Senior Advisor

Full Time/Fixed Term

Help shape the future of Education
He mea tārai e mātou te mātauranga kia rangatira ai, kia mana taurite ai ōna huanga
We work to shape an education system that delivers equitable and excellent outcomes
At Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga | Ministry of Education, we work to provide services and support nationally, regionally and locally to the education sector, and in some cases, directly to ākonga and whānau.
We help shape the policies, settings, and performance of the education system for early learning, schooling, and tertiary. We do this by building relationships and understanding the needs of those who receive our services.
We are making significant changes to how we deliver our mahi by
- Taking practical action to give effect to te Tiriti o Waitangi.
- Giving priority to regional and local voice.
- Delivering greater responsiveness, accessibility and integrated services and support.
- Improving feedback loops and information flows.

Our organisation is made up of talented and committed people across Aotearoa from a wide range of backgrounds and cultures. While we work in different groups and on different things, we all strive every day to make the biggest difference we can for every child, young person and adult student in our education system.
About our group and team
The Secondary Tertiary team sits within Te Poutāhū and covers the transition from senior secondary through to tertiary and employment.
Te Poutāhū delivers and maintains critical services to support responsive learner pathways from early childhood into further education, training, the workforce and society. Te Poutāhū performs a crucial role working between the strategy and policy teams, and the sector facing functions. The Secondary Tertiary team is responsible for operational policy, curriculum and support programmes for Year 11-13 learners, and the secondary-tertiary interface. This includes senior secondary curriculum, NCEA (including implementing the NCEA Review changes through the Review of Achievement Standards (RAS)) and secondary-tertiary programmes.
Mō tēnei tūranga | About this role
The Senior Advisor will be involved in implementing policy, from design through to operationalisation. They will help shape a senior secondary education system that delivers quality and equitable pathways for all learners, allowing them to transition successfully for a life of learning, earning, caring and contributing.
The Senior Advisor will be part of the team currently delivering the NCEA Change Programme, School Leaver's Toolkit, and Vocational Education in schools. The Senior Advisor will have a focus on supporting meaningful pathways for learners through the NCEA qualification.
As a government agency, the Ministry is committed to keeping to the Treaty of Waitangi's guiding principles in our work for and with Māori students, their whānau, hapū and iwi.
Mōhou ake | About you
They will have sharp interpersonal skills, superior writing skills, and will be comfortable working with a diverse range of stakeholders and representing the Ministry.
Experience and qualifications
- Experience working within the public sector and understanding of the political environment
- Strategic thinking (i.e. sees issues through a range of lenses and stakeholder perspectives; and recognises broader implications and connections between issues and how these impact Senior Secondary digital channels
- Experience implementing and following NZ government web standards, accessibility and usability principles
- Ability to engage with a range of stakeholders confidently and appropriately from different cultures and backgrounds
- Ability to design and deliver internal and external stakeholder engagements, both general and targeted, to generate valuable and usable insights / advice.
- Proven ability to build and maintain constructive relationships and effective networks across organisations
- Have an understanding of user experience (UX) principles and information architecture (IA)(experience with Silverstripe, Drupal, or similar content management systems would be beneficial but not essential)
- Monitor digital channels usage, and provide information and insights to content owners
- Provide specialist advice and services, including user experience guidance, writing content strategy and management plans; and business acceptance testing.
- Exposure to agile ways of working
- Ability to work under pressure, meet deadlines and effectively manage competing demands
- Ability to take initiative, identify opportunities, operate in a self-directed fashion, and set and achieve goals

Kua rite koe mō tēnei mahi? | Are you ready to make a difference?
We want to provide flexible working environments where everyone feels relevant, valued and supported. So, if working from home and/or having a flexible start and finish to the day will help with this, we can usually make it happen. We'd love to hear what this might look like for you, so feel free to outl