Principal Procurement - Commercial Lead, Strategic Programmes | Kaiarataki Mātā at Statistics NZ, Wellington

Mō tēnei tūranga mahi | About this role

 Join Our Dynamic Commercial Arrangements Team at Stats NZ!

About Us | Ko mātou

Stats NZ | Tatauranga Aotearoa is a Central Government employer of 1300+ people across Aotearoa. We provide data and statistics to support the decisions of Government, Māori and Iwi organisations, businesses, NGOs, and New Zealanders. Our work is About Aotearoa, for Aotearoa - data that improves lives today and for generations to come. We welcome every gender, ethnicity, ability, religion, age, and background and encourage all our people to be their authentic selves.

What's in it for you? | Ngā hua ka riro ki a koe

We encourage you to go to our careers site to learn more about the Way We Work at Stats NZ and also check out our benefits. We want working for us… to work for you!!

Starting salary: $136,776 - $178,742 + superannuation

A profile-raising procurement role changing the way Stats NZ contributes to meaningful outcomes, About Aotearoa, for Aotearoa - data that improves lives today and for generations to come.  

For this procurement and commercial leadership role, we need your substantial experience in building trust with senior leadership as well as your big commercial brain. In the role you will  oversee the broad and end-to-end procurement and commercial aspects of a ten-year transformation programme including the Census, monthly consumer price index, measuring a modern economy, social investment, and others..   

Other benefits of joining Stats NZ include:

• Balance life and work commitments
• Develop and grow your career (coaching, training, study support, secondments)
• Contribute to meaningful work that makes a difference to all people in Aotearoa
• 3 extra annual leave days (taken during Christmas office closure)
• State of the art, 6-star green building in Wellington

The role | Te tūnga

The Principal Commercial Lead is a Permanent full-time role based in Wellington. This sits within the Commercial Arrangements Branch within the Technology, Operations, Commercial & Collections Group (TOCC). TOCC reports directly to the Chief Executive.   

This role is all about becoming the trusted advisor, proving the value of industry partners and driving change. You will need the ability to enlighten busy and pressured people to the benefits of industry and gain their approval to deliver substantive change. You will have access to your own direct reports, and a wider team, that have the capability to deliver technical excellence under your direction. As the programmes trusted advisor you will be accountable for commercial outcomes, costs/finance and the management of risk, probity, etc.   

In Commercial Arrangements we use our expertise to build strong relationships and uplift commercial and contractual capability to drive excellence within Stats NZ. Our goal is to be the gold standard of Government commercial practice.  

Reporting to the Head of Commercial Arrangements, you will be a leader in your field and oversee the broad commercial aspects of assigned programmes, projects and systems. You will lead a team of up to four professionals. You will be a commercial lead and business partner, and may have a formal role in the leadership structure of assigned programmes/projects.  

Commercial Arrangements operates a centralised model where you will have responsibility for both sourcing and the management of significant suppliers and contracts. You will be responsible for providing leadership and end-to-end commercial lifecycle management for programmes from ownership of the commercial cases,  the strategy and sourcing, to supplier performance management and vendor account management.  

You will be required to play a critical role in our ability to achieve our goals by creating and maintaining strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders. You will support business owners by producing strong sustainable contracts, owning contractual management and advice, driving both buyer and supplier performance and identifying opportunities to all. You will be responsible for leading the work with Stats NZ business owners, vendor managers and Stats Legal Counsel to resolve any contract-related issues that come up, whether internally or externally.   

We need someone with strong commercial acumen with the ability to prioritise thinking over process—someone with the ability to engage in the detail to enhance projects, while maintaining and supporting a programme approach. Our team needs someone to join us who:   

• A relevant tertiary (degree-level or higher) qualification in business, commerce, law or similar.  
• Minimum of fifteen years' work experience in a commercial role with proficiency in end-to-end aspects of the procurement lifecycle (including strategy, policy, sourcing, supplier relationship and contract management in large and complex environment).  
• A track record of delivery in a commercial lead role on strategic programmes.  
• High quality written and oral communication skills suitable for a varied audience in a corporate setting.  
• Experience using everyday office software including Microsoft suite of products (e.g., Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Intranet, online communications channels for meetings and chat, etc.  
• Competency or fluency in te reo Māori language or possess a willingness to develop knowledge and competence. (By 2040 Government aims to have 85% of its workers speaking te reo Māori).  
• Experience working with major suppliers and vendors, external stakeholders and customers in the public and private sectors.  
• Understanding, and practical application, of the Government Procurement Rules.  

What you bring | Nōu te rourou  

We understand transferable skills can come from experience gained from outside of work. We encourage you to be you in your application.

We are committed to diversity, equity, inclusion and lifting our cultural capability. You don't need to be knowledgeable in all these areas already, but you do need to be on board with learning and have a genuine interest and willingness to grow on this journey with us.

Tell us about yourself in your cover letter, what attracted you to this role, and what you would bring to Stats NZ.

How to apply | Me pēhea te tuku tono 

If this sounds like you, click on the Apply now button to be redirected to the application page on our careers site. The position description is located on the right-hand side of the page.

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 we need to make any specific accommodations during our process.

Please reach out to recruitment@stats.govt.nz  if you have any questions.

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.

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