Senior Workforce Planner

Tēnei tūranga – About the role

As a Senior Workforce Planner, you will play a critical role in shaping Immigration New Zealand’s workforce strategy by providing advanced analytics, forecasting demand and supply of FTE, and drive insights to support strategic decision-making. You will lead the development of workforce models, collaborate with senior stakeholders, and ensure alignment between workforce supply and organizational demand.

This role involves forecasting workforce demand, assessing workforce supply and translating these insights into actionable recommendations that inform recruitment, training, and development programmes. You will be responsible for building and maintaining robust forecasting tools and models that support both strategic and operational workforce planning across INZ. A key part of this role is identifying and recommending improvements, automate repetitive processes and develop resource management models that are fit-for-purpose and tailored to the operational and strategic needs of Immigration NZ.

Ngā herenga – Requirements of the role

Personal specifications

• Able to develop and maintain advanced models using Power BI, including writing complex DAX measures and M queries to enable dynamic forecasting, scenario analysis, and real-time performance reporting.
• Understanding and experience of working with SQL is desirable.
• Understanding of statistical methodologies to ensure workforce data is robust, reliable, and fit for strategic decision-making.
• Skilled in interpreting complex workforce data and presenting actionable insights to support strategic and operational decision-making.
• Understanding of HRIS (desirable not required) and workforce planning systems to validate FTE requirements and support data-driven planning.
• Proven ability to design and improve business processes, planning tools, and reporting systems for continuous workforce performance enhancement.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to clearly present analysis and recommendations to diverse audiences, including non-technical stakeholders.
• Adept at identifying data gaps, developing new data sources, and ensuring the integrity and reliability of workforce analytics.

Qualifications

• Tertiary qualification is preferable, or some comparable relevant experience in business/statistical analysis

Prerequisites

• The ability to gain and maintain a national security clearance as required
• Must be a NZ citizen or hold a residence class visa.

Takohanga tuhinga o mua – Key accountabilities and deliverables

Workforce Forecasting and Performance Planning

• Develops and maintains accurate forecasting models for all areas within MBIE, including long-term headcount planning.
• Validates FTE requirements and provides performance insights to support recruitment, training, and resource allocation.
• Produces daily, weekly, and monthly workforce reports that inform operational and strategic decisions.
• Contributes to the establishment and implementation of Key Result Area (KRA) systems and online reporting tools to monitor delivery and guide leadership focus.

Data Analysis and Quality Assurance

• Using Power BI and Excel, develops and maintains dashboards and reporting tools to monitor workforce performance and support leadership decision-making.
• Designs and tests new statistical approaches to generate reliable workforce demand/supply gaps.
• Assesses the robustness and validity of both quantitative and qualitative data, providing clear advice on limitations and reliability.

System and Process Improvement

• Identifies workflow issues and leads initiatives to improve workforce performance and planning efficiency.
• Reviews and enhances data monitoring and collation systems and develops new processes where necessary.
• Creates and tests system enhancements to support workforce planning and reporting.
• Maintains awareness of best practices and legislative requirements, recommending changes to quality processes and tools as needed.

Business Analysis and Stakeholder Engagement

• Builds strong relationships with internal stakeholders to ensure consistency in workforce planning practices.
• Communicates complex insights clearly to non-technical audiences and supports cross-functional planning efforts.
• Analyses business processes and operating models used across INZ to identify workforce impacts and opportunities.

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 Senior Workforce Planner position reports into the INZ Planning Manager within the Chief Operating Officer Immigration branch. The branch sits within the Immigration New Zealand 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