HR Advisory Services Manager

Ready to lead a high-performing HR advisory team? Can you build trusted relationships and deliver clear, practical advice? Are you confident balancing competing priorities in a fast-paced setting? Lead the future of HR advisory in a high-impact environment At Te Herenga Waka, we’re shaping the future of work in a globally connected, capital city university. We’re looking for a people leader who can bring clarity, pace, and impact to our Advisory Services function – someone who thrives on building capability, strengthening relationships, and delivering great outcomes for managers and their teams. Kōrero mō te tūranga - About the role TeHerenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington is currently recruiting an HR Advisory Services Manager to join Te Pūmanawa Tāngata - Human Resources team in a permanent, full-time position. This is a key leadership role, reporting to the Manu Tāiko - Associate Director, People Operations and leading a team of around 14 HR Advisers and Senior Advisers. As HR Advisory Services Manager, you’ll lead the delivery of proactive, high-quality HR advice across the University. Your focus will be on ensuring our advice is practical, balanced, and grounded in clear options and risk—enabling managers to make confident decisions about their people. You’ll work closely with the Principal Adviser and wider HR leadership team to: Drive consistent, timely, and customer‑focused advisory services. Balance team workloads and support development of deep subject matter expertise. Strengthen relationships with senior leaders across the University. Use data and insights to identify workforce trends and shape future actions. You’ll also play a key role in lifting manager capability, contributing to strategic initiatives, and embedding improvements into how we deliver People services. What you’ll be responsible for: Leading a high‑performing advisory team Coaching and developing Advisers to deliver quality, practical HR advice. Managing workloads, portfolios, and service continuity. Creating a team culture that balances operational delivery with development and innovation. Delivering impactful HR advice Supporting managers across a wide range of areas including: Employment relations and case management. Recruitment, remuneration, and job evaluation. Organisational change and workforce planning. Performance and capability development. Ensuring advice is pragmatic, risk‑aware, and outcome‑focused. Building capability and influencing outcomes Supporting the development of manager capability through tools, guidance, and training. Building trusted relationships with senior leaders across the University. Acting as a key link between advisory, specialist HR teams, and Finance. Driving insight and improvement Using people data and workforce insights to identify trends and opportunities. Contributing to HR strategy, projects, and continuous improvement initiatives. Helping shape and embed our evolving HR operating model. Ō pūmanawa - About you You’re an experienced HR leader who is comfortable operating in complexity and influencing at a senior level. We’re looking for someone who has: Significant experience in complex HR environments (e.g., unionised, diverse workforce, organisational change). A strong track record of partnering with senior leaders to deliver outcomes. Experience leading teams and developing capability. The ability to balance operational delivery with strategic contribution. Excellent judgement - able to navigate risk, ambiguity, and competing priorities. A collaborative, relationship‑focused approach. Experience in the tertiary or public sector is advantageous, as is a relevant postgraduate qualification or HRNZ membership. Why join us? At Te Herenga Waka, you’ll be part of a team that’s: Purpose‑driven – supporting education, research, and communities locally and globally. Values‑led – grounded in kaitiakitanga, manaakitanga, whanaungatanga, akoranga, and whai mātauranga. Evolving – transforming how we deliver HR services to enable better outcomes. You’ll have the opportunity to: Lead meaningful change in a large, complex organisation. Develop a capable and engaged advisory team. Influence how HR operates across the University. Ready to make a difference? If you’re looking for a role where you can lead, influence, and shape how people services are delivered at scale—we’d love to hear from you. #J-18808-Ljbffr