Principal Technical Content Creator

Tēnei tūranga – About the role

Employment Services is committed to helping people get their employment relations right and putting people at the centre of everything we do. Engaging, timely,  and effective communications are at the heart of this.

As the Principal Technical Content Creator you will be responsible for managing the planning, design, and delivery of simple, polished, and engaging content (guidance, products, and tools) that demystifies complex issues and helps take our audience-focused services to new heights.  

In developing content and system-level interventions for the employment relations regulatory system you will consider the available evidence & data, the audience we are communicating with, and the short- and long- term strategic messaging and tools are required to help system players get things right while at the same time building capability at the employment relations system level.

To be successful in this role you will use your relationship management expertise and experience to develop effective long-term partnerships with senior public & private sector stakeholders, keep abreast of policy, cabinet papers, act changes and emerging legislation, as well as work with stakeholders to identify strategic issues that need clarified in order to build capability at the employment relations system level.

You will work with and through policy teams, system, and sector leaders and others who control and influence workers and employers, to improve our content and in turn improve their systems and approaches to employment practices.

Ngā herenga – Requirements of the role

Skills and Experience

• Ideally a background in journalism, communications, or a relevant technical field with a minimum of 5 years’ experience.
• Excellent influencing, interpersonal and communication skills (written and oral) – including ability to write plain English legislation or technical guidance and write for a range of audiences.
• Demonstrated experience and ability in writing content, including for the web and social media in complex situations demanding high levels of judgement.
• Deep understanding of the information needs and challenges employers and workers are facing.
• Excellent knowledge of communications principles.
• Experience in managing the involvement and inputs of other staff at all levels.
• Process management experience, ideally in managing the creation, change or review of written content.
• Proven ability to build and maintain relationships with senior internal and external stakeholders.
• Political savviness – ability to understand the political environment and how this relates to and impacts on their work.
• Proven ability to quickly learn and understand complex subject matter
• Proven ability to communicate complex matters persuasively, via written and oral communications, and including presentation skills.
• Ability to influence and negotiate with stakeholders to adopt content solutions.
• Skills in communicating complex technical information accurately and clearly so that it is well understood.
• Proven ability to write for a range of audiences, from lay to technical specialist.
• Experience in research (including judgement around when to commission research) and analysis, particularly of audience behaviours and needs.
• An ability to communicate effectively with website technical staff.
• An ability to manage and prioritise a diverse set of tasks in a complex and fast-changing environment.
• Good organisational skills.
• Sound IT and computer systems knowledge, using Microsoft Office Suite.
• Must have the legal right to live and work in New Zealand.

Personal

• Proven success in translating complex strategic issues into simple and accessible guidance, products, and tools.
• Ability to evaluate and analyse complex information and a natural desire to help people understand it.
• Strong work ethic and high level of self-motivation – the right attitude is key here.
• Strong problem-solving capabilities.
• Excellent attention to detail.
• Customer focused.
• Ability to relate to a wide variety of people in different situations.
• Good listening skills.
• Self-aware and focused on self-development.

Qualifications

• Tertiary qualification in journalism, communications or a relevant field and/or comparable relevant experience.

Takohanga tuhinga o mua – Key accountabilities and deliverables

Critical areas of success

• Effect change on the behaviour of employers, workers and others through fit-for-purpose system guidance
• Develop clear and accessible guidance, products and tools, in partnership with employer and worker groups, and wider organisations, and work with and through the E&E and Business and Consumer branches to develop these into information and education and extend reach through available channels
• Identify, manage and write content for web and printed publications in the Employment NZ tone and voice, using clear, precise plain English, tailored to the target audience, and considering its research and personas.
• Conduct research and interview subject matter experts.
• Apply a deep understanding of our audiences’ operating environment to ensure our writing is relevant, resonates and helps our audiences increase their understanding and achieve compliance.
• Proactively and quickly conceive, write, review and edit content for the business.govt.nz website, newsletter and educational material to ensure it is relevant to users, meets business needs and reflects content strategy objectives.
• Identify any content problems and develop solutions that are customer-centric, practical and aligned with MBIE/Employment Services goals.
• Ensure risks, particularly those associated with content, are identified early on that may affect government outcomes for employers, employees and wider stakeholders.
• Build and maintain effective relationships and partnerships with internal and external stakeholders including government agencies and delivery partners.
• Actively identify opportunities to improve our products and services so they better meet the needs of our audiences, and deliver greater understanding and compliance.
• Work with the Digital Specialist to ensure social media content is well managed, timely and appropriate.
• Provide advice on online content development and organisation.
• Champion good online and printed copy writing principles and practice among stakeholders and SMEs, and build the content capability for the future.
• Deal comfortably with significant uncertainty and changing environments.
• Demonstrate flexibility, adaptability and strategic agility as the needs and priorities of our audiences, influencers and our business change.
• Actively coach others in content management and technical writing.

Communication

• Ensure website and printed content and resources effectively communicate advice and messages agreed with partner and subject matter experts.
• Use a range of appropriate communication tools and methods to communicate effectively.
• Can write in a style that is well organised, easily understood and relevant.
• Communicate technical information and/or complex information in an easy-to-understand manner, with precise attention to detail.
• Is adept at understanding an audience and influencing it.
• Attention to detail and well-developed proofreading and editing skills.

Customer Focus

• Gain insights into audience needs.
• Ensure the delivery of quality, accurate, timely service and audience focussed solutions.
• Identify opportunities that benefit the audience and will improve service delivery.
• Build and deliver solutions that meet stakeholder and audience expectations.
• Establish and maintain effective stakeholder relationships.
• Pro-actively partner in pursuit of shared goals.
• Actively seek and respond to stakeholder & audience feedback.

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.

• Provide guidance and support to Senior Technical Content Creator, encouraging them to develop and build their capability and confidence.
• Provides intellectual support and coaches others on policy, regulatory strategy and operational processes, 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.
• Support, without taking away ownership of work output or ideas from managers and advisors.
• Seek and explore opportunities to develop the capability of others in the team.
• Seek and explore opportunities to develop own professional capability and grow own self-awareness for future.

Relationship Management

• Participate as an active team member and contribute knowledge and expertise needed to achieve MBIE’s outcomes.
• Develop effective working relationships with other MBIE managers and staff in order to transfer knowledge and learning from the team to the wider organisation.
• Build and maintain effective relationships and partnerships with senior internal and external stakeholders, as necessary, in order to identify and share best practice information and to promote the Ministry, its products and services.
• Represent whole-of-Ministry views and protect its reputation in any external interactions.
• Test the effectiveness of stakeholder relationships using a range of appropriate measures and processes (including stakeholder feedback).

Action oriented

• Readily takes ownership and acts on challenges, without unnecessary planning, and being accountable for the results.
• Identifies and seizes new opportunities.
• Display a can-do attitude in good and bad times, and celebrating success.
• Step up to manage tough situations and encourage colleagues to do the same.

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 Technical Content Creator position reports into the Manager Employment Systems Guidance & Engagement within the Employment Services branch. The branch sits within the 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