Hautu, Te Pou Korero Deputy Secretary, Digital and Data

Help shape the future of education in New Zealand

**Deputy Secretary, Digital and Data | Hautu, Te Pou Korero**

**Strengthening Education**

The Ministry of Education plays a critical role in shaping New Zealand's education system to deliver equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners.

Achieving excellence is about supporting every student to experience success at every stage of their learning journey from early learning and schooling, right through to tertiary, training and employment. A focus on equity is critical in the New Zealand context - it means recognising and responding to the diverse circumstances and needs of all our learners.

We are now reshaping the way the Ministry is organised so that we are better positioned to deliver on the goals of equity and excellence. This means being focused on our core role and doing it well; being deliberately outward-facing and forward-looking; utilising evidence and data to make informed decisions; and supporting a strong organisational culture.

As the stewards of our education system, the Ministry is looking for experienced and outstanding leaders who are driven, curious, open to different perspectives and adaptable to lead our people through system and organisational change.

**About this role | Mo tenei turanga**

The Hautu | Deputy Secretary, Te Pou Korero, | Digital and Data provides strategic leadership and direction for deployment of Digital and Data that enables the Education Sector, including the Ministry.

The Hautu | Deputy Secretary, Te Pou Korero | Digital and Data is accountable for the digital and data strategy, supporting capability plans for key areas such as cyber and information security, information management, core technology, Artificial Intelligence, and other emerging technologies. The Hautu | Deputy Secretary, Te Pou Korero | Digital and Data is also accountable for end-to-end processes for design, architecture, and delivery of digital and data services and capabilities, and is the centre of expertise for evaluation and evidence. This includes working with other parts of the Ministry to leverage digital and data to transform the service delivery and make use of data and evidence to drive consistent improvement in achievement.

As the senior leader for digital and data oversight, this role supports the Secretary in leading the Digital and Data functions and group, providing overarching direction on the development and delivery of services and strategies, ensuring overall operational excellence and effectiveness, and helping the Ministry to leverage data to drive Ministry and sector outcomes. This includes ensuring that initiatives, evaluation, and outcomes align to government priorities and deliver public value.

As a member of the Ministry's Executive Leadership Team, this role contributes to whole-of-Ministry leadership and decision-making. As the senior leader for Strategic Digital and Data, this role supports the Secretary in leading the Strategic Digital and Data group, ensuring its overall operational excellence and effectiveness. This includes ensuring that initiatives and outcomes align to government priorities and deliver public value.

**About you | Mohou ake**

You will be a senior executive with the vision, credibility, and technical acumen to transform how digital and data solutions enable education in New Zealand. With experience delivering at scale in large, complex environments, you can move beyond operational Information and Communications Technology to set and deliver a bold, system-wide digital strategy. You will bring the confidence to engage Ministers and the mana to build trust with stakeholders across government, the education sector, iwi, and advocacy groups.

Equally comfortable negotiating investment decisions or exploring the potential of artificial intelligence, you combine deep strategic thinking with the resilience to lead through complexity. Collaborative by nature, you inspire large professional teams and will strengthen the Executive Leadership Team with your clarity and energy.

You will bring:

- Extensive executive leadership experience in large, complex organisations.
- A proven track record in planning, architecture, and delivery of data and digital services at scale.
- Experience setting digital strategies, including cyber security, data governance, and emerging technologies.
- Deep experience driving transformation, fostering innovation, and delivering sustainable change.
- Strong relationship and stakeholder management skills, credible across government, education, and international partners.
- Resilience, judgement, and collaborative style to lead in a politically sensitive environment.
- The ability and willingness to adhere to and promote the Public Service Standards of Integrity and Conduct.

**About the group and team | Matau ropu ake**

The Korero/ Digital and Data group sets the digital and data direction that enables modern, efficient, and seamless experience for those interacting