Principal Advisor – Performance Measurement (Enterprise)

Tēnei tūranga – About the role

The Principal Advisor, Performance Measurement (Enterprise) provides enterprise level intellectual and technical leadership on the design, quality, and continuous improvement of non-financial performance measures across the Ministry. The role holds Ministry wide functional authority for non financial performance measurement standards and expectations, and is accountable for lifting enterprise maturity, consistency, and audit credibility of performance information used for public accountability.

The role is the Ministry’s recognised enterprise subject matter expert and functional authority in performance measurement, with deep expertise in measure design, system integrity, audit readiness, and performance improvement. The Principal Advisor sets mandatory enterprise standards, provides authoritative technical direction, and is a required adviser for high risk/high profile measures prior to senior sign out and external publication. The Principal Advisor leads the development and uplift of enterprise wide frameworks, standards, and practices, ensuring measures are meaningful, robust, auditable, and compliant with expectations of the Office of the Auditor General and Audit New Zealand.

A core focus of the role is to manage material enterprise risk associated with poor quality performance measures, including audit, reputational, and accountability risk. This includes mitigating risks that could result in adverse audit commentary, increased Ministerial/Parliamentary scrutiny, or loss of confidence in published performance information.

The role operates with a high degree of autonomy and discretion, provides expert advice to senior leaders, and has authority to escalate unresolved enterprise performance measurement risks and quality issues through appropriate governance channels, including to CFO and DCE leadership where warranted. The role drives a more enduring, system focused approach to performance measurement across the Ministry.

Ngā herenga – Requirements of the role

Personal specifications

• 10+ years of demonstrated enterprise level expertise in non-financial performance measurement, including authoritative measure design, assurance/audit readiness, and leading organisation wide uplift in large, complex environments; with credibility engaging at senior executive level and with external assurance providers.
• Highly developed conceptual and analytical capability, with the ability to work across complex organisational systems and high ambiguity environments.
• Strong understanding of public sector performance frameworks, accountability cycles, and integrated financial and non-financial reporting.
• Proven experience leading organisation wide improvement initiatives in performance measurement or related management systems.
• Strong understanding of audit and accountability expectations, including experience engaging with external auditors and responding to audit findings.
• Demonstrated experience establishing and operating enterprise governance for performance measures, including setting minimum standards, defining quality thresholds, and influencing or informing senior sign out decisions for external accountability products.
• Ability to exercise independent professional judgement in assessing performance measures.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to translate complex technical issues into clear advice and public accountability ready explanations for senior leaders and diverse audiences.
• Demonstrated ability to influence without authority and operate as a trusted advisor at senior levels across organisational boundaries.
• Recognised as a trusted enterprise authority whose advice is relied on for high-risk performance measures and external reporting decisions; able to give decisive, defensible technical direction under scrutiny and time pressure.
• Proven coaching and mentoring capability, supporting consistent uplift in enterprise performance measurement practice.
• Ability to balance principle-based system design with pragmatic delivery.
• A relevant tertiary qualification (such as public policy, economics, statistics, performance/audit, management, accounting or related discipline). Post graduate qualification and/or formal assurance/audit exposure is advantageous.
• You must have the legal right to live and work in New Zealand.
  
  

Takohanga tuhinga o mua – Key accountabilities and deliverables

Responsibilities of this position are expected to change over time as the Ministry responds to changing needs. The incumbent will need the flexibility to adapt and develop as the environment evolves.

Delivery and results

• Provides enterprise leadership and functional authority on performance measurement by setting mandatory minimum standards for measure quality, design, documentation, and use across the Ministry, and holding business areas to account for adoption and application.
• Leads the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of enterprise performance measurement frameworks, standards, and guidance, including operationalising them through tools, templates, peer review and governance mechanisms, and monitoring adoption and quality outcomes over time.
• Acts as the senior technical authority on complex, high risk, or high-profile performance measures (including those subject to audit, public, Ministerial, or Parliamentary scrutiny) and is a required adviser prior to senior sign out for material measures and performance disclosures.
• Leads responses to Audit New Zealand and Office of the Auditor General findings and recommendations by driving timely closure of actions, strengthening system integrity and documentation, and embedding preventative controls and review processes to reduce recurrence.
• Leads the delivery of the non-financial performance components of the Estimates and Main Budget Update (MBU) processes, working in partnership with External Reporting on the financial components to ensure an integrated and timely end to end process.
• Critically reviews and challenges existing and proposed performance measures to improve clarity, relevance, measurability, and decision usefulness and escalates unresolved quality or integrity concerns through governance channels with clear options and recommendations.
• Partners with planning, reporting, and business teams to ensure measures are coherently embedded across planning, monitoring, assurance, and reporting cycles.
• Supports enterprise level assurance over non-financial performance information by establishing and promoting audit ready evidence expectations, strengthening data lineage and documentation practices, and ensuring readiness for external reporting and assurance engagement.
• Drives a sustained shift from compliance focused measurement to meaningful performance insight, learning, and improvement.
• Accountable for driving measurable improvement in performance measure quality and consistency across the Ministry, evidenced through reduced audit issues, stronger documentation and controls, and improved decision usefulness of performance reporting.

Leadership, coaching and capability uplift

• Provides technical and thought leadership across the non-financial function and wider organisation.
• Builds organisational capability through coaching, mentoring, peer review, and practical guidance, and designs and drives an enterprise capability uplift approach (e.g., communities of practice, targeted guidance, exemplars, and quality reviews) to lift maturity sustainably.
• Champions best practice and continuous improvement in performance measure design, review, and use.
• Supports a consistent enterprise approach while respecting operational context and proportionality.

Relationship management

• Maintains strong, trusted relationships with senior leaders, Finance and Performance colleagues, and business groups.
• Acts as a primary enterprise point of engagement with external auditors, the Treasury, and central agencies on performance measurement matters, representing the Ministry’s position and providing authoritative technical leadership to resolve issues and align expectations.
• Influences senior stakeholders to improve the quality, credibility, and use of performance information in decision making.
• Clearly communicates enterprise level risks, issues, and opportunities relating to performance measurement.
• Provides advice and papers to relevant governance forums and senior leadership groups to support risk-based decisions on performance measurement priorities, quality thresholds, and system investments.

Customer focus

• Delivers timely, high quality expert advice tailored to organisational context and risk.
• Takes a proactive, solutions focused approach to supporting business groups on performance measurement matters.
• Continually seeks opportunities to add value and improve enterprise performance measurement services.
• Maintains professionalism.
• Looks for opportunities to provide value.

Action oriented

• Operates as a self-starter with strong prioritisation and delivery discipline.
• Anticipates, assesses, and manages enterprise risks associated with poor quality performance measures, including risks with audit, reputational, Ministerial/Parliamentary, and public accountability consequences, and escalates material issues with clear, evidence-based options and recommendations.
• Escalates issues appropriately with clear, evidence-based options and recommendations.
• Ensures non-financial performance data integrity, accuracy, and appropriate governance by promoting controls, documentation, review disciplines, and clear ownership for measures and data sources.
• Support and cover for other team members as business needs require.
• Additional support to the Manager as/where required.

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, Performance Measurement (Enterprise) reports to the Manager, Performance Reporting, Strategic Finance, Finance & Performance, Corporate and Digital Shared Services.

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 New Zealand for All.

To Grow New Zealand for All, we put people at the heart of our mahi (work). 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