Project Manager Operational Commissioning at Te Whatu Ora, All Locations

Mō tēnei tūranga mahi | About this role

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 Senior Health & Safety Advisor forms part of the Regional Infrastructure & Investment Group (IIG) Health & Safety team, reporting to the Regional Health & Safety Lead and working collaboratively with the wider national and regional IIG H&S network. This supports a consistent national approach while ensuring advice, support and assurance remain closely connected to regional operational requirements.

IIG operates a line-led approach to health and safety, where operational leaders and teams own and manage health and safety risks as part of delivering their work. Your role will be to support, coach and mentor these teams, helping them build the capability and confidence to effectively identify, manage and assure their health and safety risks.

You will develop strong working relationships with operational leaders, project teams, contractors, consultants and other stakeholders, providing practical guidance on contractor management, critical risks, Safe Systems of Work and the implementation of IIG health and safety standards and expectations, including high-risk activities such as hazardous substances, traffic management, electrical safety, and working at heights.
A key part of the role will be supporting district and operational teams with the effective onboarding and ongoing management of contractors. This includes providing practical guidance on contractor prequalification and onboarding requirements, mobilisation, risk management, monitoring and assurance, performance management, and corrective action close-out. You will work collaboratively with district teams and contractors to ensure IIG requirements are understood and consistently applied, while supporting effective consultation, cooperation and coordination between Health New Zealand, contractors, subcontractors and other PCBUs throughout the contractor lifecycle.

You will also undertake and support health and safety assurance activities, including Critical Control Verification Audits, Safe Systems of Work audits, contractor monitoring, risk reviews and site-based assurance. Through these activities, you will help leaders understand where controls are working effectively, where improvement is required and what actions are needed to strengthen performance.

About You

You are an experienced, energetic and proactive health and safety professional who understands that sustainable health and safety performance comes from strong operational ownership, capable leaders and effective relationships, rather than health and safety being managed solely by the H&S function.

You are comfortable working alongside operational managers and project teams, providing advice and guidance while coaching and mentoring people to make sound health and safety decisions themselves. You know when to support, when to challenge and when an issue requires escalation.

You bring strong experience in contractor health and safety management and understand the importance of establishing clear expectations, maintaining constructive contractor relationships and providing effective oversight and assurance throughout the lifecycle of contracted work.

You are a confident and colloborative relationship builder who can work effectively with operational leaders, project managers, facilities teams, contractors, consultants and other health and safety professionals. You bring sound judgement, credibility and a practical approach that helps turn health and safety requirements into workable solutions.

What You'll Bring

• Demonstrated experience providing health and safety advice and guidance within construction, infrastructure, facilities management, engineering or similarly complex environments.
• Strong experience in contractor health and safety management, including onboarding, mobilisation, monitoring, assurance and contractor performance.
• Strong understanding of critical risk management, critical controls and Safe Systems of Work, including practical application within high-risk work environments.
• Experience leading or supporting incident investigations using ICAM methodology and translating findings into practical improvement actions.
• Experience undertaking audits, inspections, contractor monitoring and other health and safety assurance activities.
• The ability to coach and mentor operational leaders and team, building their capability to own and manage health and safety risk.
• Experience working within or supporting a line-led health and safety model, where accountability for risk sits with operational management.
• Strong relationship-management skills and the ability to build effective partnerships with contractors, consultants, operational teams and leaders.
• Ability to provide practical guidance on consultation, cooperation and coordination between PCBUs and parties involved in contracted work.
• Confidence to constructively challenge poor practices or ineffective controls while maintaining productive working relationships.
• Ability to interpret assurance findings, incidents and operational information and translate these into practical actions and improvement opportunities.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including communicating complex health and safety matters clearly to operational and senior leaders.
• A collaborative approach and willingness to share knowledge, mentor others and contribute to the continuous improvement of IIG's national health and safety standards, frameworks and practices.

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.

How to Apply

To apply, please click “apply now.” All applications must be submitted through our online careers portal by 23rd October 2026. If you have any questions about the role, please contact Shannon Elder at shannon.elder@TeWhatuOra.govt.nz.

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