current practising certificate (or be eligible to obtain a current practising certificate)
- Have a minimum of 4 years PQE or equivalent and/or recent experience in employment relations (either in-house or in a law firm), and we would welcome a broader range of legal experience throughout your career to date including in professional discipline or litigation
- Experience supporting change management processes would be an advantage

To view the position description for this role please copy and paste this link into a new browser:
Security Clearance Requirements

To be eligible for this role, you may be asked to obtain and maintain a CONFIDENTIAL national security clearance.
The minimum criteria for this level of national security clearance is:
NZ Citizen who has resided continuously in NZ for the last 10 years, or:

- A Permanent Resident who has resided continuously in NZ for the last 10 years, or
- A citizen of or has resided continuously in one or more of the following countries for the last 10 years: Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, or United States of America, and has a back