Principal Advisor - National Health Facility Planning 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

As Principal Advisor – National Health Facility Planning, you will provide specialist expertise to support the planning, briefing and assurance of health infrastructure across Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora.

Working across a range of programmes and projects, you will help ensure capital investment supports effective models of care, operational efficiency and the long-term sustainability of health services. This will include developing and reviewing functional design briefs, schedules of accommodation and other planning documentation that connects clinical service requirements with infrastructure design.

The role will provide advice to service planning, project and design teams, helping ensure infrastructure solutions reflect clinical workflows, operational needs and contemporary models of care. You will also contribute specialist input to business cases and capital investment proposals, providing assurance that facility planning deliverables meet relevant frameworks, standards and investment requirements.

This is an opportunity to influence health infrastructure at a national level by developing practical tools, templates and planning approaches that support consistent, efficient and high-quality facility planning across the health system.

About the Team/Service/ Location

The National Health Facility Planning team sits within the Infrastructure and Investment Group (IIG). The wider group supports the planning and delivery of health infrastructure that enables safe, effective and sustainable healthcare across Aotearoa New Zealand.

This role works closely with national and regional Infrastructure and Investment Group teams, service planners, project and programme directors, health planners, design teams and external consultancies. Together, these groups ensure facility planning is aligned with service strategies, clinical models of care and operational requirements.

About you

You are an experienced health facility planning or healthcare infrastructure professional who can bring together clinical, operational and design perspectives. With a strong understanding of how clinical services operate, you can translate complex service needs into clear and practical facility planning requirements.

Your experience includes developing or reviewing functional design briefs and schedules of accommodation, along with providing specialist advice throughout infrastructure planning and design processes. You understand the Australasian Health Facility Guidelines and can apply them confidently within complex healthcare infrastructure projects.

You know how to communicate complex information clearly and provide well-considered written advice to support strategic decisions. You are comfortable working across multidisciplinary teams, navigating competing priorities and building trusted relationships with senior stakeholders, technical specialists and external partners.

This role offers the opportunity to influence how health facilities are planned across New Zealand, helping create infrastructure that supports better care, stronger services and improved outcomes for communities.

You will bring:

• A relevant tertiary qualification and/or equivalent professional experience.
• Experience in health facility planning or healthcare infrastructure development.
• Strong knowledge of clinical service planning and its relationship with facility design and infrastructure planning.
• In-depth knowledge of the Australasian Health Facility Guidelines and their application.
• Experience developing or reviewing functional design briefs and schedules of accommodation.
• A strong understanding of the functional and operational requirements of health facilities.
• Excellent analytical and advisory skills, including the ability to prepare clear, high-quality written advice.
• Proven ability to build effective relationships across complex organisations and with external partners.
• Strong communication, organisational and time-management skills.
• The ability to work effectively within complex and changing environments.

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 12th November 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.