People, Culture and Wellbeing Manager

Leading Not-For-Profit Early Childhood Education Network Supporting a dedicated workforce of 300 Managing a $30m+ payroll budget Christchurch-based Head Office role with minimal regional travel About Us We are a highly respected, values-driven not-for-profit organisation overseeing a robust network of over 60 kindergartens across Canterbury, the West Coast, and Central Otago. Supported by an efficient, close-knit administration team of ten at our Christchurch Head Office, we are proud of our strong reputation as an employer of choice. Our workforce of approximately 300 employees comprises passionate, long-serving, qualified, and certificated teachers registered with the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand. Our values were developed by our employees, and we live and breathe them every single day. The Role Due to the retirement of our amazing Manager – Human Resources after a period of 17 years’ service we are seeking an emotionally intelligent, strategically minded, and financially astute People, Culture and Wellbeing Manager to join our leadership team. Reporting directly to the Chief Executive (CE), you will lead our people, culture, and wellbeing operations across the network. This role blends strategic leadership with practical, relationship-driven support. You will work closely and collaboratively with our CE and our Education Team to manage compliance, competency, and professional advice and guidance plans, ensuring our teachers are empowered to provide exceptional care along with the delivery of a high-quality early childhood education programme. Key Responsibilities Values & Culture: Champion our employee-developed values daily, keeping employee well-being at the heart of our predominantly female workforce. Employment & Industrial Relations: Act as the internal expert on the Kindergarten Teachers, Head Teachers, and Senior Teachers Collective Agreement (KTCA), maintaining excellent relationships with NZEI Te Riu Roa. Financial Stewardship: Manage and oversee a budget in the vicinity of $30 million per annum. Additional Leadership Roles: Hold positions as the Chair of the Teaching Staff Appointments Panel; the Chair of our Health and Safety Committee; a member of our Strategic Leadership Team and the organisation’s Privacy Officer. Relationship Management: Ability to work collaboratively with the CE and provide operational guidance for members of the Education Team and the wider teaching teams. Travel & Events Your primary base is our Christchurch Head Office. Because our Professional Leaders travel termly to the West Coast and Central Otago, frequent regional travel is not required for this position. About You To be successful in this role, you will bring: Sector Expertise: A proven background in people leadership within a unionised environment, ideally in education or the NFP sector, with strong knowledge of collective agreements (ideally the KTCA). Financial Literacy: Comfort and competence overseeing a multi-million-dollar annual employee budget. Exceptional Relationship Skills: The ability to communicate with empathy, switch effortlessly between executive advisory and practical teaching-staff support, and handle delicate competency or compliance matters smoothly. Professional Alignment: Active professional membership with HRNZ (or a willingness to obtain it) along with a tertiary qualification in people leadership is highly desirable. As this role works with sensitive information, the successful applicant is required to undertake and maintain a clear children's worker safety check including a police vet. You must have the right to live and work in New Zealand to apply for this job. Pre-employment checks are part of our recruitment process. #J-18808-Ljbffr