Principal Policy Advisor

Permanent, full-time position based in Wellington or Auckland. Support Health NZ's executives to ensure the highest-quality advice is available to make informed decisions at the right time and in the right place. Bring together information to find the ‘so what', work at a fast pace, and are comfortable working in ambiguous and complex situations. Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora delivers public healthcare to more than 5 million New Zealanders. We are focused on improving equitable health outcomes through better, more consistent decision-making. The Advisory team supports Health NZ's executive to ensure the best quality advice is available to make informed decisions at the right time and in the right place. About the Role We are looking for a high-performing Principal Policy Advisor to strengthen how investment decisions are developed, assessed, and delivered across Health NZ. This is a high-impact role combining organisational transformation and senior policy leadership. In this role, you'll bring practical policy thinking and confident project leadership to establish enterprise-wide business case processes and tools, while also supporting Executive decision-making on complex, high-profile work. You will connect the dots across finance, service delivery and strategy to ensure investment decisions deliver real outcomes. In addition, you will be required to: Lead quality assurance and critical challenge of major investment proposals in a way that builds capability and ensures informed decision-making. Advise on risks, system impacts, and alignment to priorities. Support the executive team, board and ministerial processes with clear, actionable advice. Lead cross-cutting policy and advisory projects requiring senior oversight. Work across Health NZ to lift the quality and consistency of advice. You'll succeed in this role if you enjoy bringing together information to find the ‘so what', working at a fast pace, and are comfortable working in ambiguous and complex situations. About the Role You will bring: Over 5 years' experience operating at the Principal Policy level, leading complex policy work. Strong strategic thinking, analytical capability, and financial literacy. Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including the ability to translate technical information for non‑experts. Proven ability to influence senior stakeholders in complex environments. Experience improving systems, processes, or governance frameworks, especially with business cases. Good understanding of the health sector and/or social sector and service planning. Working for Health New Zealand Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is dedicated to ensuring excellent healthcare for the people of New Zealand. We embrace a workforce that is diverse and inclusive so that we are better positioned to understand and serve our community. We welcome applications from our diverse Māori, Pacific, disabled, and rainbow communities. #J-18808-Ljbffr