General Manager Immigration Design and Assurance

Tēnei tūranga – About the role

The General Manager Immigration Design and Assurance leads a branch that is key to Immigration New Zealand (INZ) designing changes effectively so they can be operationalised successfully alongside ensuring that it is being an effective regulator once the changes have been implemented. It is critical that Immigration New Zealand can assure MBIE, the Government and New Zealand that it is designing changes effectively, fulfilling its legal and regulatory obligations, is following its own rules and policies, and playing its part effectively in the immigration system as a whole.

This role ensures the successful delivery of changes into the immigration system, monitoring of performance and assurance across (INZ) and is accountable for:

• Ensuring INZ develops operational policy and wider changes in a way which means it can be successfully implemented in line with the Government’s expectations;
• Monitors and reports on the performance of the immigration system, so decision makers have access to information as to whether INZ and the wider system is completing its role as expected;
• Ensuring INZ manage their risks in line with MBIE’s risk management framework and undertake appropriate assurance activities; and
• Ensuring INZ is following its own immigration instructions, policies, and standard operating procedures.

The General Manager Immigration Design and Assurance is responsible for ensuring the effective design of immigration services, that support effective operationalisation of policy, risk management and best practice for regulatory operations.

Ngā herenga – Requirements of the role

Personal specifications

• Proven track record of leading a specialist function at a senior management level in a medium to large public sector or business organisation, connected and contributing to the wider organisation.
• Excellent political awareness and sensitivity to anticipate areas of potential risk and inform decision making.
• Experience of implementing policy teams to ensure that policy can be interpreted and understood by those teams who need to use it.
• Experience and capability to engage effectively with Ministers.
• Demonstrates a leadership style which is people centred, collaborative, supportive, and authentic.
• Leads with a customer centric mind-set, is respectful, puts things right, acts with integrity, is responsive, and people centred.
• Experience in overseeing or leading the work around developing and managing an organisational Performance Management Framework.
• Knowledge of all elements of risk management and assurance with particular experience in the frameworks and tools suited to effective risk and assurance within high volume, high integrity environments.
• Demonstrates excellence in communication including the ability to translate complex issues from one level to another.
• Confidence to provide expert advice to peers and to negotiate and align disparate perspectives.
• Proven ability to manage relationships and use negotiation and influence to deliver strategic outcomes.
• Sound financial and business management experience and skills at the senior executive level.
• Sound working knowledge and understanding of the machinery of government and processes that apply within the state sector.
• Tertiary qualification or equivalent experience.
• The ability to lead across groups and influence decision makers where there is no direct reporting relationship.
• The ability to gain and maintain a national security clearance to Top Secret level.
• Must be a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident.
• Must consent to and satisfactorily complete a credit check as the role holds financial delegations.

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.

Leadership

• Effectively builds and leads Immigration New Zealand’s Immigration Design and Assurance branch.
• Ensures that INZ maintains a high standard of operational policy development, operational risk management and assurance practice, and overarching system performance monitoring in all areas of its business.
• Keeps abreast of risk and emerging risk across the immigration system.
• Effectively contributes a risk and assurance perspective to business and strategic decision making.
• Maintains an enterprise perspective, working across all areas of MBIE to proactively identify and connect across a range of risks and opportunities and ensure that operational policy design, as well as risk and assurance in INZ is fully aligned with MBIE strategy and priorities.
• Ensures the development and maintenance of an effective Performance Management Framework for INZ and the wider immigration system.
• Works to provide organisation-wide visibility of operational performance through operational and system reporting.
• Ensures the design of improvements to processes, systems and policy is prioritised and delivered in-line with operational capacity and capability, alongside the priorities of the Our Future Services programme and Government.
• Ensures that risk is properly considered and documented in all significant decisions and that improving the control and assurance environment is a priority within the INZ management agenda.
• Provides oversight of the quality management system for INZs statutory decision making and contributes to the development and maintenance of the INZ controls and assurance framework.
• Drives the evolution of INZ’s performance and quality management framework.
• Provides leadership and expertise on ways to improve quality and productivity, while maintaining the integrity of the operating model.

Collective leadership

Work collaboratively with other members of the Immigration Leadership Team to support achievement of Immigration New Zealand outcomes:

• Takes collective responsibility for the cohesion and performance of Immigration New Zealand and the immigration system as a whole and provides peer support to other senior managers.
• Works as part of the Immigration Leadership Team to define the outcomes and outputs expected from the Group to deliver on the Ministry’s and Immigration New Zealand’s strategic direction.
• Contributes beyond core functional area to enhance overall effectiveness of the group.
• Ensures consistency and alignment between different teams in Immigration New Zealand, across the Ministry and the wider immigration system and promotes solution-seeking where there are legitimate differences.
• Represents collective Immigration Leadership Team views and decisions to staff.

Personal leadership

Provide leadership that engages and motivates others to succeed and develop, and proactively share experiences, knowledge, and ideas:

• Models’ exemplary management and leadership behaviours, MBIE values and State sector ethics and values.
• Creates a sense of vision, engages, and motivates people to participate, and makes things happen.
• Fosters an open, collaborative environment that encourages quality, innovation, ongoing learning, and knowledge sharing.

General management

Apply sound general management practices so that the Branch operates effectively and efficiently, and delivers agreed output to support achievement of agreed outcomes:

• Demonstrates continuous improvement capability through having a growth mindset, being agile, a focus on innovation, and creating a learning culture.
• Develops strategies, work programmes and performance targets, with supporting measurement, monitoring and reporting mechanisms.
• Monitors and adjusts work programmes through the agreed processes to enable adaptation to changing circumstances.
• Regularly monitors and reports on progress towards achievement of plans and strategies.
• Manages expenditure and resources in line with approved guidelines, budget, deadlines and reporting requirements, with a focus on driving cost effectiveness.
• Effectively and consistently identifies and manages risk.

Team Leadership

Build and maintain a high-performing team that can develop and delivering innovative advice, products, and services to support strategic direction:

• Establishes clear accountabilities, expectations and performance standards with direct reports and ensures regular performance management and development occurs.
• Monitors individual, team, and business unit performance to ensure that performance targets are met.
• Anticipates future capability needs across the Branch, identifies gaps in capability and addresses these gaps through targeted recruitment and development or other actions.
• Coaches, mentors, and develops staff to meet the needs of the organisation now and in the future.
• Identifies and develops talent for key roles.

Relationship Management

Manage constructive working relationships with work colleagues and external stakeholder to enhance understanding and cooperation needed to achieve desired results:

• Participates as an active team member and contributes knowledge and expertise needed to achieve desired outcomes.
• Develops effective working relationships with other managers and staff to transfer knowledge and learning to the wider organisation.
• Builds strategic alliances with key government and non-government representatives to ensure MBIE’s views are influential in their decision-making.
• Tests the effectiveness of stakeholder relationships using a range of appropriate measures and processes.

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 General Manager Immigration Design and Assurance position reports into the Deputy Secretary Immigration. The branch sits within the Immigration New Zealand group at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

More information about MBIE's structure

Matatautanga – Competencies (Leadership Success Profile)

The Leadership Success Profile (LSP) is a leadership capability framework, developed by the New Zealand public sector for the New Zealand public sector. It creates a common language for leadership and establishes what great leadership looks like. You can look at the twelve underpinning capabilities and four leadership characters here: Leadership Success Profile | Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission(external link)

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).

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