Border Officer
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Tēnei tūranga – About the role
Immigration Border Operations (IBO) is a 24-hour 7 day a week operation. A Border Officer is expected to work across that 7-day timeframe. The role is primarily responsible for engagement with passengers travelling to, through and from New Zealand. Border Officers make decisions on travel and entry to New Zealand, facilitate genuine travellers and ensure that immigration risks posed by travellers who do not meet entry requirements can be identified and mitigated according to policy and legislation.
Ngā herenga – Requirements of the role
Personal specifications
- Communicating with a wide cross section of people from various backgrounds, cultures, and organisations.
- Correctly interpreting legislation and policy.
- Accurately following internal procedures and instructions.
- Exercising judgement whilst considering unique traveller circumstances, but within the constraints of legislation and/or policy.
- Making sound decisions under pressure, within very short timeframes and often with incomplete information.
- Assessing and verifying risk vs value accurately.
- Handling difficult and/or aggressive travellers, and or other parties.
- Successfully managing your time and workload to achieve outcomes efficiently.
- Managing composure, personal resilience, and stress levels in often emotionally challenging environments.
- Building strong relationships across the branch, the wider business and externally.
- Negotiating with third parties and external agencies to achieve a desirable outcome.
- Developing lateral solutions to solve problems and manage risk. Is a solution finder, rather than a problem finder.
- Maintaining self-motivation, and displaying the energy, urgency, and determination to achieve.
- Flexibility in approach to their working day and the activities at hand. Is comfortable with constant change and ambiguity.
- Communicating fluently in the English language, both written and oral.
- Master keyboard skills and display a high level of computer literacy.
- Previous experience working with immigration policy and decision making desirable.
- Previous experience working in a 24/7 environment including shift work desirable.
- Foreign language skills desirable.
- Tertiary qualification or directly relevant industry experience is preferable.
Other
- Must hold, or be able to gain, a practicing Immigration Officer and Border Officer warrant.
- Must hold, or be able to obtain, and maintain an Aviation Security clearance.
- Must be a NZ citizen or hold a Permanent Residence class visa (if the role is located in New Zealand).
Takohanga tuhinga o mua – Key accountabilities and deliverables
Deliver a professional and high-quality immigration service at the New Zealand border
- Assessing and interviewing travellers either by phone or in person and gathering information to verify or determine whether a traveller meets entry requirements for New Zealand.
- Ensuring that travellers and airlines comply with Immigration law and policy, while balancing any exceptional or compassionate circumstances an individual may have.
- Examining false and fraudulent documents.
- Responding, primarily by phone, to airlines at various ports around the world, when they request permission to uplift a passenger and bring them to New Zealand.
- Investigating, gathering, and communicating intelligence as appropriate.
Compliant and well versed in current internal standard operating procedures and guidelines
- Delivering training to border staff, airlines, and other relevant groups.
- Producing reports to a high standard, suitable for presentation at Court, Appeal hearings and Ministerial enquiries.
- Taking responsibility for own professional development, actively engaging with wider branch and INZ and seeking opportunities to learn and grow.
Relationship management
- Providing appropriate guidance, advice and support to stakeholders when required.
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 Border Officer position reports into the Border Manager within the Immagration Risk and Border branch. The branch sits within the Immigration New Zealand group.
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
