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POSITION DESCRIPTION

Position:

Location:

Reporting to:

Issue Date:

Delegated Authority:

Staff Responsibility:

Manager Strategic Communications and Engagement

Te Whanganui-a-Tara

Executive Director

DRAFT FOR CONSULTATION

Financial and Human Resources delegations as authorised

Yes

Our Organisation

Mana Mokopuna - Children's Commissioner advocates for all 1.2 million mokopuna aged

under 18 in Aotearoa and care-experienced mokopuna aged up to 25.

Mana Mokopuna is an Independent Crown Entity led by our Children’s Commissioner. We

advocate for children's rights to be recognised and upheld, provide advice and guidance

to government and other agencies, advocate for system-level change, ensure children's

voices are heard in decisions that affect them and monitor places where mokopuna are

detained.

Our name, Mana Mokopuna, describes who we are and what we stand for.

At its heart, Mana Mokopuna recognises the many elements that will support mokopuna

to thrive. It focuses on children and young people in the context of their family, whānau,

hapū, iwi and wider community. It also recognises that their participation in decisions that

affect them is vitally important.

Our Vision and Values

Our moemoeā is Kia kuru pounamu te rongo - All mokopuna live their best lives. We want

to see every child in Aotearoa, regardless of their background, growing up knowing they

belong with their whānau, having what they need to live their best life. It means mokopuna

have a say about what matters for them, and that their rights are honoured by those in

power.

Te Tiriti o Waitangi is central to our work. Honouring and reflecting Te Tiriti is one of the

core values that drives us. We have a tikanga framework with four values-based principles

that guide our mahi and behaviour:

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• Aroha: Mokopuna are taonga. They are born with their own inherent mana. We will

always act with compassion and empathy, adapting readily to respond to their needs.

• Pono: We believe honesty and integrity are key to doing our job well. We will always

report things as we see them and never as how others want them to be seen. We

stay true to one important thing: we do as we say we will.

• Tika: We are always about the best results for mokopuna. We empower others to

bring about the best for them. We’re independent and will always speak out for their

interests. We consider the range of needs we have to meet and make every attempt

to get it right. We never shy away from the hard stuff.

• Mātauranga: Mokopuna are our reason for being. They are involved, participate, and

have input into things we do. We act from a place of knowledge; we work from

evidence and advise others based on the things we learn.

Purpose of this Position

The Manager Strategic Communications and Engagement provides strategic leadership and

oversight of functions that engage with and for mokopuna and their whānau, hapū, iwi and

communities to ensure that their voices are heard and amplified to promote and advance

the rights, interests, and wellbeing of Mokopuna in alignment with the United Nations

Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

To do this, the role leads the development and delivery of a cohesive, forward-thinking

communications, stakeholder and engagement strategy that strengthens and promotes the

advocacy of Mana Mokopuna - the Children's Commissioner. Providing strategic oversight

across engagement and communications (including strategic engagement and media,

stakeholder intelligence, digital channels and content creation) functions, this role ensures

that all engagement is aligned, impactful and focused on the promotion of the interests,

rights and wellbeing of mokopuna.

Combining strategic thought leadership with operational oversight, the Manager Strategic

Communications and Engagement ensures that Mana Mokopuna is focusing on high

impact opportunities to engage, build relationships and communicate in ways which

promote and advance the interests, rights and wellbeing of mokopuna within Aotearoa

through:

• Engaging and building relationships with mokopuna and their whānau, hapu, iwi

and communities to hear their voices, lived experiences and understand what

matters most to them.

• Building relationships and leveraging shared connections and resources for the

benefit of mokopuna and their whānau.

• Providing strategic stakeholder insights and advice to support Mana Mokopuna to

focus on the most impactful engagement efforts.

• Promoting the advocacy undertaken by Mana Mokopuna using strategic

communications and engagement across digital platforms using storytelling and

visual content to promote a world where all mokopuna live their best lives.

A key focus of this role is leading a high performing team that operates within a positive

working environment where kaimahi have the support to do their best mahi. The Manager

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Strategic Communications and Engagement is part of the leadership team and will

contribute to strategic work programme planning and priority setting for the organisation,

ensuring that we are progressing towards the achievement of our moemoeā - kia kuru

pounamu te rongo.

Working Relationships

Internal:

• Children’s Commissioner

• Executive Director

• Leadership Team

• Direct reports

• Kaimahi across the tari

External:

• NGO and community sector, including

organisations that represent Pacific

communities, ethnic communities,

disabled, rainbow, care-experienced,

excluded, or marginalised mokopuna

• Oranga Tamariki Oversight Partners: Te

Aroturuki Tamariki and the Ombudsman

• Government agencies, particularly:

• Ministry of Social Development

• Treasury

• Oranga Tamariki

• Te Puni Kōkiri

• Ministry of Education

• Ministry of Health

• Ministry of Business

• Innovation and Employment

• Ministry of Justice

• Ministry of Pacific Peoples

• NZ Police

• Human Rights Commission

• Privacy Commissioner

• Housing New Zealand

• Statistics New Zealand

• Social Wellbeing Agency

• Māori communities, including Iwi, hapū,

whānau and Māori organisations

• Academics and Māori and community

researchers and data experts

• Child rights advocates and sector

• Wider NGO sector

• Mokopuna directly and/or agencies

representing them

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Key Accountabilities

Key Result Areas Accountabilities

Strategic Leadership • Contribute to the strategic direction setting of Mana

Mokopuna and associated performance frameworks.

• Lead the development and execution of strategic

communication and engagement plans, weaving

together the different work streams to undertake

activities that promote and advance the rights, interests

and wellbeing of mokopuna.

• Develop and drive strategic engagement and

communications initiatives that advance mokopuna

rights and amplify their voices to meaningfully shape

the decisions that affect them.

• Build and maintain strong relationships within

government agencies, non-governmental

organisations, Te Ao Maori, Pacific communities, youth

focused organisations, community leaders, and other

stakeholders to ensure Mana Mokopuna is connecting

with and hearing from the villages that surround

mokopuna.

• Provide strategic direction and oversee the design and

execution of communications and engagement

initiatives, ensuring opportunities are maximised to

hear from and amplify mokopuna voicecs, while also

ensuring that risks and challenges are managed

proactively.

People Leadership • Provide strong leadership to the team, ensuring that a

culture of manaaki, support and high performance is

fostered, where all kaimahi feel valued, respected, and

empowered to contribute to the moemoeā of Mana

Mokopuna.

• Build, manage, and develop a high-performing team by

setting clear objectives and providing ongoing

coaching and feedback to support individual and team

growth.

• Identify professional development opportunities with

kaimahi, ensuring they have the skills and knowledge to

effectively advocate for mokopuna rights and manage

complex cases and projects.

• Manage team workloads and resources effectively,

ensuring a balance between operational demands and

strategic initiatives while maintaining kaimahi

wellbeing.

• Address team challenges proactively and constructively,

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offering support and solutions to maintain team

cohesion and alignment with moemoeā.

• Continuously model the values of Mana Mokopuna, as

a senior leader in the organisation.

Operational Delivery • Lead the successful and timely development and

delivery of a strategic work programme, which

provides for reactive and proactive communications

and engagement opportunities and gives particular

consideration of mātauranga Māori across all

activities undertaken.

• Establish clear objectives, timelines, and deliverables

for the work programme, ensuring alignment with

strategic priorities and resource availability.

• Develop and implement robust frameworks to

monitor progress, measure outcomes, and evaluate

the impact of the work programme, ensuring

continuous improvement and accountability.

• Ensure quality assurance across the teams work

programme including but not limited to ethics,

safeguarding and other mechanisms for safe practice.

• Provide clear and timely updates on work programme

progress, challenges, and successes to internal and

external stakeholders, fostering transparency and

collaboration.

• Ensure the Strategic Communications and

Engagement team has the necessary capability and

resources to deliver on their work programme,

addressing problems as they arise and being

proactive in removing any roadblocks to delivery.

• Manage financial resources within budget, as directed

by the Executive Director and in accordance with the

policies of the tari and the public sector.

Issues & Risk Management • Proactively identify and assess emerging issues, risks

and opportunities both within the organisaion, and

across the eco-system that could impact the

realisation of mokopuna rights and the amplification

of their voices in decisions that matter to them - this

may include system or organisational changes and

shifts in the wider landscape.

• Establish robust systems to monitor risks, issues and

opportunities, providing regular reporting and strong

actionable reccomendations and mitigations to

support the Commissioner to promote and advance

mokopuna rights and amplify their voices.

• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to

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address risks and resolve issues, leveraging

partnerships to achieve sustainable, mokopuna-

centered outcomes.

• Review and refine risk management frameworks and

practices, integrating lessons learned from past issues

to strengthen team resilience and responsiveness in

safeguarding mokopuna.

Relationship Management • Develop and maintain excellent working relationships

with external agencies including government, NGO,

community sector, particularly Māori and Pacific

communities.

• Establish effective working relationships and

communication with all key stakeholders for the team

and maintain excellent internal working relationships

across Mana Mokopuna.

• Leverage relationships and connections for the shared

benefit of mokopuna.

Te Tiriti o Waitangi

Obligations • Ensure that plans, practices, processes, activities and

initiatives of the Strategic Communications and

Engagement team are reflective of our commitment

and obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

• Champion the rights of Māori as Tangata Whenua.

• Actively work to improve skills and knowledge of Te

Reo Māori and Tikanga Māori.

Other Duties • Initiate, participate in and lead as appropriate,

projects and areas of work prioritised by the Executive

Director.

• Perform other duties to support the team or the wider

tari, as delegated by the Executive Director.

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Technical/Professional knowledge and skills

• Extensive, successful experience in people leadership, ideally in senior positions within

community engagement and/or advocacy focused organisations.

• Excellent engagement, relationship management and inquiry skills.

• A strong understanding of the practical application of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in the

workplace, with experience in ensuring the provisions of Te Tiriti are centred

throughout engagement practices, stakeholder management and communications.

• Proficiency in Te Reo Māori and Tikanga Māori, with the ability and confidence to

engage within Te Ao Māori and matatau settings.

• A proven ability to build high performing teams within a culture that fosters wellbeing,

psychological safety and innovation.

• Expertise in successfully leading teams in a complex and demanding environment, with

the ability to provide strong coaching, mentoring and support to direct reports to

ensure work delivery.

• Experience in leading and executing strategic plans that influence the achievement of

outcomes for mokopuna (experience specific to stakeholder engagement planning

desirable).

• Extensive background and experience in engagement and communications related

roles, ideally with experience within kaupapa Māori organisations and/or within the

children's participation sector.

• Expertise in navigating statutory, legislative, and public service processes with regards

to children’s interests, rights, wellbeing, and participation (including UN Convention of

the Rights of the Child, UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, UN

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities).

• Strong communication skills, both verbal and written, with the ability to influence

without authority.

• Expert understanding of how to promote mokopuna voices and experiences in a way

that advances their rights, interests and wellbeing.

• A strategic and analytical thinker with a proven ability to create solutions in a changing

environment.

• A track record of building and sustaining relationships across a range of different

sectors, communities, and agencies.

• Demonstratable understanding and ability to analyse the impacts of engagement and

communications on mokopuna Māori and apply this analysis to leadership of an

engagement function.

• Relevant tertiary qualification and extensive equivalent experience.

• Willing to travel to fulfill the requirements of the role.