Business Advisor Policy Planning & Development
Policy Group, Policy, Regulatory and Ethnic Affairs Branch (PREA)
The Business Advisor Policy Planning & Development role sits within the General Manager Policy’s Office
(GMO), a team which provides high quality advice and support to enable the General Manager Policy to:
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meet the primary accountability of delivering policy advice and ministerial support to the Ministers of
Internal Affairs, Local Government, Racing, and the Community and Voluntary Sector; and
provide strategic leadership, oversight and management of the Policy Group to ensure the successful
delivery of the Policy Work Programme (PWP).
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In practice, this is achieved by supporting the General Manager Policy, Policy Group Leadership Team (PGLT),
Policy Group Management Team (PGMT) and the wider Policy Group as appropriate; and by developing,
maintaining and enhancing the Policy Group’s “Top 5” organising framework, which covers:
 Our Vision & Purpose:
What the Policy Group is trying to achieve and why
 Our Work Programme:
How the Policy Group will deliver on its vision, including more clearly defining and reviewing priorities
to better guide resource and work allocation
 Our People:
How to build the Policy Group’s capability to develop excellent policy and make it a great place to
work (e.g. flexible working arrangements)
 Our Quality:
How to ensure the Policy Group’s products are high quality – i.e. by promoting rigorous thinking and
giving people the right tools for the job (e.g. templates, technology, and rigorous but relevant quality
assurance processes)
 Our Accountability:
Accounting for and communicating the Policy Group’s value add for Ministers, DIA and other
stakeholders, including through:
o Internal reporting – e.g. Annual Business Planning; Quarterly DCE/CE Assurance;
o External reporting – e.g. Weekly Status/Quarterly Reports to Ministers; and
o Management information – what is used to help manage day-to-day and inform reporting.
The ability to manage relationships and effectively communicate with internal and external service providers
and stakeholders; and demonstrate leadership are also key attributes in this role.
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Reporting to: Manager Policy Planning & Development
Location:
Wellington
Salary range: Delivery G ($62,711 - $84,844)
The Department of Internal Affairs
Te Tari Taiwhenua
What we do matters – our purpose
Our purpose is to serve and connect people, communities and government to build a safe, prosperous and
respected nation.
In other words, it’s all about helping to make New Zealand better for New Zealanders.
How we do things around here – our principles
We make it easy, we make it work
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Customer centred
Make things even better
We’re stronger together
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Work as a team
Value each other
We take pride in what we do
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Make a positive difference
Strive for excellence
Working effectively with Māori
Te Aka Taiwhenua – our Māori Strategic Framework – enables us to work effectively with Māori. We accept
our privileged role and responsibility of holding and protecting the Treaty of Waitangi / Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
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What you will do to contribute
As a result we will see
Business advice, support and innovation
 Foster a “one policy shop”, “one Department” and
continuous improvement focus
 Work through relevant internal and external
service providers and stakeholders to connect
people and information
 Analyse benefits and issues, and prepare and
present innovative and evidence-based advice,
that is fit for purpose and tailored to the audience
 Identify, and deliver on, specific “Top 5”
organising framework activities to build the
culture, capability and performance of the Policy
Group
 Comply with DIA corporate policies and processes,
including:
o Planning and reporting: ensure all DIA, PREA
BDS, Treasury and other internal and external
planning and reporting requirements are met
o Budget/HR management: ensure that the
Policy Group organisational chart is reconciled
on a monthly basis, including liaising with the
Policy Group Support Team (PGST) to update
contractor information; with Finance to
update budget forecasts; and with HR to
action position changes and workforce
strategy initiatives as appropriate
o Risk management: ensure that risks are
identified, recorded and rated; and that
appropriate risk mitigation strategies are
identified
o Share successes and learnings across the
Policy Group and with the wider Department
and other agencies as appropriate
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The Policy Group is regarded as
an innovative business unit that
actively identifies potential
benefits and issues from a “one
policy shop” and “one
Department” perspective
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Potential benefits or issues are
thoroughly examined, and
advice prepared is well-thought
out, well-evidenced and wellpresented
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The culture, capability and
performance of the Policy
Group is continuously
improved
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All corporate policies and
processes are complied with
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Opportunities are utilised,
successes are shared, and
evolution results from lessons
learnt
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The Policy Group is regarded as
an innovative business unit that
works in partnership to deliver
solutions, in a way that
maximises efficiencies and
increases effectiveness
Relationship management and effective
communication
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Develop, maintain and enhance relationships with
key internal and external service providers and
stakeholders, to ensure that shared
understanding and productive outcomes which
meet Policy Group needs are achieved
Ensure that all advice presented and solutions
identified have had appropriate input from
internal and external service providers and
stakeholders as appropriate
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What you will do to contribute
As a result we will see
Leadership
 Be proactive in establishing key partnerships that
will assist the Policy Group to achieve its identified
outcomes
 Be attentive to identifying potential benefits and
issues through a variety of discussions
 Lead the delivery of solutions
 Stay informed about the wider work of the GMO
to be able to provide interim advice and support
as required
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Health and Safety (for self)
 Take responsibility for keeping self free from harm
 Follow safe working procedures
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Own ideas and input are wellarticulated and provided with
confidence
 The Manager, Policy Planning
and Development, General
Manager Policy, PGLT, PGMT
and wider Policy Group as
appropriate, feel wellsupported
 The GMO is regarded as a
unified team, in which all team
members are able to provide
coverage for each other as
required
 All requirements of DIA’s Health
and Safety policy and
procedures are met.
 Report incidents promptly
 Report hazards promptly and suggest appropriate
remedies
 Know what to do in the event of an emergency
Internal
External
Deliver to
Inform
Influence
Collaborate
with
Who you will work with to get the job done
Advise
 Co-operate in implementing rehabilitation plans
Manager Policy Planning and Development
General Manager Policy (GM Policy)
Policy Group Leadership Team (PGLT)
Policy Group Management Team (PGMT)
Team Leader Policy Group Support Team
(PGST)
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Policy Group staff
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PREA Branch Development and Support (BDS)
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Relevant DIA staff
Treasury
Audit New Zealand
Other Government Departments as relevant
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Your success profile for this role
What you will bring specifically
At DIA, we have a Capability Framework to help
guide our people towards the behaviours and
skills needed to be successful. The core success
profile for this role is Valued Contributor.
Experience:
 Working with a changeable work
programme and managing within varying
timeframes
 Working with a variety of people, and
collecting information from a variety of
sources
 Learning, retaining, and reusing
information and learning from past
experiences
 Working both independently and as part
of a team sharing information,
knowledge and ideas
 Working in the public sector
Keys to Success:
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Customer focus
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Continuous improvement
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Teamwork and peer relationships
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Action oriented
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Self development and learning
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Functional and technical skills
Knowledge:
 A relevant tertiary qualification is
preferred, ideally in business studies or
management
Skills:
 Strong organisational skills to manage
changeable work programme, with
multiple tasks and due dates
 Ability to understand connections across
team and organisation, in order to plan,
prioritise and reprioritise work as
required
 Ability to manage ambiguity and
confidently use initiative when dealing
with a broad range of complex, evolving
information
 Strong engagement skills, with the ability
to establish and maintain a wide range of
effective relationships and manage issue
resolution
 Ability to use initiative, with selfawareness of when to seek input from
others and escalate matters
 Strong communication skills (written and
oral), with the ability to communicate
with credibility and convey information
appropriately to a range of audiences
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