Principal Advisor Marketing

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Tēnei tūranga – About the role

The Principal Advisor provides expert advice and contributes to the operations of their unit. The unit is responsible
for providing consultative advice to managers and operational services liaising internally across the group and with external providers to meet business needs.

The Principal Advisor is responsible for leading quality and consistency of advice and practices in relation to their role.

The Principal Advisor will create and implement internal and external strategies that will help increase customer and stakeholder engagement and propel our brand’s image, to achieve and support customer outcomes.

This highly collaborative role will provide strategic advice across the work programme of the team and co-ordination across a wide range of operational priorities to ensure the team develops and maintains high quality, innovative and user-centric practices.

The Principal Advisor takes the lead on large work programmes, oversees the team delivery of work programmes and takes into consideration strategic direction and operational needs to ensure timely delivery of projects to high customer satisfaction.

The Principal Advisor utilises and provides strategic advice, leads and balances timely delivery with mitigating risk, understands challenges and opportunities for New Zealand Small businesses operating in a highly agile manner to meet customer needs. Acts as a trusted advisor to senior leaders and provides effective coaching to developing colleagues.

This includes product and/or service ownership, building and maintaining effective working relationships with partners and subject matter experts, achieved through working closely with the wider teams and service providers.

This role utilises and provides strategic advice, leads timely delivery while mitigating risk, understands challenges and opportunities for New Zealand small businesses and operates in a highly agile manner to meet customer needs.

Key Relationships

As a Principal Advisor, you will manage and build key relationships in the team and be a key conduit to connect other members in the team and across the Ministry, as part of delivering our collective work programme. You will be expected to build, manage and lead engagement with our partners, including:

  • Team
  • Engagement & Experience Branch/ TWSD Group
  • Other branches of MBIE
  • Other Government Departments and Agencies
  • Relevant Ministers’ Offices
  • External non-Government partners

Ngā herenga – Requirements of the role

Principal Advisor Personal specifications

  • Mastery of machinery of Government including execution of process improvement, stakeholder consultation processes and change implementation
  • A high level of experience and proven track record in leading large work programmes, taking into account both strategic and operational needs. An ability to think strategically and analytically, and translate ideas and concepts into concrete actions.
  • Skilled practitioner at developing, managing and supporting practices and processes for their area of expertise.
  • Expert user of “tools of the trade, and adopting and upskilling in new technologies and solutions as required.
  • A strategic outlook with the intellectual capability to analyse large, complex issues and readily grasp and synthesise the ideas, analysis and advice produced by others
  • Exceptional proven judgement, integrity and discretion, with experience problem solving, managing and mitigating risk
  • Excellent communication across all formats, and experience adapting messaging to respond to needs of a variety of audiences, including succinct reporting. In particular strong skills to articulate or listen to and understand complex ideas clearly and confidently with attention to detail.
  • Has proven coaching skills to embed a culture of excellence in the team and supporting development of team members with less experience.
  • Experience building credible, respected relationships with diverse stakeholders, including Ministers, senior managers, team members, staff in partner agencies and key external stakeholders and opinion leaders.
  • A proven track record of experience and achievement as a strategic leader:
    • demonstrating workplace agility and resilience
    • leading across boundaries, influencing and shaping future-focused consensus among differing agendas
    • understanding and navigating systems to overcome roadblocks and accomplish objectives
    • understanding whole of system dynamics and leveraging these to achieve strategic and operational goals
    • managing stakeholders and building purposeful and effective relationships within and external to the organisation
  • Experience with finance and budgeting.
  • Relevant tertiary education and work experience in delivering or developing customer value by putting their needs at centre of work.
  • Demonstrate respect and openness towards all customs, cultures and values

Takohanga tuhinga o mua – Key accountabilities and deliverables

The key MBIE capabilities for this job family are below, the employee will need the flexibility to adapt and develop as the working environment evolves.

Project Management

  • Leads and manages complex programmes and projects requiring policy and service design craft and/or technical expertise.
  • Works will little guidance - identifies the overall project or programme objectives and seeks guidance where required and uses initiative to resolve conflicts, manage risks and coordinate work with others.
  • Well organised, plans systematically, regularly monitors and reports on progress towards achievement of plans and strategies for self and wider team.
  • Takes an agile approach, continuously reviewing the business needs, refining priorities, outlining milestones and deliverables, and identifying opportunities and risks.
  • Utilises data to translate this into successful products and services that meet customer needs.
  • Proactively identifies and manages risk, alerting senior colleagues and/or manager to potential problems/risks well in advance and proposing solutions.
  • Effectively provides critical oversight of team work to support timely delivery. Includes but not limited to allocation of tasks within portfolio area, assisting others with project planning, and is able to plan and manage a range of issues including prioritisation.
  • Knows when to work alone and when to seek advice and identifies resources necessary to meet objectives of self or team.
  • Confident managing challenging projects that span a number of issues over an extended period of time.
  • Provides visible leadership of projects through the application of level of thinking, judgment and experience and guides team
  • Supports others to develop and improve systems and processes that meet the needs of Small Business Services customers.

Relationship and Engagement

Manages constructive working relationships with work colleagues and external stakeholders to enhance understanding and co-operation needed to achieve desired results.

  • Participates as an active team member and contributes knowledge and expertise needed to achieve MBIE’s outcomes.
  • Develops and shares effective working relationships with other MBIE managers and staff in order to transfer knowledge and learnings within the team, branch and across TWSD and MBIE. Actively seeks to build and maintain a network of contacts.
  • Has strong communication skills to be able to deliver messages in a variety of settings, with sound ability to influence through engagement, as required.
  • Acts in accordance with Government and the Ministries rules, regulations and expectations when engaging with external stakeholders.
  • Builds strategic alliances with key government and non-government representatives at appropriate level to ensure MBIE’s views are influential in their decision-making.
  • Takes a leadership role in cross-MBIE and cross-government projects.

Cultural Intelligence

  • Commitment to and willingness to learn and incorporate Te Ao Māori into tasks and deliverables
  • Understanding and application of Treaty principles and how they apply to our work
  • Demonstrate respect and openness towards all customs, cultures and values

Coaching and Mentoring

Contributes to a high-performing team that is capable of delivering innovative advice, products and services to support MBIE’s strategic direction.

  • Provides intellectual support and coaches others on machinery of government, stakeholder engagement, development of expertise in subject matter and knowledge of institutional practice.
  • Provides constructive, timely and specific feedback to others and gives credit for tasks well done.
  • Provides support and feedback in relation to other team members development.
  • Motivates and guides team members through workflow and gives them opportunities to participate in existing and new areas.
  • Supports, without taking away ownership of work output or ideas from people leaders and advisors.
  • Seeks and explores opportunities to develop the capability of others in the team.
  • Seeks and explores opportunities to develop own professional capability and grow own self-awareness for future career opportunities whether as a people leader or a technical leader.

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 Principal Advisor position reports into the Manager Digital Engagement, Engagement & Experience Branch, Te Whakatairanga Service Delivery group.

More information about MBIE’s structure

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).

Ngā matatau – Our competencies

Cultivates innovation We create new and better ways for the organisation to be successful by challenging the status quo generating new and creative ideas and translating them into workable solutions.

Nimble learning We are curious and actively learn through experimentation when tackling new problems by learning as we go when facing new situations and challenges.

Customer focus We build strong customer relationships and deliver customer-centric solutions by listening and gaining insights into the needs of the communities we serve and actively seeking and responding to feedback.

Decision quality We make quality and timely decisions that shape the future for our communities and keep the organisation moving forward by relying on an appropriate mix of analysis, wisdom, experience, and judgement to make valid and reliable decisions.

Action oriented We step up, taking on new opportunities and tough challenges with purpose, urgency and discipline by taking responsibility, ownership and action on challenges, and being accountable for the results.

Collaborates We connect, working together to build partnerships with our communities, working collaboratively to meet shared objectives by gaining trust and support of others; actively seeking the views, experiences, and opinions of others and by working co-operatively with others across MBIE, the public sector and external stakeholder groups.

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

MBIE value: Māia - Bold & brave, Pae Kahurangi - Build our future, Mahi Tahi - Better together, Pono Me Te Tika - Own it