Principal Communications Advisor

Tēnei tūranga – About the role

The Communications and Government Services branch provides expert guidance on communications, including corporate and internal, media relations, Official Information Act requests, ministerial correspondence, Parliamentary questions, social media, reputational risk, and estimates examinations.

The Principal Communications Advisor leads communication activity, providing strategic and technical leadership. They manage workflow and relationships and mentor others across the branch to build capability and support business outcomes.

The Principal Advisor works collaboratively with other Principal Communications Advisors, team members, and communications professionals across MBIE to ensure a seamless and coordinated service.

All Principal Communications Advisors are expected to be contactable and available outside of working hours to support urgent and emerging issues.

The branch plays a key role in the event of an emergency or incident response. The Principal Communications Advisor may be required to support MBIE’s response, which may include taking on duties outside of normal hours, participating in an out of hours roster, which may include weekends, to provide communication services to support the response.

Ngā herenga – Requirements of the role

Personal specifications

• Excellent writing, editing, and other communication skills.
• Strong strategic and critical thinking skills, with the ability to develop effective solutions to complex issues.
• Excellent relationship-building and influencing skills across all levels of leadership.
• In-depth knowledge of the internal and external environment, including the machinery of government and its challenges and opportunities.
• Relevant tertiary qualification, e.g. public relations, communications, journalism) and/or equivalent relevant experience).
• You must have the legal right to live and work in New Zealand.

Role specific competencies

• Experienced communication professional, with an in-depth understanding of the political and media landscape.
• Proven ability to provide expert communication advice and build trusted relationships.
• Demonstrated leadership within the communication profession, providing and leading best practice standards for the branch.
• Extensive experience leading complex communication projects and programmes.
• Proven ability to coach and mentor others to build communication capability.
• Understanding of the role of new technologies and their use in communications.
• Extensive experience in internal communications, including strategic channel advice and development.

Takohanga tuhinga o mua – Key accountabilities and deliverables

Advice and risk management

• Provide expert advice and share best practice communications outputs (including strategies, plans, key messages) to meet business needs and support organisation’s strategy.
• Mentor and support team members in leading communication activities.
• Assist with assessing high interest Official Information Act requests, providing guidance and oversight.
• Build and maintain relationships with key journalists and cross-agency communications professionals.
• Oversee media queries to manage risk and to ensure customers receive a timely and accurate response.
• Oversee any changes to announcements, emerging issues and and/or time-sensitive media enquiries that come in after hours.
• Provide surge support for large projects or short-term business needs across the branch as required.
• Lead and support with emergency or response communications working within a response team as required.
• Give strategic advice to MBIE’s Senior leaders to strengthen their capability and improve staff engagement.

Planning and reporting

• Oversee the development and delivery of communication campaigns and plans, ensuring the right processes and appropriate communications infrastructure are in place to support effective execution.
• Identify research and measurement needs to inform communication planning and use these insights to refine communications strategies and improve outcomes.
• Develop and monitor a strategic approach to communication across areas of work to ensure consistency and alignment to organisational goals.
• Lead the planning of complex communication programmes, including those involving cross-agency collaboration.

Customer engagement

• Demonstrated ability to build and maintain effective working relationships with senior leaders. For externally facing roles this includes confidently communicating with Ministers’ Offices and senior journalists/editors.
• Be a trusted advisor to colleagues, including senior leaders, being a sounding board and providing advice, coaching and constructively challenging as appropriate.
• Develop internal relationships with other functions to ensure alignment of strategy and delivery.
• Demonstrated ability to keep customers and stakeholders up to date and informed of planned communications activity.

Creating and curating content

• Champion the use of strategic storytelling, and coach others to do the same.
• Lead the development of strategic narratives and key messages, clearly positioning MBIE and Government priorities, ensuring alignment with broader strategic goals and direction.
• Provide expert review and mentoring in content development, supporting team members to grow their capability and confidence in communication practice.
• Knowledge of, and commitment to use, new and emerging technologies including AI.
• Proven experience working across MBIE with other communication roles to ensure seamless delivery and outcomes.

Cultural competency

• Embed Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles into communication strategies.
• Actively look for opportunities to assess how communications meet needs of Māori.
• Understand the role of communication in supporting MBIE’s Whāinga Amorangi strategy to build Māori Crown capability.
• Coach others in how to recognise the needs of different customer groups from a diverse range of cultures so they can build knowledge into communication strategies and plans.

Internal channel management

• Develop overall channel infrastructure for multidirectional communication up, down and across the organisation.
• Manage and continuously improve overall channel infrastructure, utilising insight from evaluation.
• Support and provide advice to leaders at all levels regarding effective utilisation of channels.
• Audit channel requirements to ensure they are fit for purpose.
• Develop channel measurement strategy.
• Provide stewardship of MBIE’s internal communication channels, promoting best practice.

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 Communications Advisor position reports into the Manager Communications within the Communications and Government Services branch. The branch sits within the Strategy and Assurance group.

The Communications and Government Services branch has a flexible operating model that supports professional development and is responsive to changing business needs. This means that while the Principal Advisor is assigned to a communications manager, they may be asked to support other communication teams and portfolios in response to business needs and organisational priorities.

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