Job Description
Kaihautū Director Māori Community Partnerships
Make a real impact: Become part of our vision to eliminate Family Violence and Sexual Violence in Aotearoa New Zealand
We are a unit with a significant system role, working across government to take collective action against family violence and sexual violence.
We steward the family violence and sexual violence system and drive realisation of the cross-agency strategy—Te Aorerekura. We work in partnership with communities across Aotearoa New Zealand, placing survivors, families, and whānau at the heart of everything we do.
Te Haeata/The Opportunity
As an Interdepartmental Executive Board (IEB) our mandate is clear: joint accountability across government for the elimination and prevention of family violence and sexual violence. As the centre of expertise that stewards the family violence and sexual violence system and the 25-year cross-government strategy, Te Aorerekura, we work in partnership with the communities we serve and always hold survivors, family and whānau at the centre of everything we do.
As Kaihautū/Director, Māori & Community Partnerships, You Will Lead The Thinking, Development And Delivery Of Targeted Strategies, Programmes And Frameworks And Drive Their Effective Implementation To
lead the work to strengthen local and regional multi-agency responses for family violence
build strategic relationships and enduring partnerships across the sector and with communities to support the delivery of our work
embed community-led and iwi-led solutions, ensuring these areas seamlessly integrate and operate together
shape and strengthen capability and capacity across the family violence and sexual violence system through its workforce at a national, regional and local level.
Cultural capability, strategic relationships and partnerships are crucial to the role the Centre plays and ensuring that we deliver meaningfully for Māori. As our Kaihautū, you will be dedicated to strengthening these linkages, building capability as well as positive, enduring relationships with iwi and other Māori organisations.
You will lead the team charged with the local, regional, and national enablement of Te Aorerekura, ensuring the actions and shifts identified are whānau-centred and iwi and community led. Your leadership will embed te ao Māori principles into system design and decision-making, lifting capability and ensuring meaningful delivery for Māori.
As a key advisor to the Chief Executive and member of the Executive Leadership Team (ELT), you will navigate complexity with authority—building strategic relationships with Māori, lifting cultural capability across the organisation, and ensuring a te ao Māori lens is integral to how we work. This is a role for a bold, strategic leader—someone who can inspire, influence, and drive change at scale.
Ō Pūkenga/Skills And Experience
To be successful in this role, you will have:
proven executive leadership experience in complex, multi-agency environments, with a track record of driving system-level change.
ability to strategically network and influence, leveraging relationships to secure cross-agency alignment and uplift multi-agency responses
proven experience as a strategic enabler driving significant delivery impact and embedding continuous improvement
ability to inspire teams while pragmatically committing to the organisations kaupapa and the people we serve
track record of bringing a strong focus on delivery and operational discipline.
Ngā painga o tēnei wāhi mahi/What's great about working here
Our Values: Guide how we work, we role model these and the behaviours we want to see in everything we do, every day:
Innovation and Auahatanga
Equity and Ōritetanga
Integrity and Tika, Pono
Collaboration and Kotahitanga
Compassion and Aroha
One Team: We work as one team to deliver maximum impact. We are flexible, working in cross-functional teams to ensure we have the right mix of capability to do the right work. We are innovative and harness the people across the Family Violence and Sexual Violence system to deliver collective impact.
Professional Development: We support continuous development of technical capability and leadership expertise.
We offer you a range of benefits to support your wellbeing and help make the Ministry a great place to be.
Tono mai/Apply
To apply for this position, please submit your application through our career's portal here. Ensure your application includes a cover letter and CV detailing your relevant experience and qualifications.
Applications close on Sunday, 25 January 2026; however, we will be reviewing applications as they come in and may invite successful candidates to interview before the close date.
If you have any questions, please contact
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