Senior Marketing Lead

• Join Health NZ and the NPHS directorate as a Senior Marketing Lead
• Full time, fixed term for 3 years
• Location: Wellington or Auckland

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is the country's largest employer, delivering universal public healthcare to 5 million New Zealanders.

We provide essential hospital, specialist, and community health services across 80+ locations — from large urban centres to rural towns and remote communities.

Our goal is to improve health outcomes for all New Zealanders by delivering equitable, accessible and innovative care.

About the Role

As a Senior Marketing Lead, you will play a pivotal role in the delivery of social marketing advice, as well as the design and delivery of social marketing initiatives as part of a comprehensive health promotion approach for key health promotion portfolios.

A critical element of the role is to ensure social marketing approaches are appropriate for priority populations, including Māori, Pacific and other communities where health needs may be greatest.

This position gives effect to the strategic health outcomes of Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora by providing leadership to build sustainability, resilience and meaningful, culturally safe connections, capabilities, assets, and services with the good of the Aotearoa New Zealand public health system in mind, now and for the future.

About the Team/Service/ Location

The NPHS within Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora work towards Pae Ora (healthy futures) for all by engaging with the wider determinants that impact people's health, focusing on oranga/wellbeing, prevention, protection, and population-level intervention. We are connected across boundaries to deliver public health services that are nationally planned, regionally delivered and locally tailored.

About you

Our ideal candidate will bring a high level of understanding, skill and experience in the field of social marketing and behaviour change. You will have proven experience in project and campaign management, along with the ability to effectively develop, lead and coordinate multiple activities and monitor outcome achievement.  You have mature communication and interpersonal skills, including the ability to write and present in a clear, persuasive, and impactful way and influence others.

• A relevant tertiary qualification, preferably in a related area (marketing, social marketing, communications, PR), or relevant workforce experience
• Experience in implementing Te Tiriti o Waitangi in action
• At least five years demonstrated and successful experience in a senior marketing role. Experience in social marketing for government or not-for-profit agencies is highly desirable
• Experience with delivering effective marketing approaches for Māori and Pasifika audiences
• Experience working with and managing external agencies (including creative, media and research agencies) on a daily basis to deliver effective campaigns and initiatives on time and within budget
• Experience writing comprehensive marketing briefs
• Innovative thinking and the ability to design approaches and deliver results using evidence-based insights
• Strong leadership behaviours including a positive, open and collaborative approach with a view to developing, unifying and maintaining strong internal and external relationships

Working for Health New Zealand

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is dedicated to ensuring excellent healthcare for the people of New Zealand. We embrace a workforce that is diverse and inclusive so that we are better positioned to understand and service our community. We welcome applications from our diverse Māori, Pacific, disabled, and rainbow communities.

How to Apply

To apply please click "apply now".All applications must be submitted through our online careers' portal by Thursday, 15 January 2026. If you have any questions about the role, please contact Anesha Pillay

Whilst Health New Zealand is undergoing change affected employees will be given preference and priority for this position.

Due to the December holiday period, this advert will remain open for an extended duration. Screening and interviews will commence from mid-January. We appreciate your patience and look forward to connecting with you in the new year