Senior Advisor- Implementation

Fixed-Term, full-time role

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.

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 secondary school 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.

Job context
The NCEA Implementation team is responsible for the successful implementation of the NCEA change programme, which is currently scheduled to be completed at the end of January 2026, at which point this role would come to an end in line with the end of the programme.
The team works within the programme, implementing programme deliverables including participatory design, planning, and delivering implementation support for the regions to have the capability to enable them to engage with the sector and stakeholders.
The primary focus for the Kura Māori team is on supporting kaupapa Māori and the Māori medium sector. The focus for the Kura Auraki team is English medium schools and providers.
The team operates in a collaborative manner to ensure the design, development and implementation of products through the life of the programme, including ensuring all changes support Māori, Neurodiverse and disabled learners and Pacific learners are implemented and embedded. As the programme moves through stages from design, development to implementation, the expertise of role holders will be focused accordingly to reflect the stage the programme is in as it implements the updated NCEA and the capability of teachers is built (through the wider Te Mahau) to deliver that updated content.
Mō tēnei tūranga | About this role
This Senior Advisor role provides support in leading strategic planning and delivery support within the Relationships, Kura Auraki Implementation team, working with the other groups of Te Poutāhū | Secondary Tertiary and the wider Te Mahau takiwā to support the implementation of the NCEA Change Programme.

The role will support leading the implementation and delivery of the seven major changes to the NCEA Change Programme with key stakeholder groups including schools, kura, community groups and regions.
Stakeholder relationship management is critical to the success of this role.

Mōhou ake | About you
They will have sharp interpersonal skills, superior writing skills, familiarity with project delivery, and will be comfortable working with stakeholders in diverse settings and representing the Ministry.
Experience and qualifications
- Strategic thinking (i.e., sees issues through a range of lenses and stakeholder perspectives; and recognises broader implications and connections between issues).
- Confidently and appropriately engaging with a range of stakeholders from different cultures and backgrounds.
- Designing and delivering internal and external stakeholder engagements, both general and targeted, to generate valuable and usable insights / advice.
- Working in the Education Sector and understanding of their unique context.
- Working within the public sector and understanding of the political environment and how related issues should be managed.

Kua rite koe mō tēnei mahi? | Are you ready for this role?
We 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 outline this in your Cover Letter.

**In your cover letter we'd like to know**:

- about you, your values, your whakapapa
- your interest and motivations for this role
- the abilities, strengths, personal attributes, and diverse perspectives you will bring to the role and this organisation.
- Sunday 11 December