He kōrero mō mātou | About Watercare
Ki te ora te wai, ka ora te whenua, ka ora te tangata
When the water is healthy, the land and the people are healthy
Now is an exciting time to join Watercare, we're planning to spend $14 billion over the next 10 years to ensure we can continue to support our growing city in a climate-resilient way. When you average that out, that's an investment of $3.8 million every day!
He whakamārama mō te tūranga mahi | About the role
This is a rare opportunity for an experienced Programme Manager to lead our Growth and Development Improvement Programme on a two-year fixed-term contract, based in Newmarket.
Reporting within the Strategy and Planning team, this is a high-profile, executive-sponsored leadership role focused on delivering improvements that will support Auckland's growth agenda. You will help shape how Watercare works with developers, Auckland Council, iwi, strategic partners and the wider urban development sector to improve transparency, strengthen trust and enable better growth outcomes for the city.
You will lead the design and delivery of practical, enduring improvements across Watercare's growth and development system. This includes improving how growth-related decisions are made, communicated and delivered; strengthening governance and accountabilities; improving digital experiences; and supporting clearer, more consistent engagement with the development sector.
You will work closely with senior leaders and governance groups, bring structure and momentum to a complex programme, and influence change across technical, operational, commercial and customer-facing teams. This is a role for someone who can navigate complexity, build alignment and turn ambition into delivery.
Key responsibilities include:
- Lead the planning, governance and delivery of the Growth and Development Improvement Programme
- Shape programme strategies, workstreams, roadmaps and implementation plans
- Build trusted relationships with senior leaders, executive stakeholders, developers, local government, iwi and industry partners
- Translate complex organisational and sector challenges into practical, deliverable improvements
- Establish future-state processes, accountabilities and governance arrangements
- Lead stakeholder engagement, consultation and communications activities
- Manage programme scope, budgets, timelines, risks, resources and delivery milestones
- Provide high-quality advice, reporting and recommendations to executive leaders and governance groups
Ngā pūkenga e rapu nei mātou | About you
You are a credible and experienced programme leader who can operate confidently in complex, high-profile environments. You bring judgement, pace and structure, and are comfortable working with senior leaders, technical specialists, delivery teams and external stakeholders. You know how to turn ambiguity into action, build alignment across competing interests and maintain momentum in programmes that matter.
Your skills and experience include:
- Process change focused qualifications, Project Management, or a related discipline
- At least 10 years' experience leading engineering and process improvement programmes
- Proven success delivering complex, multi-stakeholder infrastructure or transformation programmes
- Strong programme governance, planning, risk management, and delivery capability
- Experience working closely with executive leadership teams, boards, and senior decision-makers
- Exceptional communication, presentation, and stakeholder engagement skills
- Strong commercial acumen, including business case development and financial management
- Knowledge of New Zealand's planning, regulatory, and infrastructure environment
- Ability to build consensus, influence outcomes, and drive delivery across organisational boundaries
Ideally, you will also bring:
- Experience within the water, wastewater, utilities, or infrastructure sectors
- Experience in the growth related service delivery
- Experience managing high-value programmes
- Professional programme management certification (PgMP, MSP or equivalent)
- Experience working with local government, developers, iwi, and community stakeholders
Ngā hua mōu | What's in it for you
We offer a competitive salary and staff benefits package including:
• Training and development opportunities
• Employee discounts at a range of large retailers
Me pēhea te tono mai | How to Apply
Come and join our team! If you are looking for an exciting career opportunity with a fantastic team then please apply online today - careers.watercare.co.nz.
Skills Required
- Process change focused qualification, Project Management, or related discipline
- At least 10 years' experience leading engineering and process improvement programmes
- Proven success delivering complex, multi-stakeholder infrastructure or transformation programmes
- Strong programme governance, planning, risk management, and delivery capability
- Experience working closely with executive leadership teams, boards, and senior decision-makers
- Exceptional communication, presentation, and stakeholder engagement skills
- Strong commercial acumen, including business case development and financial management
- Knowledge of New Zealand's planning, regulatory, and infrastructure environment
- Ability to build consensus, influence outcomes, and drive delivery across organisational boundaries
- Experience within the water, wastewater, utilities, or infrastructure sectors
- Experience in growth related service delivery and managing high-value programmes
- Professional programme management certification (PgMP, MSP or equivalent)
- Experience working with local government, developers, iwi, and community stakeholders
What We Do
At Watercare we’re proud to provide a lifeline service to the people of Auckland, while protecting the environment for future generations. Every day we provide the highest quality drinking water to 1.7 million Aucklanders, and take it away again once it’s been used in the sink or flushed down the loo. Without using chemicals, we treat wastewater to a very high standard and safely return it to the environment. We also plan for new and upgraded infrastructure far into the future to ensure we can meet the needs of our fast-growing city. We operate assets worth more than $9 billion – but it’s our people who are our most valuable assets. Our staff are passionate, motivated and trustworthy people who are the leaders in their fields. They’re not afraid of a challenge and are constantly looking for new ways of improving our processes and the service we offer our customers. If this sounds like you, please visit our careers centre to see our job vacancies and be notified of future opportunities: https://careers.watercare.co.nz
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