About our team | Mō te tīma:

The Disability Support Services (DSS) Group is responsible for commissioning, funding, and stewarding high-quality services that support disabled people, their families, and whānau. 

We’re building leadership and management capacity across our teams to deliver both change and business-as-usual effectively. 

We work closely with providers, stakeholders, and communities to ensure services are fair, consistent, transparent and sustainable. With a strong focus on performance monitoring, data, and insights, we’re committed to continuous improvement and evidence-based decision-making.

It’s an exciting time to join DSS as we strengthen our systems and expand our capabilities. 

We’re looking for passionate people to help us achieve our goals and make a meaningful impact.

About the role | Mō te tūnga:

As Director – Data and Evidence, you’ll lead the development and application of evidence, performance, and outcomes frameworks that support learning, accountability, and continuous improvement across DSS.

You’ll ensure decisions are informed by robust data and insights, and that the organisation can clearly demonstrate its value to stakeholders, communities, and government.

This role plays a critical part in building a culture of evidence-informed practice and ensuring that performance measurement is meaningful, equitable, and aligned with strategic priorities.

You’ll also work closely with MSD Strategy and Insights colleagues to commission research and evaluation into current and future needs for disability support services.

Key responsibilities include:

• Designing and implementing an outcomes framework aligned with strategic goals, government priorities, and community aspirations.
• Leading, coaching, and developing the Evidence, Performance & Outcomes team.
• Providing strategic direction for the collection, analysis, and use of data and evidence.
• Developing performance indicators, monitoring systems, and evaluation strategies.
• Commissioning insights, evaluation, and research in partnership with MSD Strategy and Insights.
• Overseeing integration and analysis of data from multiple sources to generate actionable insights.
• Building organisational capability in using evidence and performance information.

We value diversity and welcome applications from disabled people and those with lived experience as whānau or members of the disability community.

Please let us know if there is any support we can provide to ensure the recruitment process is accessible to you.

What you bring | Ōu pūmanawatanga:

• Advanced knowledge of evaluation, monitoring, and performance measurement methodologies including familiarity with data visualisation tools (e.g., Power BI, Tableau).
• Experience with both quantitative and qualitative research methods.
• Proven leadership and people management experience in fast-paced environments.
• Strong understanding of public sector accountability and performance frameworks.
• Ability to translate complex data into clear, compelling narratives and experience building data literacy and capability across teams.
• Experience leading continuous improvement and embedding service excellence.
• Ability to embed equity and cultural responsiveness into measurement and evaluation.
• Strong knowledge of data governance, ethics, privacy, and Māori data sovereignty.
• Proven ability to communicate complex information clearly to diverse audiences, including Ministers.

Position Description | He Whakaahuatanga Tūnga:

A copy of the position description can be found here. Director Data and Evidence, position description.

Salary range | Utu-ā-tau: $161,811.00 - $214,131.00