Job Description

Job Title: / Senior Regional Advisor
Reports to: / Regional Manager
Location: / Auckland / Wellington / Christchurch
Date: / July 2017

Ministry for Pacific Peoples Purpose

Our vision is Successful Pacific Peoples

Our mission is to effect positive change for Pacific peoples

We achieve this by developing quality connections and strong partnerships with our Pacific communities. These partnerships enable us to gather community feedback and intelligence andwe use this information to support larger government policy initiatives to benefit Pacific peoples.

The Ministry advises the government on policies and interventions for achieving better outcomes for Pacific peoples in New Zealand, which will have positive benefits for New Zealand as a whole. Our advice is informed by our working relationships with New Zealand’s Pacific peoples.

We are mandated to:

  • Provide policy advice, information and assistance to the Minister for Pacific Peoples
  • Provide advice and information to other public service departments on the context, circumstances, issues and opportunities faced by Pacific communities in New Zealand;
  • Liaise and communicate with Pacific communities in New Zealand so that they are knowledgeable about government policies, processes and services of relevance to them, to foster greater engagement with, and participation by Pacific people in decision-making;
  • Undertake other projects, including strategic advice, within our capability and as required by the Minister for Pacific Peoples

Our Key Areas of Work

Our key areas of work are:

  • Policy and research
  • Advice to Government agencies
  • Regional partnerships
  • Nominations to Government and other boards

Our priorities

We have three main priorities:

  • Increasing Pacific income and wealth;
  • Building Pacific leadership; and
  • Strengthening Pacific language, culture and identity.

Role Purpose

The purpose of the Senior Regional Advisor role is to build and sustain strong relationships with Pacific communities, government partners and other organisations to enable their engagement in the Ministry’s work. This role takes a lead on key relationships, projects and events within and across Pacific communities. They also play a critical role in providing well informed advice to the Ministry’s policy team by utilising their relationships with the community to gather intelligence.

Key Accountabilities

Key Accountability Areas: / Key accountabilities/expectations:
Relationship Management / Builds and maintains relationships and networks with Pacific Communities,
Collaborates with and supports resource providers and NGOs engaged in enabling the achievement of Pacific economic outcomes
Liaises with associated government agencies and organisations to coordinate Pacific related initiatives.
Liaise and provide support to regional agencies implementing Pacific initiatives within the region
Identifiesopportunities to develop partnerships with private sector organisations to enable the Ministry strategic objectives.
Trusted Advisor / Advises on the development of policy through the gathering and analysis of community intelligence and feedback
Monitors, evaluates and reports on the effectiveness of policies and initiatives implemented by the Ministry and the Government at the community level
Engages in Pacific community events, networks and meetings to identify key issues, analyse information and report findings to the Ministry
Identifies, managers and escalates risks to the region, and Ministry
Community Engagement / Engages with local Pacific communities to identify significant Pacific success stories, events and best practice methodologies that would be of media interest
Facilitates community and state sector meetings
Facilitates local Pacific meetings and presenting quality briefing material to the Communications team
Provides detailed reports to the Communications, Media and Marketing team on Pacific Community activities and achievements
Project Management / Leads and managers the development and delivery of projects
Enables the delivery of outputs and programmes that are aligned to the Ministry’s business plan
Provides timely reporting and monitoring of projects and programmes to inform the Ministry reporting requirements
Leadership within the Team / Supports the Regional Manager on critical stakeholder relationship;
Support the development and engagement of the team
Providers mentorship and advice to advisors within the team
Provides leadership on key projects and stakeholder engagements within the region as delegated by the Regional Manager

Role Scope

Key Dimensions of Resources Controlled:

Expenditure: / As per delegations
Direct reports: / Nil

Key Relationships

Internal:
  • General Manager Regional Partnerships
  • Regional Managers – Regional Partnerships
  • Regional Partnerships team members
  • Policy Team
  • Communications Team
  • Other Ministry staff
/ External:
  • Pacific communities
  • Pacific communities leaders,
  • Pacific resource providers
  • Regional Councils
  • Private Sector Organisations
  • Officials in other government agencies

Qualifications/Experience

Skills, Qualifications and Experience

A relevant tertiary qualification or equivalent experience in community advisory roles

An understanding of the issues relating to the provision of government services and the social and economic well-being of Pacific peoples

Knowledge of the social, cultural, economic, health, education and employment environment in New Zealand as it affects Pacific peoples

An understanding of the public sector environment and the role and duties of the public servant

Experience in facilitating and coordinating inter-agency initiatives

Experience in working with Pacific communities

An ability to build strong relationships with a variety of people and cultures of all levels

Well demonstrated report writing skills and able to target specific audiences

Sound facilitation skills

Participates effectively in discussions with colleagues to add value to their work

Competencies

Pacific

All positions in the Ministry for Pacific Peoples include the requirement for Pacific competency. This may include one or more of the following:

Knowledge and understanding of how Pacific communities work, including the structures and nuances of these

The ability to apply knowledge and understanding of Pacific communities and issues to implementation and delivery

Pacific language skills

Other

INTELLECTUAL HORSEPOWER / •Is bright and intelligent
•Deals with concepts and complexity comfortably
•Described as intellectually sharp, capable and agile.
PROBLEM SOLVING / •Uses rigorous logic and methods to solve difficult problems with effective solutions
•Probes all fruitful sources for answers
•Can see hidden problems
•Is excellent at honest analysis
•Looks beyond the obvious and doesn’t stop at the first answer.
WRITTEN COMMUNICATION / •Is able to write clearly and succinctly in a variety of communication settings and styles
•Can get messages across that have the desired effect.
RELATIONSHIP FOCUS / •Is dedicated to meeting the expectations and requirements of internal and external customers
•Gets first-hand customer information and uses it for improvements in products and services
•Acts with customers in mind
•Establishes and maintains effective relationships with customers and gains their trust and respect.
PEER RELATIONSHIPS / •Can quickly find common ground and solve problems for the good of all
•Can represent his/ her own interests and yet be fair to other groups
•Can solve problems with peers with a minimum of noise
•Is seen as a team player and is cooperative
•Easily gains trust and support of peer.
INTERPERSONAL SAVVY / •Relates well to all kinds of people – up, down, and sideways, inside and outside the organisation
•Builds appropriate rapport
•Builds constructive and effective relationships
•Use diplomacy and tact
•Can diffuse even high-tension.
LISTENING / •Practices attentive active listening
•Has the patience to hear people out
•Can accurately restate the opinions of others even when he/she disagrees.
SELF DEVELOPMENT / •Is personally committed to and actively
•Works to continuously improve him/herself
•Understands that different situations and levels may call for different skills and approaches
•Works to deploy strengths
•Works on compensating for weakness and limits.
PERSEVERANCE / •Pursues everything with energy, drive, and a need to finish
•Seldom gives up before finishing especially in the face of resistance or setbacks.
ORGANISING / •Can orchestrate multiple activities effectively to accomplish a goal
•Can anticipate and see how themes and linkages can come together
•Arranges information and records in a useful systematic manner
•Is open to the suggestions and input of others.
TIME MANAGEMENT / •Uses his/her time effectively and efficiently;
•Values time
•Concentrates his/ her efforts on the more important priorities
•Gets more done in less time than others
•Can attend to a broader range of activities.

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