Manager Immigration Business Change

Tēnei tūranga – About the role

The Manager Immigration Business Change leads a team of Business Change Leads and is accountable for establishing the change management practice for Immigration New Zealand (INZ). The key objective of the role is to ensure the successful preparation, planning, implementation and evaluation of product, process, policy and system-related business change. It does not include management of people change affecting terms and conditions of employment.

The role works closely with managers, kaimahi and stakeholders across INZ to ensure change is well understood, effectively led, and successfully adopted. This includes proactively engaging with impacted business units to assess readiness for change and ensure impacts, dependencies and risks are identified and managed.

The role is accountable for lifting change capability across the team and supporting change leadership capability across the wider organisation. The Manager Business Change ensures that those leading change across INZ apply fit-for-purpose frameworks, tools and practices appropriate to the scale, risk and complexity of each change, to ensure sustainable change adoption.

Ngā herenga – Requirements of the role

Personal specifications

• Proven experience in a leadership role in a large organisation or public sector environment, with accountability for leading people, setting direction and influencing outcomes beyond direct line control.
• Deep knowledge and demonstrated application of change management principles, methodologies and tools, including experience establishing, leading or maturing a change management practice within a complex organisation.
• Substantial experience leading large-scale organisational change efforts, including strong understanding of digital and technology-enabled change, implementation planning and evaluation of change adoption in fast-paced operational environments.
• Exceptional communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to clearly articulate complex change messages to diverse audiences, including senior leaders, and to adapt messaging to different stages of change and stakeholder needs.
• Demonstrated ability to build, maintain and sustain effective working relationships, establishing trust and credibility with people at all levels of the organisation.
• Proven ability to influence and align others toward a shared vision or outcome, including in matrixed environments where authority is indirect or shared.
• Demonstrated resilience, flexibility and adaptability; with the ability to lead through ambiguity, manage competing demands and respond effectively in a dynamic and fast-moving environment.
• Strong business acumen with the ability to understand organisational context, strategic priorities, operational pressures and system-level impacts of change.
• Working knowledge of project, programme and portfolio delivery approaches, tools and lifecycle phases, and the ability to integrate change management effectively within these environments.
• Must be a New Zealand citizen or Permanent Resident.

Takohanga tuhinga o mua – Key accountabilities and deliverables

Professional leadership in business change management

• Establish, lead and continuously improve the Immigration change management practice, ensuring a consistent, scalable and people‑centred approach to managing product, process, policy and system change
• Define, embed and maintain fit‑for‑purpose change management standards, tools, frameworks and ways of working aligned to MBIE enterprise change guidance and Immigration NZ delivery environments.
• Ensure change management practice supports the organisation to identify, understand and respond to behavioural and cultural challenges associated with adopting and sustaining business change.
• Ensure the Business Change team is highly visible, trusted and valued by leaders and kaimahi , and that early engagement is regarded as essential to the success of all significant business change initiatives.
• Work collaboratively with the Our Future Services programme, Leadership Talent & Growth and Immigration leaders to mature INZ’s capability and capacity for change.
• Act as INZ’s voice of change management, understanding and championing the capability shifts necessary for the organisation to achieve its objectives.
• Ensure change impacts, readiness and adoption risks are visible to INZ leadership through consistent use of the Change Pipeline and other agreed governance and reporting mechanisms.
• Provide leadership in the application of contemporary and leading-edge change management practices, critically assessing emerging approaches and determining how these should be appropriately integrated into the Immigration change management practice.
• Establish and maintain strong partnerships with Sponsors, Business Owners, Programme and Project Managers, governance groups, Communications and other INZ and MBIE functions to support a holistic, integrated and outcomes-focused approach to business change.

Personal Leadership

• Models exemplary management and leadership behaviours, consistent with Public Service Commission and MBIE leadership expectations.
• Actively models and reinforces MBIE values and a healthy team culture, leading by example across the team and broader change management community.
• Creates and communicates a clear sense of purpose and direction, engaging and motivating others to contribute to successful business outcomes.
• Fosters an open, inclusive and collaborative environment that encourages quality practice, innovation, continuous learning and knowledge sharing.

Team leadership

• 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 team and 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

• Participates as an active team member and contributes the knowledge and expertise needed to achieve desired outcomes.
• Develops effective working relationships with other managers and staff in order to transfer knowledge and learning to the wider organisation.
• Tests the effectiveness of stakeholder relationships using a range of appropriate measures and processes (including stakeholder feedback).

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 Manager Immigration Business Change reports into the National Manager Change Delivery within the Immigration Design and Assurance branch. The branch sits within the Immigration New Zealand group.

More information about MBIE's structure

Ngā Kawenga Ārahitanga – Leadership Expectations

At MBIE our leadership expectations provide consistent language for how we expect our leaders to lead at MBIE. They are supported by our values, and the Public Sector leadership capabilities as described in the Leadership Success Profile (LSP).

Leadership Expectations - Ngā Kawenga Ārahitanga (MBIE)

Lead by example - Whakatinana hei tauira
Enable our people - Whakaāhei ō tātou tangata
Deliver what matters - Whakatutuki ngā manako

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 New Zealand for All.

To Grow 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