Senior Advisor / Advisor, Catchment

We are seeking a Senior Advisor, or Advisor, to join our Kāpiti Catchment team in a permanent role. This is an exciting opportunity to help shape the future of the Kāpiti catchment and contribute to long-term environmental, cultural, and community outcomes for the region. We are open to considering candidates at both the Senior Advisor and Advisor level and encourage applicants to indicate the level they believe best reflects their skills and experience.

While the position has a home base in our central Wellington office, the successful candidate will work from the Kāpiti Coast District Council offices in Paraparaumu or other Kāpiti-based locations at least one to two days per week to maintain strong local connections and relationships.

About the role:

This is a key relationship and delivery-focused role that supports the implementation of Greater Wellington's catchment-based approach to planning and environmental management.

Working closely with the Catchment Manager, you will help bring together the people, priorities, knowledge, and resources needed to achieve integrated catchment outcomes across the Kāpiti region. You will work alongside mana whenua, Kāpiti Coast District Council, the Department of Conservation, community groups, advisory committees, and internal teams to identify opportunities, respond to emerging issues, and deliver on catchment priorities.

With a strong focus on translating strategy into action, you will apply a practical delivery lens to catchment planning and integration initiatives, including supporting the implementation of the Kāpiti Whaitua Implementation Programme and other priority programmes of work.

You are a collaborative and relationship-focused professional who enjoys working across organisational boundaries to achieve shared outcomes. You combine strategic thinking with practical delivery and are comfortable navigating complexity, uncertainty, and diverse stakeholder interests. Your communications, written and presentation skills, will be top notch. Success in this role will depend on your ability to connect people and ideas, build trusted relationships, and facilitate collaborative solutions that deliver meaningful environmental, cultural, and community outcomes.

Skills and Experience

You may have experience in one or more areas of environmental management, such as land management, ecological restoration, flood resilience, and climate adaptation.

Your experience and capabilities will include:

• Excellent communication skills, with the confidence to engage with mana whenua, technical experts, community groups, senior leaders, and elected members.
• Strong understanding of environmental management challenges and opportunities in Aotearoa New Zealand.
• Experience supporting complex, collaborative planning or implementation programmes.
• Technical planning capability and the ability to contribute to catchment plan development and implementation.
• The ability to work effectively within a dynamic political and regulatory environment.
• Demonstrated success in building and maintaining trusted relationships with diverse stakeholders.
• Experience working with mana whenua, hapū, iwi, or Māori organisations and a strong understanding of Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations and partnership approaches.
• An appreciation of the value that collaboration, co-design, and partnership bring to achieving environmental outcomes.
• Strong project management, coordination, facilitation, and report-writing skills.

We value local knowledge and connections relevant to the capabilities listed above.

What we offer:

• Work to suit your life and whānau with our flexible working policy.
• We'll encourage you to grow and prosper with a range of learning and development opportunities, internal secondments, and career progression.
• Your wellbeing is our priority - we'll provide medical and trauma insurance, support through our employee assistance programme, including Rongoā Māori partner providers, generous annual leave along with Tangihanga leave and support.
• We want you to have a sense of belonging, where you can reflect your personal and cultural identity in the way that you work.
• Social clubs, staff networks, and a friendly and inclusive culture.
• Great working environments across our beautiful region.

Come help treasure and grow our rohe together

Our rohe and its lands, waterways, animals, plants and people can only grow stronger if they are nurtured.

To join our team is to step up and commit to playing an active part in this important mahi. That means restoring nature, connecting people and places, reducing environmental impacts and helping this rohe and its people prosper.

We are part of a collective movement alongside mana whenua and community members whose hopes for the future of this region are just as high as your own.

Our efforts across environmental management, public transport, flood protection, regional parks and water supply are interconnected and integral to treasuring our rohe and growing our future.

How to apply:

Greater Wellington is proud to be a member of Te Uru Tāngata Centre for Workplace Inclusion. We value diversity and are committed to an inclusive, flexible, and supportive workplace. We encourage candidates from all backgrounds and welcome the unique talent and experience you will bring to our team.

We are passionate about ensuring our recruitment processes are fair and equitable. Please let us know if you have any accessibility needs or adjustments that need to be made so we can offer a recruitment process that is more accessible to you.

Click on the Apply link to view the position descriptions, and to apply for the role with a cover letter and CV. Please highlight in your application whether you are applying for a Senior Advisor level role or, if you have less experience, an Advisor level role. All applicants will be required to provide proof of their eligibility to work in New Zealand as we are unable to provide sponsorship for this position.

For further information, please contact Michele Frank, Kāpiti Catchment Manager, on [021 2416 858](tel:021 2416 858).

Applications close: 5.00pm, Thursday, 10 September 2026. However, we will be shortlisting applications as they come in and will interview as soon as possible to secure the right person.

Greater Wellington is an accredited Living Wage Employer. We're committed to making sure our people, including people in our supply chain, earn enough to meet life's basic needs, support their whānau, and participate fully in their communities.

The remuneration range for these positions, inclusive of all benefits, is:

Senior Advisor Catchment: $101,204 to $151,806, with a midpoint of $126,505

Advisor Catchment: $74,724 to $112,086 with a midpoint of $93,405

Starting remuneration will depend on the skills and experience of the successful applicant.

Agency applications won't be considered at this time.