Payroll Team Lead

• Timaru Hospital
• Permanent, full-time role (1.0 FTE, 80 hours per fortnight)
• Lead our local team of three payroll officers

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is firmly grounded in the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and is committed to building a health system that serves all New Zealanders.

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is in a unique phase where we are developing and progressing opportunities at the district level.

About the role

As the Payroll Team Lead, you will lead our local team of three payroll officers, manage the day-to-day payroll processing including the timeliness and accuracy, and work with all other areas of HR to ensure that impacts on payroll are managed and understood.

This is a permanent role, working 80 hours per fortnight (1.0 FTE), Monday to Friday, between the hours of 8.30am to 5pm.

Continuous improvement is seen as a regular part of what the team does and forums are in place to encourage contribution from the wider team on improvement initiatives.

About the location

Timaru is a special coastal port city in South Canterbury, famous for Caroline Bay's stunning beach, striking Edwardian bluestone architecture, and unique rolling hills formed by an ancient volcano. It blends a warm, family-friendly seaside vibe with rich heritage and easy access to the Southern Alps.

Timaru Hospital is a vital regional facility in South Canterbury known for combining a community-focused, provincial scale with comprehensive secondary-level care, a 24-hour district trauma service, local oncology and critical care units, and a unique supportive lifestyle environment for its medical staff. The hospital provides secondary services to the district population of approximately 50,000 people, has 130 beds.

About you

You will have:

• experience working with Collective agreements (advantageous if this is in health)
• extensive knowledge of New Zealand Payroll related legislation and experience with payroll systems
• excellent written and oral communication skills,
• the demonstrated ability to engage with and develop employees' skills around the use of new technology, when working with wide ranging levels of IT competency
• the proven ability to lead and drive collaboration with stakeholders.

The successful candidate must be eligible to work in New Zealand or hold a valid New Zealand visa at the time of applying.

Working at Health New Zealand

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is dedicated to ensuring excellent healthcare for the people of New Zealand. We embrace a workforce that is diverse and inclusive so that we are better positioned to understand and service our community**.** We welcome applications from our diverse Māori, Pacific, disabled, and rainbow communities.

How to apply

To apply please click 'apply now.' All applications must be submitted through our online careers portal by Sunday, 4 October 2026. If you have any questions about the role, please contact Ben Kingsbury [email protected]

We will review applications as received and may proceed with the recruitment process before the closing date of this advert.