Trail Operations Manager - Te Araroa

Trail Operations Manager

Te Araroa Trust | Permanent, full-time | Wellington, or a suitable main centre for travel

About Te Araroa

Te Araroa is New Zealand’s national walking trail. It runs 3,073 km from Cape Reinga/Te Rerenga Wairua to Bluff/Motupōhue, across public conservation land, council reserves, Māori land and private property. Since it opened in 2011, it has been walked by thousands of people each year, from thru-walkers to day walkers.

About Te Araroa Trust

Te Araroa Trust is the charity responsible for the trail. Since 1994 it has worked to establish and care for Te Araroa in partnership with the Department of Conservation, mana whenua, regional trusts, landholders and thousands of volunteers.

The Trust’s focus now is the trail’s long-term future: protecting and improving it, renewing the assets it depends on, and strengthening the partnerships that care for it. How well the trail and its structures are planned, renewed and developed will shape it for generations of walkers and the communities along it.

The Trail Operations Manager leads that work. It is a senior role reporting to the Chief Executive, working alongside the community development, partnerships and technology leads, and it is the Trust’s main operational link with DOC and regional trusts.

The role

You will lead trail operations nationally, with responsibility for the trail’s condition, continuity and development, and for health and safety across the Trust.

You will set the direction for how the trail is maintained, renewed and improved: the long-term programme for tracks and structures, reroutes, and trail. Your decisions on priorities, partners and investment will determine the quality, safety and resilience of the trail over the next decade.

You will lead a growing team, including regional operations coordinators and technical advisors in GIS and walker support. Beyond that team, much of the work is done by people who don’t work for the Trust, including DOC staff, land owners, regional trusts, contractors and volunteers.

What you will be accountable for

• Trail integrity and development. A continuous trail that’s improving in condition, with a long-term plan for maintaining, renewing and developing its assets and features, delivered regionally across the country.

• Health and safety. Working systems across the organisation, contractors and volunteers managed to standard, assurance to the board, and trail alerts and incidents handled well.

• Partnerships, access and advocacy. Productive relationships with DOC, regional trusts, landholders, mana whenua, volunteers and the Backcountry Trust that keep the trail open and get work done. You’ll also represent Te Araroa within DOC at regional and district level.

What you will bring

• Experience leading dispersed teams of staff and contractors, and proven experience working with volunteers.

• Experience building relationships and negotiating access with public agencies, councils, landholders, mana whenua and community groups, and knowledge of DOC systems such as concessions and community agreements.

• Experience in asset management and project delivery on outdoor infrastructure, including budgets and contracts.

• Health and safety leadership in field-based, higher-risk environments.

• Experience planning how trails or similar assets are developed, resourced and maintained over the long term.

• A demonstrated commitment to the outdoors and strong association to Te Araroa.

Knowledge of the trail, the outdoor recreation sector and te ao Māori would be an advantage.

How to apply

Include a CV and cover letter of no more than two pages via Seek by 5.00pm on Monday the 2nd November.

In your cover letter, tell us why this role, and what you would bring to it, clearly demonstrating your proven skills and experience.

Applicants must have the right to work in New Zealand.