Senior Consultant

The opportunity

We’re looking for a senior consultant to lead in delivering a range of our evaluation projects.

As a senior consultant, you’ll lead meaningful projects across sectors like social services, health, education, and the arts, contributing to work that supports better outcomes for communities.

You’ll join a smart, supportive, and purpose-driven team known for delivering high-quality client-focused consulting work. As a senior member of the team, you will have the autonomy to lead your own portfolio of work in a mix of projects, while collaborating with the rest of the team to complete projects to scope, time and budget.

You’ll work with clients who trust us to help them reflect, adapt, and demonstrate impact and you’ll play a key role in shaping both their success and Dovetail’s continued growth. As a key member of a small company, you will be involved in organisational decision-making and have the opportunity to shape its direction.

This role is full-time (40 hours per week). We are flexible with work from home arrangements, but also highly value connecting as a team, so we would require the successful applicant to work onsite in our central Auckland office at least three days per week on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursdays.

We are based in a vibrant central Auckland shared office space, with a regular calendar of social events, a wellness centre (with a sauna!) and a dog friendly setup.

About you

You’re experienced and comfortable leading work in a consulting or client-focused environment, and able to balance time and cost pressures whilst delivering quality evaluation and research insights.

You’ll have a strong grounding in evaluation or applied research, with experience leading projects in complex settings. You’ll know when to delegate and when to step in, confidently guiding more junior team members and quality-assuring their work to maintain a high standard across project work.

You’re confident designing methodologies, engaging stakeholders, synthesising data, and delivering insights that are rigorous and useful. We’re looking for someone with genuine curiosity and the mixed-methods skills to approach complex areas of inquiry.

Essential qualities we are seeking include the following:

• Strong evaluation-specific or research consulting experience in a fast-paced environment, and a track record of delivering client-focused activities
• Confidence in working across all aspects of the research and evaluation process including design, data collection, synthesis, and reporting
• Experience in qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis
• A demonstrated understanding and application of core evaluation concepts such as Theory of Change and making evaluative judgements using rubrics
• Project management experience and an ability to work independently and/or lead across multiple projects simultaneously
• A curious mind and keenness for exploring complex research questions, through gathering evidence, crafting of narratives and delivering appropriate information to diverse audiences
• Confident communication and presentation skills, both written and oral
• Excellent interpersonal, teamwork and relationship management skills
• Strong cultural awareness, a sound knowledge of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and to be able to apply these to your practice

Key responsibilities

The Senior Consultant will work across a variety of projects, bringing their skills and knowledge in research, evaluation and stakeholder engagement across multiple projects and clients.

Areas of work will include:

• Evaluation and research project leadership
• Client and stakeholder facilitation and engagement
• Analysis and reporting on in-house and client projects
• Literature and document analysis
• Interviewing and other forms of data collection
• Design of documents, infographics, and other visual elements
• Contribution to ethics submissions
• Contribution to company databases, reporting, website and publications
• Support and mentor other members of the team

Qualifications

High-achieving postgraduate, Masters or doctoral degree in fields such as social and health sciences, public sector policy, evaluation, psychology, communications, humanities, international development, economics, or natural resource management

We are open to people from a variety of backgrounds and levels of experience. Working in consulting or related fields that demand a clear client focus will be an advantage. We are not specifically seeking academic expertise.

About us

Dovetail Consulting Ltd is a research and evaluation consultancy, based in Auckland. We focus on public good-oriented projects, to capture impacts for people, communities and ecosystems; and help guide future improvements and decision-making.

Dovetail's clients include government departments, community and philanthropic organisations, and companies with an interest in socially and environmentally responsible delivery. We work across a range of sectors, including health, social and community services, education, creative and arts, transport, and local and regional government.

We currently have a core team of seven staff, and a wider network of specialists in evaluation, kaupapa Māori research, data science and community psychology. Dovetail is B-Corp certified and we are a Living Wage employer.

You can find out more at www.dovetail.co.nz.

How to apply

Dovetail uses minimal artificial intelligence in our research, evaluation and recruitment processes, and we expect the successful candidate to comply with our internal policies on AI use at work. We can guarantee that human eyes will review every application that we receive. We ask in return that you do not use AI in writing your application, as we are interested in hearing your own voice, perspectives and experiences through this process.

If you feel that this opportunity lines up with your own values and you’re keen to apply, then please submit your application via SEEK with your CV and a cover letter. If you have any questions, please reach out to Adrian Field, [email protected]. Applications close no later than Monday 24th August 2026.

A full position description is available on request.