Principal Privacy Advisor at Te Whatu Ora, All Locations

Mō tēnei tūranga mahi | About this role

• Permanent, full-time role, working from anywhere in New Zealand.
• Flexible working - fully supported to balance your workplace and lifestyle.
• Opportunity to thrive in a fast-paced and dynamic environment.

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is the country's largest employer, delivering universal public healthcare to 5 million New Zealanders. 

We provide essential hospital, specialist, and community health services across 80+ locations - from large urban centres to rural towns and remote communities. 

Our goal is to improve health outcomes for all New Zealanders by delivering equitable, accessible and innovative care. 

About the Role 

The Privacy Team is responsible for providing timely, high-quality advice and support to all teams within Health New Zealand to ensure that personal and health information in our care is safe and handled appropriately.

The primary purpose of the Principal Advisor is to provide high-quality advice and support on key pieces of work across the organisation and to ensure the delivery of quality privacy advice across the team.

You will have Expert knowledge of the Privacy Act 2020, Health Information Privacy Code 2020, and other relevant legislation.

About you 

You will apply expert understanding of the privacy landscape and industry standards to build and maintain privacy maturity across Health New Zealand.

• Significant privacy experience and/or relevant tertiary qualifications.
• Expert knowledge of the Privacy Act 2020, Health Information Privacy Code 2020, and other relevant legislation.
• Proven strategic leadership skills that support project design, development and implementation.
• Experience with Privacy Impact Assessments.
• Previous experience in applying critical thinking and using sound judgement to develop options and provide advice.
• Proven ability to write and talk about complex issues clearly and concisely to a range of audiences.
• Strong stakeholder management and experience in engaging with a range of sector groups and agencies.

To ensure your success in the role, you will be able to:

• Communicate well at all levels of the organisation.
• Make decisions on the basis of the information you have, even if that isn't the whole picture.
• Cope with uncertainty /ambiguity.
• Problem solve.
• Understand the associated risks.
• Adapt to change.

Desired:

• Experience with the Principles of Māori data Sovereignty and/or engagement with Iwi groups.
• Experience in assessing privacy risks and mitigations in complex information technology solutions.

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 service our community. We welcome applications from our diverse Māori, Pacific, disabled, and rainbow communities.    

How to Apply 

To apply, please click “apply now.”  All applications must be submitted through our online careers portal by 11:59PM Sunday 19 July 2026. For further information, please contact Nicole Rickard on Nicole.Rickard@TeWhatuOra.Govt.NZ.

The full position description is available on the Health New Zealand Careers site.

Whilst Health New Zealand is undergoing change, affected kaimahi will be given preference and priority for this position.

We will review applications as received and may proceed with the recruitment process before the closing date of this advert.