Director – Small Business Services

Tēnei tūranga – About the role

The role of Director is critical in leading, managing and delivering the commitments made by government to support small businesses in New Zealand.  

The Director is responsible for the overall delivery of their assigned workstream. They bring their business and sector knowledge, extensive people and programme leadership experience, and highly tuned senior-stakeholder engagement skills to drive support and engagement with small businesses.

The role of Director is interchangeable across our four functional groupings. A Director is assigned to one of the functional groupings and can be reassigned to a different functional grouping based on required skills or demand in that area.

The functional groupings that require a Director are:

Market Strategy – The Director Customer leads a team that is responsible for how SBS is positioned in the market, how SBS uses our assets (messaging, visibility, resources, paths to customers), with a focus on:

• Supporting delivery of key initiatives through brand awareness in the market.
• Understand how customers engage with our channels.
• What mediums will be effective to utilise and when.
• How to take part in the market and with our stakeholders to deliver our services.

Products– The Director Product and Portfolio leads a team that is responsible for priority topic areas, with a focus on what resources are needed, what customers are looking to achieve, and what stakeholders should be engaged to support this work.

Contracts – The Director Contracts leads a team that is responsible for managing the formal agreements SBS has in place to deliver key Small Business Services outcomes, the deliverables, and the relationships needed to effectively support these.

Partnerships – The Director Partnerships leads a team that is responsible for the functions that help Small Business Services engage with, inform and support the Ministers, Ministries, Government Agencies and other key partners we collaborate with

The Director:

• Works with the Small Business Services (SBS) Leadership Team (SBSLT) to build a shared vision and plans for priority outcomes and supporting work programmes.
• Works across industry and government, to identify, promote, share, and strengthen practice and behaviour.
• Negotiates with and influencing senior executives from government agencies and industry players to deliver their aspects of workstreams.
• Develops a clear articulation of the benefits that flow from projects, and implications for procurement and other business benefits.
• Achieves clear alignment with workstream leads to identify relevant innovative practices and champion the expertise within their workstream.
• Has the day-to-day responsibility for the management of their assigned functional group workstreams, including planning activities, stakeholder management, external communications, and timely management of risks and issues.
• Provides programme/project management planning advice and support for managers and workstream leads – for example, on the preparation of high-quality project initiation and planning documents, stakeholder engagement and communications plans.
• Is accountable for establishing and maintaining fit-for-purpose processes, reporting and governance to ensure the programme of work, delivered by multiple parties, has effective oversight and accountability.
• Is accountable for providing regular, high-level reporting to senior leaders at MBIE and across the industry on progress against the strategic deliverables.
• Is responsible for providing guidance, coaching and mentoring staff in execution of their roles, including secondees from government agencies and industry.

Ngā herenga – Requirements of the role

Personal specifications

• Proven management experience, managing work programmes for high performing teams.
• A comprehensive understanding of the Public Sector environment and a demonstrated understanding of policy and regulatory processes, including Government decision-making and operating procedures.
• Strong programme and project management skills and knowledge of project management disciplines and proven delivery in a public policy/regulatory environment.
• An ability to think strategically and analytically and translate ideas and concepts into concrete actions.
• Strong stakeholder engagement / management skills with senior private and public sector executives.
• Knowledge and understanding of the construction sector are an advantage.
• Experience in developing frameworks and models to simplify complex concepts.
• Ability to identify and appropriately manage risk.
• Ability to quickly establish and build strong working relationships, including with senior managers.
• Flexibility to adapt within a fast-moving environment.
• Ability to assimilate new information or areas of work.
• Excellent communication skills, and (preferably) strong facilitation skills.
• In depth understanding of Te Tiriti, tikanga and Te Ao Māori.

Qualifications

• A tertiary degree in a relevant field is highly desirable.
• A professional qualification in programme and/or project management is desirable.

Takohanga tuhinga o mua – Key accountabilities and deliverables

Critical areas of success

• Builds and maintains effective strategic working relationships across government and the sector.
• Develops functional team plans that set out the deliverables, outcomes and measures that will ensure the achievement of strategic outcomes across SBS.
• Engages and influences the industry through professional and productive relationships.
• Ensures that reporting within MBIE and to Ministers is of an appropriate frequency, quality, and accuracy.
• Is responsible for maintain and reporting on workstream budgets, timelines, and dependencies.
• Develops a framework for the commissioning of initiatives, to support prioritisation and funding decisions.
• Inputs to functional team, such as change, risk and benefits management, including an evaluation framework for monitoring programme impact.
• Builds and maintains working relationships between the work of SBS and other government initiatives to ensure the SBS unit is cognisant of related priorities and activities.
• Maintains a forward agenda, identifying opportunities and risks for the SBS unit and, where risks exist, actioning them or where appropriate recommending mitigations to relevant parties/governance groups etc.
• Ensures the effective reporting of progress, risks and issues.

Relationship management

• Provides leadership by example and creates a culture of high-performance, customer service and delivery.
• Participates as an active team member and contributes knowledge and expertise needed to achieve MBIE’s outcomes.
• Proven ability to build and maintain effective relationships and partnerships with internal and external stakeholders to.
• Ensures continuous and genuine engagement with key stakeholders, including engagement with iwi and hāpu.
• Develops effective working relationships with other MBIE managers and staff in to deliver the programme of work and transfer knowledge and learning from the team to the wider organisation.
• Develops effective working relationships with other agencies and stakeholders involved or impacted by the programme.
• Represents whole-of-Ministry views and protects its reputation in any external interactions.

Wellbeing, health & safety

• Displays commitment through actively supporting all safety and wellbeing initiatives.
• Ensures own and others safety at all times.
• Complies with relevant safety and wellbeing policies, procedures, safe systems of work and event reporting.
• Reports all incidents/accidents, including near misses in a timely fashion.
• Is involved in health and safety through participation and consultation.

Tō tūranga i roto i te Manatū – Your place in the Ministry

The Director position reports into the HO SMS, SBS, Business & Consumer branch. The branch sits within the TWSD group.

More information about MBIE's structure

Matatautanga – Competencies (Leadership Success Profile)

The Leadership Success Profile (LSP) is a leadership capability framework, developed by the New Zealand public sector for the New Zealand public sector. It creates a common language for leadership and establishes what great leadership looks like. You can look at the twelve underpinning capabilities and four leadership characters here: Leadership Success Profile | Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission(external link)

To mātou aronga – What we do for Aotearoa New Zealand

Hīkina Whakatutuki is the te reo Māori name for the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. Hīkina means to uplift. Whakatutuki means to move forward, to make successful. Our name speaks to our purpose, Grow Aotearoa New Zealand for All.

To Grow Aotearoa New Zealand for All, we put people at the heart of our mahi. Based on the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi / The Treaty of Waitangi, we are committed to upholding authentic partnerships with Māori.

As agile public service leaders, we use our breadth and experience to navigate the ever-changing world. We are service providers, policy makers, investors and regulators. We engage with diverse communities, businesses and regions. Our work touches on the daily lives of New Zealanders. We grow opportunities (Puāwai), guard and protect (Kaihāpai) and innovate and navigate towards a better future (Auaha).

Te Tiriti o Waitangi

As an agency of the public service, MBIE has a responsibility to contribute to the Crown meeting its obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Te Tiriti). Meeting our commitment to Te Tiriti will contribute towards us realising the overall aims of Te Ara Amiorangi – Our Path, Our Direction, and achieve the outcome of Growing New Zealand for All. The principles of Te Tiriti - including partnership, good faith, and active protection – are at the core of our work. MBIE is committed to delivering on our obligations as a Treaty partner with authenticity and integrity and to enable Māori interests. We are committed to ensuring that MBIE is well placed to meet our obligations under the Public Service Act 2020 (Te Ao Tūmatanui) to support the Crown in strengthening the Māori/Crown Relationship under the Treaty and to build MBIE’s capability, capacity and cultural intelligence to deliver this.

Mahi i roto i te Ratonga Tūmatanui – Working in the public service

Ka mahitahi mātou o te ratonga tūmatanui kia hei painga mō ngā tāngata o Aotearoa i āianei, ā, hei ngā rā ki tua hoki. He kawenga tino whaitake tā mātou hei tautoko i te Karauna i runga i āna hononga ki a ngāi Māori i raro i te Tiriti o Waitangi. Ka tautoko mātou i te kāwanatanga manapori. Ka whakakotahingia mātou e te wairua whakarato ki ō mātou hapori, ā, e arahina ana mātou e ngā mātāpono me ngā tikanga matua o te ratonga tūmatanui i roto i ā mātou mahi.

In the public service we work collectively to make a meaningful difference for New Zealanders now and in the future. We have an important role in supporting the Crown in its relationships with Māori under the Treaty of Waitangi. We support democratic government. We are unified by a spirit of service to our communities and guided by the core principles and values of the public service in our work.

What does it mean to work in Aotearoa New Zealand’s Public Service?(external link) — Te Kawa Mataaho The Public Service Commission