Kaunihera Taiao ki Waitaha │ About Environment Canterbury

As a regional council, we are responsible for managing natural resources including air, soil, water and land. We work in partnership with mana whenua Ngāi Tahu to protect the health of our environment to ensure a sustainable and prosperous future for our region.

The region’s evolving environmental and political context means we will continue to be agile and adaptive, as we respond to regulatory and environmental changes.

Our mahi is organised around the delivery of our three core services:

• Environmental Regulation and Protection
• Community Preparedness and Response to Hazards
• Public Transport

Kōrero mō te Tūranga | About the Role

In this newly created leadership role, you will work closely with the other Tumu Herenga leadership along with leaders across Council to create and deliver innovation initiatives that provide timely and effective responses to partnership commitments including partnership approaches to mātauranga Māori.

With the support of your team, you be responsible for the collection and analysis of intelligence and data.  You will lead the provision of insights to key areas of the organisation, ensuring that the integrity and authenticity of tikanga and mātauranga Māori is included and maintained.

You will develop an organisational Te Tiriti maturity framework and lead Te Tiriti partnership reporting to Council, Papatipu Rūnanga and the community.

You will also lead the provision of all internal evaluation, monitoring and analysis to inform the development of the Tiriti partnership strategy and associated outcome measures.

Mōu │ About You

We are looking for an experienced leader, who brings experience in developing and building high performing and culturally intelligent teams.     To be successful in this role you will bring:

• 8-10+ years’ experience as a senior leader, providing advice, influence, and managing others implementing programmes preferably within large, complex, or regulated organisations.
• Proven relationship building and communication skills at a senior level, with the ability to facilitate, resolve, influence and engage at all levels.
• Demonstrated strong quantitative and qualitative analytical skills, and lived experience in innovating and delivering new ways of generating insights and measuring outcomes.
• Demonstrable experience working with hapū and iwi and/ or within Māori communities and an active commitment to upholding the values, tikanga, kawa of cultural practice and traditions as guided by mana whenua, Ngāi Tahu.  Ideally you will also bring strong knowledge of the Ngāi Tahu tribal context.
• Strong knowledge, competency and fluency in te reo Māori me ōna tikanga Māori
• A deep understanding of Te Tiriti o Waitangi (and its application in a public sector environment). 
• Expert knowledge of local and central government, programme and policy management experience, financial literacy and well-developed collaborative influencing and negotiating skills.

Ngā hua o te mahi i te Kaunihera Taiao ki Waitaha | Working at Environment Canterbury  

Our mahi is underpinned by our values:

• Kaitiakitanga (stewardship)
• Pononga (integrity)
• Manaakitanga (people first)
• Whanaungatanga (collaboration)
• Māiatanga (can do)

We understand and embrace a diverse workforce; this diversity will enable us to better serve our people, our community, and our greatest taonga, the environment. We value everyone’s contribution, diverse thinking, and skills.

We're on a journey to become a treaty partner of excellence, including incorporating te ao Māori into our work.

We offer supportive opportunities to develop capability in this area and encourage our people to use kaupapa Māori, mātauranga Māori, and te reo Māori in our daily work. We welcome you with an open heart & mind, wherever you are on your personal te ao Māori journey

Ko ētahi atu kōrero | Additional Information

View the position description here.

For a confidential kōrero about this role, or for more information contact Carl Church or Awhina Kanohi at Niche Recruitment

Carl Church - 021 166 6441 | carl.church@nicherecruitment.co.nz

Awhina Kanohi - 027 484 9939 | awhina.kanohi@nicherecruitment.co.nz

Applications close on Friday 18 July 2025. 

Me mahi tahi tātou - Together we can