Implementation Lead | Wellington at Ministry of Social Development, Wellington - Wairarapa
Mō tēnei tūranga mahi | About this role
- Highly influential roles where your thinking will guide critical readiness and implementation decisions
- Shape how MSD prepares for and delivers transformational change
- Four new permanent roles, based in Wellington (Auckland/Christchurch considered)
About our team | Mō te tīma
New Zealand is changing, and so are we. MSD is transforming to build a smarter, simpler, more responsive welfare system.
This is a rare opportunity to help shape a once-in-a-generation transformation to deliver better outcomes for New Zealanders. Join a multidisciplinary team driving people-led, technology-enabled change at scale.
About the role | Mō te tūnga
We're looking for experienced and influential Implementation Leads to help shape the future of service delivery by turning ambitious transformation goals into lasting outcomes.
Working at the heart of complex change initiatives, you'll bring together people, plans, and priorities to ensure new services, ways of working, and operating models are successfully implemented and adopted.
This is a unique chance to lead across significant transformation programmes, partnering with leaders, delivery teams, and subject matter experts to navigate complexity, solve challenging problems, and create the conditions for success.
If you're energised by change, thrive in fast-paced environments, and have a track record of bringing people together to deliver meaningful outcomes, we'd love to hear from you.
In this role you will have the opportunity to:
- Provide thought leadership and advice on integrated, fit-for-purpose readiness and implementation approaches that deliver business value.
- Set the strategic direction, outcomes, quality standards, measures and evidence expectations for your assigned discipline.
- Commission and integrate specialist work across releases so change is well sequenced and supports readiness and adoption.
- Synthesise readiness, risk and impact insights and contribute to integrated assessments, stage gates and deployment decisions.
- Act as a trusted adviser to programme leadership and governance on readiness, adoption confidence, risk and sequencing.
- Build MSD's maturity in transformational change and readiness by embedding consistent standards, practices and ways of working.
Organisational Readiness & Leadership Alignment | Ideal for leaders who can influence at senior levels and help organisations navigate complex change.
- Partner with leaders to build change leadership capability and organisational readiness and confidence through complex transformation.
- Drive alignment on priorities, impacts, decisions and trade-offs, creating visibility and commitment across the organization.
- Develop and deliver change strategies, plans and implementation approaches.
- Build stakeholder understanding of the future state through clear narratives and engagement.
- Use insights and feedback to adapt plans and support successful adoption of new ways of working.
- Design role-based capability pathways and learning approaches that support workforce readiness and performance.
- Implement sustainable practice standards, guidance and measures that build long term organizational shifts.
- Lead communication and engagement approaches across diverse stakeholder groups.
- Establish trusted relationships, advisory forums and feedback channels.
- Champion user and stakeholder experiences to ensure they inform service design and implementation.
You will bring expertise in a relevant readiness, change or implementation discipline, along with the judgement and influence to operate across a complex enterprise transformation. You will be comfortable creating clarity from ambiguity, connecting work across teams and giving senior leaders clear, evidence-informed advice. Additionally, you will have:
- Significant experience in one or more of readiness, communications, capability or implementation disciplines.
- Demonstrated experience leading and shaping complex enterprise business and technology change across multiple releases and initiatives.
- Strong relationship and stakeholder management skills, with the credibility to influence senior leaders and work effectively across organisational boundaries.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to interpret complex frameworks and turn them into clear advice, plans and decisions.
- The ability to lead structurally and through a matrix model, coordinating specialists and multiple streams of work.
- A commitment to embedding Te Ao Māori, Te Reo Māori, tikanga, kawa and Te Tiriti o Waitangi into the way we work.
Salary | Utu-ā-tau: $142,874.00 - $177,798.00
Applications close | Ka kati ngā tono hei te: Wednesday 21st October
About us | Mō mātou
The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) is a people-centred organisation. We're in communities across the motu, working with partners to help New Zealanders be safe, strong and independent.
We provide social policy advice to government, and assistance including income, employment and housing support to people of all ages, families, whānau and communities.
As a Te Tiriti o Waitangi partner, we are committed to supporting and enabling Māori, whānau, hapū, Iwi and communities to realise their own potential and aspirations.
Our people are as diverse as the communities we serve. We care about the wellbeing and success of our people and provide a supportive and inclusive working environment where people can thrive and be who they are.
How to apply | Me pēhea te tuku tono
Before you submit your application, please take a moment to review our guidance to understand how AI can best support your application. Candidate Guidance - Responsible AI use in recruitment.
To apply, click the 'Apply Now' button to upload your CV, cover letter and complete the online application form.
Note: Your cover letter will be a key part of our assessment process. Please highlight how your skills and experience relate to the key responsibilities listed in the position description and job advertisement.
All applications must be made online. If this is not possible or if you have any queries, please contact us at jobs@msd.govt.nz
Internal MSD Employees – please apply through your myHR portal at work. This will ensure that your myHR employee profile is visible as internal candidate.
Joining us | Ko te hono mai
Joining MSD means being part of a whānau that celebrates the diversity each individual represents.
We show manaaki, we care about the wellbeing and success of people and want everyone to thrive and be who they are in a supportive and inclusive working environment. We work together to make a difference for communities while doing the right thing with integrity. You can find out more about our values here.
If you have any support or accessibility requirements, we encourage you to tell us when you apply so we can assist you through the recruitment process
Ngā taipitopito tūranga mahi | Job details
| Employer: | Ministry of Social Development |
| Location: | Wellington - Wairarapa |
| Position type: | Permanent - Full Time |
| Category: | Other |
| Date listed: | 08-Oct-2026 |
| Salary range: | 142,874 - 177,798 |
| Closing date: | 21-Oct-2026 |
| Reference: | NZ/1951535 |
| Attachment: | implementation-lead.docx (Word, 472KB) Job Specification |
| File links: | |
| Website: | https://jobs.msd.govt.nz |
Note: You may be redirected to the employer's careers website.
