Principal Advisor

Tēnei tūranga – About the role

The Government Property Office, hosted within MBIE, is accountable for the strategic leadership of the government’s office portfolio. The Government Property Office is also responsible for providing property management services to MBIE.

The government’s office portfolio is significant, encompassing circa 940,000 sqm footprint and a rental spend of circa $320 million per year across 70 agencies, including Crown Agents. MBIE is an agency with a significant property portfolio (about 10% of the government’s footprint), encompassing both office and non-office sites, across New Zealand and offshore. 

The Principal Advisor sits in the Strategy & Standards team in the Government Property Office, will work with the Leadership Team and General Manager of the Government Property Office, and will occasionally support MBIE’s property team.

The Principal Advisor role will take a lead role in setting the Government Property Office’s strategic direction and projects. The role emphasises thinking around machinery of government, ministerial processes, strategic planning, governance, and whole‑of‑life investment. The critical capability for the role is enterprise strategy, investment analysis, and system‑level problem solving.

This role will be a trusted and influential advisor to the Head of Strategy & Standards and General Manager of the Government Property Office and must have the ability to influence decision making among Senior Leadership stakeholders.

The Principal Advisor will be responsible for providing strategic advice and guidance to the Government Property Office branch. This position will lead and integrate enterprise portfolio strategy, shaping the future‑state roadmap and ensuring strategic linkages between property, investment and workforce planning; to provide high‑quality strategic advice, challenge the status quo, drive cross-agency system projects that improve outcomes across the government property system, and report on benefits and outcomes.

Ngā herenga – Requirements of the role

Personal specifications

• 7-10+ years’ experience in strategy, public sector investment, finance/economics or related fields.
• Demonstrated excellence in strategic thinking, critical analysis, structured problem solving and synthesising complex information.
• Proven experience in investment planning and financial analysis (whole‑of‑life costing, value for money, benefits, risks, options analysis).
• Strong knowledge of machinery of government, ministerial processes, and public sector governance.
• Capability to design future‑state roadmaps and to lead system projects with multiple stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to critically analyse complex situations, deliver insights and design robust advice/solutions.
• Demonstrated ability to influence Senior Leadership and other stakeholders, build credibility and trust, and achieve the required outcome.
• Excellent oral and written communications, including the ability to present complex issues clearly and concisely and able to produce compelling briefings and governance papers.
• Some property knowledge would be advantageous.

Qualifications

• A relevant tertiary qualification (e.g., economics, finance, public policy, management) or equivalent knowledge, skills, and experience, and a commitment to ongoing professional development.

Takohanga tuhinga o mua – Key accountabilities and deliverables

Strategy and planning

• Lead the development and socialisation of an enterprise portfolio strategy linking property, financial investment, workforce planning, digital tools and organisational capacity.
• Design and maintain a roadmap to the future state, including strategic options, dependencies, and transition risks.
• Identify medium to long-term system issues, trends, opportunities and threats, translate insights into strategic priorities and initiatives.
• Challenge existing assumptions and operating models; lead research and analysis to formulate strategies, deliver advice and solve complex system challenges.
• Ensure strategic linkages between Government Property Office strategy and planning, and alignment with MBIE’s strategic intent and cross‑agency priorities.

Investment planning and financial analysis

• Develop and apply investment planning frameworks for portfolio‑level decisions (e.g. whole‑of‑life costs, value for money, benefits, risks, options analysis).
• Conduct portfolio‑level financial and scenario analysis to inform prioritisation and sequencing of investments.
• Occasionally guide or directly develop business cases, particularly for high‑priority or complex system projects, where an enterprise or cross‑agency perspective is required.

Relationship management and leadership

• Build trusted relationships with senior leaders and influence decisions through credible analysis, advice and presentations.
• Produce clear, persuasive advice and artefacts (e.g. briefings, governance papers) to support decision‑
• Provide thought leadership; mentor others in strategic thinking, critical analysis and problem solving.

System projects, governance and ministerial support

• Provide advice that reflects a strong understanding of machinery of government, Cabinet/ministerial processes, and public finance settings.
• Lead or contribute to cross‑agency system projects that lift performance and deliver enterprise outcomes.
• Model system stewardship and ensure a Government Property Office lens is applied to key strategic projects and initiatives.
• Contribute to the support and advisory function for the Government Property Governance Board, preparing high‑quality papers and recommendations.
• Draw actionable insights from the government property environment and information in the Government Property Portal to improve strategic decision‑
• Influence the design and evolution of the Government Property Office operating model to ensure it is fit for purpose.

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 Principal Advisor position reports into the Head of Strategy and Standards within the Government Property Office branch. The branch sits within the Regional Development and Commercial Services (RDCS) 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 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