Manager Complaints, Incidents and Enforcement at Education Review Office, Auckland

Mō tēnei tūranga mahi | About this role

Te Tari Arotake Mātauranga | Education Review Office (ERO) are dedicated to diversity, equity, inclusion, health, and wellbeing. We welcome every gender, ethnicity, ability, religion, age, and background and encourage all our people to be their authentic selves.

Starting salary: $129,000 – $135,000 negotiable + superannuation

• Develop and grow your career (coaching, training, study support, secondments)
• Contribute to meaningful work that makes a difference to all children and young people in New Zealand
• City-based offices that cater to a variety of working styles and needs

Mō tēnei tūranga | About this role

This is a permanent leadership role responsible for overseeing ERO's complaints, incidents, and enforcement functions. Reporting to the Deputy Chief Executive Regulation and Early Childhood Education, you will lead a team that manages complex complaints, monitors and responds to incidents, and supports enforcement actions to ensure regulatory expectations are upheld across the education system.

You will play a critical role in ensuring that complaints and incidents are managed in a timely, consistent, and transparent way, balancing responsiveness with sound decision-making. This includes strengthening frameworks, processes, and quality assurance to support robust and fair outcomes.

Working closely with internal teams and external stakeholders—including the Ministry of Education and other agencies—you will ensure alignment across regulatory systems and contribute to continuous improvement. Your team will include experienced practitioners managing sensitive and complex matters, requiring sound judgement, strong leadership, and confidence navigating ambiguity.

The key focus over the next 6–12 months will be embedding consistent national processes, strengthening quality and risk management, and supporting system changes associated with wider education sector reforms.

This role has been established to support the Government's proposed transfer of early childhood education (ECE) regulatory functions from the Ministry of Education to the Education Review Office (ERO), as part of the wider ECE Reform programme. The positions are designed to support the new proposed functions and strengthen ERO's capability to deliver on its expanded mandate. Any offer of employment will be subject to the relevant legislation being enacted.

Mōhou ake | About you

We want to hear about any of the following in your cover letter and CV:

• Your experience leading teams in high-risk, complex, or regulatory environments
• Your ability to manage sensitive issues, complaints, or incidents with sound judgement and integrity
• Your understanding of, or willingness to learn about, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Tikanga, Te Reo and Te Ao Māori
• Examples of how you have built strong relationships across agencies and stakeholder groups
• Demonstrated leadership capability, including influencing outcomes and leading through complexity
• Your ability to apply legislation, policy, and regulatory frameworks to real-world situations
• Experience improving processes, lifting consistency, and embedding quality assurance approaches
• Your ability to communicate clearly and confidently with a range of audiences, including in challenging situations
• Understanding of public sector processes and machinery of government (desirable

Ko mātou | About Us

Te Tari Arotake Mātauranga | Education Review Office (ERO) is the government's education evaluation agency - we inform and facilitate improvement in early learning services, schools and kura. We promote a stronger, more equitable education system. We believe equity and excellence in outcomes is possible for all learners when the mahi centres on the child, the heart of the matter – Ko te tamaiti te pūtake o te kaupapa.

Me pēhea te tuku tono | How to apply

If this role interests you, click on the “Apply” button to be re-directed to our site where you will be able to apply and view the Position Description. We encourage you to be your authentic self in your application. We are truly committed to diversity, inclusion and lifting our cultural capability. You don't need to be knowledgeable in these areas; we are looking for people who are willing to learn. If you would like further information about the role, reach out to Virginia.Ng@ero.govt.nz for a chat. For any other questions about the recruitment process, you can contact us at human.resources@ero.govt.nz 

Note: We will be screening applications as we receive them to move swiftly to interview shortly after the advert closes. You may be asked to complete a pre-interview screen via phone or video. Please let us know in your application if you require any assistance from us during the process.

Check out our careers site to learn more about working at ERO.

Note to Recruitment Agencies: unsolicited CVs will not be accepted.

You must have the right to live and work in Aotearoa New Zealand. Background and various pre-employment checks are part of our recruitment process.