Legal Manager at Ministry for the Environment, Wellington

Mō tēnei tūranga mahi | About this role

Mō tēnei tūranga mahi | About this role    

This team is responsible for providing legal advice across the Ministry's policy and operational portfolios, ensuring the Ministry complies with its statutory obligations, at a minimum, and litigation management where the Minister or the Ministry is the subject of legal proceedings. This role also includes managing and supervising commercial legal work within the Ministry.

The purpose of this role is to work together with the General Manager, Legal & Risk/Chief Legal Advisor you will form the leadership team that manages the lawyers and legal work in the Ministry's legal team.  You will be responsible for leading our lawyers, leading key projects where necessary and managing the delivery of key aspects of the Ministry's legal services.  You will collaborate with your fellow managers across the Ministry to ensure connected advice is provided to Ministers and other key decision makers.  

Ngā Whakaritenga Mōkito | Skills and Experience 

• Strong public law experience, particularly in relation to legislative development
• Proven experience as a people leader
• Ability to lead through change and embrace charge
• Empower others
• Experience advising on resource management matters
• Experience advising on te ao Māori and Te Tiriti issues
• Ability to translate complicated issues and support problem-solving
• Collaborative and collegial approach to leadership
• Some experience leading in a hybrid working environment would be highly desirable
• A law degree and a current NZLS practising certificate (or current eligibility to obtain one)

Mō mātou | About us  

The Ministry's purpose - He taiao tōnui mō ngā reanga katoa - a flourishing environment for every generation.  

We offer: 

• a flexible by default approach to support your work-life balance agile working, allowing you variety and challenges across the organisation as we work as ‘One MfE' generous leave entitlements training to competently and effectively engage with Māori as our Treaty Partner, this includes te reo me ona tikanga Māori courses active social club and employee networks, including a Māori staff network
• opportunities for development and education.          

A key priority for the Ministry is Te Ao Māori. This means we work with our Treaty partner to advance Māori priorities for the environment and for environmental success. We will be confident and coordinated in our ongoing engagement with Māori and lead the natural resources system in engaging for success with tangata whenua. We will grow our capability and capacity to accurately reflect Māori views in our work.  An organisational priority is that we accurately reflect Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Te Ao Maori into our everyday work, by living our Te Ao Hurihuri Strategy through capability and capacity building.

Salary range: $164,276 to $199,444 pa. Appointment within this range will be based on skills and experience.

Tono ināianei | Apply Now

Apply directly by completing the online application form and submit your CV and cover letter.  Note: your cover letter will be a key part of our assessment process, so please highlight how your experience relates to the key skills required for this role.   

If you require further information about this position please contact Nadine Eales, Talent Advisor at nadine.eales@mfe.govt.nz.

We embrace diversity and inclusion and are committed to equal opportunities. What's important to us is ‘he rau kotahi tangata' – embracing our multiple talents – by harnessing our diversity and being inclusive. We actively encourage applications from all backgrounds.  We are proud to be Rainbow Tick certified and recognise the diversity and uniqueness of our workforce and reaffirm our commitment to create a safe and inclusive environment for everyone. 

We want to ensure accessibility needs are well supported, so the recruitment process is fair and equitable for all. Therefore, please let us know if there is any support, we can provide to ensure the recruitment process is fully accessible to you. You can contact us at vacancy@mfe.govt.nz if you would like to discuss any accessibility needs you may have. 

Rā Katinga | Applications close: Monday 27th January @ 11.59pm