Senior Advisor – Capability Development

Secure our future by developing our people, an exciting pivotal role that will provide strategic partnership across both GCSB and NZSIS to ensure our workforce remains resilient, skilled, and future-ready.

Mō te tūranga mahi – about the roleYou will lead the discovery, design, and evaluation of capability-building initiatives that directly align with our national intelligence and security objectives. This isn't just about training; it is about strategic workforce evolution. You will partner with senior leaders to design learning pathways, develop progression tools, and map critical skills to ensure our operational effectiveness.

Using evidence-based evaluation and rigorous learning needs analysis, you will drive targeted solutions that help us attract, engage, and retain the specialist talent essential for safeguarding New Zealand.

Ko wai koe – about you

You will be a proactive L&D professional who thrives on turning learning needs into engaging, learner‑centric solutions and can partner confidently with stakeholders and third‑party vendors.

What you will bring:

• Proven experience: in a Learning & Development role, with a deep understanding of the ADDIE model (or similar).
• Strategic Mindset: A proven track record of partnering with senior executives to align learning outcomes with organisational goals.
• Technical Expertise: Mastery in creating competency frameworks and mapping skills to complex role requirements.
• Analytical Rigour: The ability to use evaluation methodologies and data visualisation to measure the real-world impact of learning on performance.
• Delivery: Experience managing projects or programmes within complex, multi-agency environments.

The expected appointing range for this position is $120,359 - $128,383.

Why join us?
Alongside getting to work with other talented people, we also offer a range of comprehensive benefits which include:

• Medical Insurance and Vision Care packages
• Enhanced employer contributions to your Kiwisaver
• Generous Leave benefits, including additional paid days off and enhanced sick and parental leave
• Childcare allowance for your preschoolers
• Opportunities for personal and professional growth and career pathways across the intelligence community
• Great work-life balance

If you thrive on collaboration, love turning ideas into measurable results, and want to grow your expertise in a supportive, forward‑thinking environment, we want to hear from you!

Before you apply

Working within our unique environment means we have to ensure you're eligible for employment.

You must:

• Have been a New Zealand Citizen for at least 10 years ORhold a current NZ Residency Class Visa and ideally have been a citizen of the UK, USA, Canada or Australia for at least 10 years,
  AND
• Be eligible to obtain a Top Secret Special (TSS) security clearance
  • Ordinarily, this means you'll have a 15 year checkable background in countries NZSIS Vetting can make meaningful and reliable checks.

Still unsure? Use this online tool to self-check your eligibility for a TSS security clearance: http://www.protectivesecurity.govt.nz/eligibility-tool

The NZIC treats all applications for employment in the strictest confidence and we expect that you maintain a similar level of confidentiality during the recruitment process and throughout your career.

We’ll provide you with information and tips throughout the recruitment process, but in the meantime check out our tips on applying and the security clearance process here.

You can also learn more about our work and understand our areas of focus by reading New Zealand's Security Threat Environment | New Zealand Security Intelligence Service.