Principal Advisor Strategic Finance

Tēnei tūranga – About the role

The Principal Advisor, Strategic Finance is responsible for providing intellectual leadership in planning and performance reporting, advice and support across the Finance, Performance and Assurance branch, Corporate Services, Finance and Enablement and wider MBIE.

The key focus of the position is to improve and drive integrated planning and performance across the Ministry for Investment management including assets, SAAS arrangements, leases, and other long-term investments.

The Principal Advisor, Strategic Finance also provides leadership and coaching to the Enterprise Performance team ensuring quality and the Finance, Performance and Assurance branch, ensuring quality and consistency of advice and practices and to lift performance and drive new and innovative ways of thinking across the branch, Corporate Services, Finance and Enablement and wider MBIE.

The role holds key relationships with the following:

• Members of the MBIE Senior Leadership and governance sub-committees.
• Chief Financial Officer.
• The Treasury.
• Finance Business Partners.
• Internal and External Auditors.
• Organisational Strategy and Planning.
• Portfolio Management Office (Digital Data and Insights branch).
• All managers and staff across MBIE.

Ngā herenga – Requirements of the role

Personal specifications

• Excellent understanding of and demonstrated technical expertise at a senior level in developing and applying best practice financial business planning and performance reporting.
• Significant experienceadvising on and modelling a long-term investment plan within a large complex and diverse organisation including capital management, depreciation funding, SAAS, and lease arrangements.
• Highly developed business analysis, performance and reporting skills and the ability to provide high quality and innovative strategic advice to senior management, Central Agencies and Ministers in these areas.
• Highly developed technical, conceptual and analytical ability, with the ability to deal with complex and emerging issues that contain a high level of ambiguity.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and oral, demonstrated through experience at a senior level in successfully leading and producing key accountability, planning and budget related documents and performance reports.
• Public Sector finance management expertise.
• Ability to quickly assimilate new information or areas of work and come to an understanding of unfamiliar and complex concepts and environments.
• Proven ability to think independently and coordinate organisation-wide systems and processes.
• Welcomes and values diversity, and contributes to an inclusive working environment where differences are acknowledged and respected.
• A strong understanding of performance frameworks.
• Strong analytical and modelling skills.
• High standards of professionalism and performance driven.
• Experience leading successful change initiatives.

Pre-requisites

• Chartered Accountant (CA) with 5+ years post CA experience in Public Sector roles.
• Must consent to and satisfactorily complete a credit check.
• Must have the right to live and work in New Zealand.

Takohanga tuhinga o mua – Key accountabilities and deliverables

Delivery and results

• Lead in the integration of strategic investment planning and performance (financial and non-financial) to enable MBIE to be successful in Growing New Zealand for All.
• Provides leadership on best practice financial investment management performance analysis to drive improved business performance in a Public Sector organisation.
• Provides the intellectual leadership on the best practice management of investments.
• Leads the development of long-term strategic financial planning, including lead the development of long-term investment planning and affordability for the Enterprise.
• Provision of the Quarterly Investment Review or other reporting to the Treasury.
• Lead projects or process improvements that create new solutions that lift the quality of investment decisions (both operational and capital) to meet the needs and expectations of Vote Ministers and SLT.
• Provision of strategic planning and performance advice and analysis to SLT and business groups that enables monitoring and reporting of MBIE’s progress against MBIE’s strategy and business plans.
• Takes the lead responsibility for providing information, support, and feedback to other staff, to enable team members to perform to their maximum potential and undertakes coaching and mentoring of others in the team.
• Customer focused feedback, insight and recommendations to the business on performance, focusing on key drivers.

Relationship management

• Maintain effective working relationships with both the Finance Business Partners, Organisational Strategy and Planning, the Enterprise Portfolio Office, and the wider business.
• Develop and maintain trusted advisor status with Finance Business Partners and Finance leadership team in order to be able to appropriately influence managers in decision making processes around investment and expenditure.
• Communicate to Finance Business Partners and senior management in relation to financial management policies and processes that impact them and require their attention and input.
• Develop and maintain working relationships with Treasury officials.

Customer focus

• Provides excellent customer service to internal and external stakeholders in all situations, including existing service level agreements, to a required standard.
• Provision of operational support and guidance on all Corporate Services, Finance and Enablement systems, including ad-hoc internal stakeholder support and instruction to ensure operation in alignment with MBIE policies and procedures.
• Delivers the requirements and expectations of customers.
• Treats internal customers with the same courtesies they would extend to external customers.
• Works hard to meet customer deadlines Always looks to improve service.
• Always looks to improve service.
• Maintains professionalism.
• Looks for opportunities to provide value.

Action oriented

• Self-starter.
• Takes responsibility for own work. Well organised, plans systematically, regularly monitors and reports on progress towards achievement of team’s objectives.
• Seeks input if required. Knows when to work alone and when to seek advice and identifies resources necessary to meet objectives of self or team.
• Recognises and acts on opportunities.
• Support and cover for other team members as business needs require.
• Additional support to the Manager as/where required.
• Effectively and consistently identifies and manages risk, escalating unresolved and potential problems to the Manager with proposed solutions.
• Encourages and supports open honest and constructive relationships with colleagues.
• Ensures data integrity accuracy and confidentiality are maintained at all times.

Wellbeing, health and 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 Strategic Finance position reports into the Manager Enterprise Performance within the Finance & Performance branch. The branch sits within the Corporate Services, Finance & Enablement 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