Manager Review and Improvement Services at Education Review Office, Wellington

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 leading ERO's review and improvement services, supporting high-quality evaluation and continuous improvement across early learning services, schools and kura. Reporting to the Director ECE, you will lead a team focused on delivering review activity and working alongside services to strengthen outcomes for children and young people.

You will play a key role in ensuring consistency and quality of evaluation and regulatory practice, supporting the development of frameworks, tools, and approaches that enable robust reviews and meaningful improvement. This includes building capability within your team and contributing to system-wide learning through insights and feedback.

Your team will also undertake regulatory activity, including on-site visits, evidence gathering, and reporting to assess compliance with minimum standards and quality above these. You will ensure this work is delivered consistently, with clear, evidence-based judgements and constructive feedback to support improvement.

Working closely with internal teams and external stakeholders, you will ensure alignment between review, regulatory, and improvement functions. Your leadership will support a connected system approach—where insights from reviews inform guidance, decision-making, and ongoing improvement efforts.

The focus for the next 6–12 months will include strengthening evaluation and regulatory consistency, supporting implementation of evolving approaches, and ensuring that review activity contributes clearly to system improvement prioritiesThe 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 delivering evaluation, review, regulation or improvement services
• Your ability to lead through complexity and support high-quality, consistent delivery
• 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 with stakeholders, including across sectors or communities
• Demonstrated leadership capability, including influencing others and driving improvement outcomes
• Your experience developing frameworks, tools, or approaches that support quality practice
• Where you've shown curiosity, challenged thinking, and contributed to innovation or continuous improvement
• Your ability to communicate insights clearly and translate findings into practical improvements
• Experience within education, evaluation, or public sector environments (desirable)
• 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.