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:

We’re looking for a highly skilled Principal Advisor Ministerial Interface to join our team at the National Office in Wellington.

This role is crucial in ensuring the organisation’s OIA’s, OPQs, Privacy Requests, WPQ’s and ministerial correspondence, briefings, and responses are timely, accurate, and meet all legislative and policy requirements.

You’ll act as a trusted advisor to senior leaders, mentor team members, and develop protocols and processes for effective ministerial engagement.

Key responsibilities include:

• Lead and support the end-to-end ministerial servicing process, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and alignment with government expectations.
• Provide strategic advice to senior leaders on ministerial engagement, including risk identification, mitigation strategies, and reputational considerations.
• Build and maintain trusted, professional relationships with ministerial offices, acting as a key liaison for smooth communication and issue resolution.
• Coordinate and oversee the quality assurance of ministerial documents, ensuring consistency, clarity, and compliance with required formats and protocols.
• Monitor political and operational developments to anticipate ministerial needs and proactively manage emerging issues

We value diversity and welcome applications from disabled people and those who have lived experience with whānau, or the disability community.

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

What you bring | Ōu pūmanawatanga:

• An expert understanding of Cabinet, parliamentary, and ministerial processes, including briefing protocols and timelines.
• Proven experience in the OIA, Public Records Act, and Privacy Act legislation and processes.
• Experience in drafting and reviewing high-quality ministerial documents for senior audiences under tight deadlines.
• Deep knowledge of public sector governance, political sensitivities, and the machinery of government.
• Proven ability to manage key relationships at a senior level both internally and externally, providing high-quality advice.
• Experience in the development and maintenance of processes and systems required to support effective delivery of the function.
• Strong understanding of reputational risk, escalation pathways, and how to navigate politically sensitive issues.
• Flexible and adaptable where priorities and timeframes require.
• Ability to translate complex policy or operational issues into clear, concise, and audience-appropriate language.

Position Description | He Whakaahuatanga Tūnga:

A copy of the position description can be found here.  Principal Advisor Ministerial Interface position description.

Salary | Utu-ā-tau: $142,874.00 - $177,798.00