Principal Advisor Customer Experience

Principal Advisor Customer Experience

Location: Wellington 

Type: Full-time | Permanent 

Salary Band: M1

Are you a hands-on CX leader who gets stuff done?

NZQA needs a Principal Advisor Customer Experience who can roll up their sleeves and deliver real improvements to customer experience—not just talk about it.

You'll own end-to-end CX projects from start to finish - talk to customers, identify problems, design solutions, build them, and make sure they work. That means everything from our website and portals to our chatbot, training programs, and support channels.

You'll tackle practical problems across digital, data, policy, and operations—turning customer insights into solutions that are actually feasible, not just pretty ideas on a whiteboard.

You'll be pragmatic and comfortable with progress over perfect - you don't always need beautifully designed diagrams in Figma or Miro, sometimes a hand drawn wireframe is enough.

Your work directly impacts thousands of New Zealanders in the education sector. Real problems. Real solutions. Real impact.

What you need:

• A track record of shipping products and services that measurably improved customer outcomes
• An operational CX mindset - you are laser focussed on making improvements to current process and products that will affect customer experience - you don't need to do months of research to propose improvements to the current experience - your mantra is "progress over perfection".
• Practical experience with design thinking, co-design, and customer research—you've done it, not just read about it, it is your bread and butter.
• A can-do attitude of getting your hands dirty, focused on real outcomes vs beautiful journey maps and project artifacts - sometimes a sketch is enough to prove a point.
• You can of course create all the customer journey maps, personas, and service blueprints yourself—and you use them to drive decisions
• You know how to tell a story, run a workshop, and get people aligned and moving
• You dig into customer problems until you really understand them, then move mountains to fix the root cause
• You can work with anyone—from frontline teams to executives—and get them on board
• You're proficient with tools like Figma, Miro, and Adobe XD—you prototype and visualize ideas yourself
• You understand how the public sector works and how to get things done within it

You'll also build CX capability across the organization—coaching teams, running training, and embedding practical design practices that stick.

If you're ready to roll up your sleeves and lead meaningful change, we'd love to hear from you

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

Essential:

• 5+ years in CX, UX, product/service design roles, ideally in private sector or consultancy combined with some time in public service.
• Proven experience in end-to-end delivery of Cx initiatives and communicating research findings.
• Strong user research, journey mapping, and prototyping skills.
• Extensive experience in coaching, facilitation, and stakeholder engagement (including getting buy-in).
• Clear written and oral communication skills.
• Up-to-date knowledge of Cx trends and technologies including AI and emerging design and research tools and platforms.
• Demonstratable experience with tools such as Adobe suite, Figma, Miro or Mural, including creating wireframes and customer journeys.
• Understanding of public sector context and government processes.
• Ability to establish and build strong working relationships across and with groups.
• Proven ability to develop trust and credibility with managers.
• Ability to deliver with a drive to finish what has been started.
• Demonstrable ability to facilitate co-design workshops.
• Demonstrated ability to work with the business, understand their requirements and translate these into practical solutions.
• Experience in team-building techniques and use of relevant diagnostic tools.
• Experience operating in a consulting style environment at a senior level.
• Sound research, planning and project management skills.
• Experience or sound understanding of organisational change management.

Qualifications

• Qualification at level 7 of the NZ Qualifications Framework in a discipline relevant to the work is desirable or equivalent work experience at a level commensurate with the position

About us

NZQA is a te reo Māori learning organisation and is committed to equity and lifelong learning. We welcome candidates from diverse backgrounds that will enrich our understanding of the education system. We prioritise the importance of understanding tikanga in building a culturally responsive workplace.  NZQA is dedicated to providing a welcoming environment to Māori and Pacific staff and has active Māori and Pacific staff networks which contribute to NZQA's strategic action plans.

What we can offer:

• A supportive team / whanau environment
• A role with lots of variety
• Development and career progression opportunities
• To find out more click here NZQA Staff Benefits

Apply Now

For more information about this role and NZQA please refer to the job description, NZQA's Customer Charter and Organisational Values. If you are applying/viewing through Seek, please click 'apply now' to access these links.

If you have any questions, please contact Dominic Doyle on

Applications close at 5.00pm on Tuesday 25th November. Please note that the role may close early if suitable applications are received early.

Apply now and help us shape experiences that qualify New Zealanders for the future world.