Advisor Employment Relations

Tēnei tūranga – About the role

The Advisor Employment Relations will support the Employment Relations team to deliver high quality employment advice, insights, and guidance. They will ensure quality and consistency of advice and practices in relation to their work and enhance the wider team’s capability in sharing their subject matter knowledge and experience.

A key component of the role is partnering with the Manager Employment Relations to manage privacy requests on behalf of the People and Culture branch. They are responsible for ensuring the branch meets its obligations under the Privacy and Official Information Acts by managing the timely in and outflow of files and/or information and performing associated administrative work.

Ngā herenga – Requirements of the role

Personal specifications

• Extensive knowledge and understanding of the legislative requirements of the Privacy Act 1993 / 2020 and the Official Information Act 1982 and experience interpreting and applying legislation.
• Ability to work independently and manage a complex workload of information requests seeking expert / specialist input when appropriate without close supervision.
• Demonstrated and sound working knowledge of HR best practice with the ability to provide advice in areas such as employment relations, performance management, remuneration, change management, workforce planning, employee engagement, etc.
• Good oral communication and interpersonal skills, encompassing putting the other party at ease, active listening, questioning and summarising.
• Good writing skills, which is the ability to present ideas, information and advice, in a way that is understandable and acceptable to a range of audiences.
• Ability to discreetly deal with confidential information.
• Attentive to details and deadlines; ability to manage multiple initiatives.
• Excellent written and verbal communication with the ability to influence.
• Communicate and engage credibly and confidently in person and in writing.
• Pro-actively build and maintain diverse networks of relationships internally and across sectors, understanding what drives others.
• Analyse information, contextualise and position work accordingly.
• Coach and support colleagues, imparting knowledge in a way that ensures a positive work environment.
• Use your judgement to prioritise work and manage time effectively.
• Be a self-starter who can operate independently as well as collaboratively.
• Taking a people-centred approach, bring fresh ideas for how work could be improved from a ‘system’ perspective for your team, branch and for our customers.
• Learn quickly from successes and mistakes and apply learning sustainably for self and others.
• You must have the legal right to live and work in New Zealand

Qualifications

• Tertiary qualification or extensive and comparable relevant experience.

Takohanga tuhinga o mua – Key accountabilities and deliverables

Employment relations support

• Provides employment relations support to the team and wider branch contributing to the delivery of consistent, high-quality advice, and the successful delivery of projects, programmes and ad hoc work.
• Contributes to the consistency of employment relations practices, identifying trends, risks, or opportunities to improve processes and outcomes.
• Builds employment relations capability across the branch by sharing knowledge, tools, and resources, and supporting coaching or guidance where appropriate.
• Proactively monitor legislative developments and policy updates and keep employment relations material on the People Hub website current and fit for purpose.
• Assist with reporting on employment relations issues, including monthly dashboards.

Managing privacy requests

• Demonstrates a strong understanding of MBIE purpose and priorities and group ministerial portfolios and priorities and applies this knowledge to tasks.
• Deliver high-quality accurate responses to Privacy Act and Official Information Act (OIA) requests within statutory timeframes.
• Keep other staff and managers appraised of changes in privacy and official information processes, law and practice.
• Understand complex issues that may arise in particular cases and raising them to management.
• Seek appropriate MBIE legal team input when anticipating or managing risks.
• Screen files in accordance with the provisions of the Privacy Act and OIA.
• Log and finalise privacy requests within internal systems.
• Communicate any delays and reasons with the requestor.
• Transfer requests that are the responsibility of another business area or agency within the time limits prescribed in the legislation and advise the requestor in writing of any such transfer.
• Liaise with other MBIE staff, government agencies, legal services and representatives regarding the release of materials where necessary.
• Liaises with colleagues to take action.
• Contributes to a Community of Practice to lift capability and maintain a knowledge base for Privacy.

Organisational development

• Work in partnership with colleagues within the group and across MBIE to achieve continuous business improvements.
• Innovative ideas are actively raised and tested to improve efficiencies, lift performance, and ensure continuous improvements.
• Participation in and leadership of ongoing group organisational development initiatives, including staff engagement, building capability, and shaping culture, in collaboration with colleagues.

Relationship management

• Actively manage constructive working relationships with peers and colleagues across business groups and levels, including senior managers.
• Has honest and open communication and manages any conflict effectively.
• Proactively communicates knowledge and learning from the team to the wider organisation and vice versa.
• Communication style is proactive, responsive, positive, and professional.

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 Employment Relations Advisor position reports into the Manager Employment Relations within the People and Culture branch. The branch sits within the Corporate and Digital Shared Services 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