Dietitian at Health New Zealand - Te Whatu Ora Waikato, Waikato

Mō tēnei tūranga mahi | About this role

• Dietitian - Nutrition & Food Services
• Permanent, Full time position (80 hours a fortnight)
• This is an exciting opportunity for a Dietitian with strong interest in nutrition and high quality food service to join our dynamic, collaborative, Dietitian led team at Waikato Hospital.

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is firmly grounded in the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and is committed to building a health system that serves all New Zealanders.

About the Role

This role focuses on applying your professional expertise to lead and manage our food safety, nutrition, quality and training programmes, ensuring compliance with legislative and external standards. You will broaden your technical knowledge and practical skills by working closely with professionals from a wide range background and industries to assure safe, nutritious and high-quality food service delivery.

This position also offers an excellent opportunity to further develop your leadership, collaborative, problem-solving and teaching skills within a supportive, multidisciplinary team environment. The role encourages active participation in quality improvement initiatives and project work, staff development, and operational decision-making, enabling the successful candidate to build confidence as a leader while positively influencing patient care and service outcomes.

Click here to view the position description.

About the Team/Service/Location

Nutrition & Food Services is committed to delivering a safe, high-quality and efficient food service that meets the nutritional needs of individuals and supports their overall health and wellbeing.

Each mealtime, our team prepares and serves more than 850 patient meals. In addition to inpatient services, we also operate a Meals on Wheels program for community clients and manage five on-site retail food outlets.

Our patient meal service encompasses the full process of food production, service and distribution directly to the patient bedside. A dedicated team of managers, dietitians and food service staff work collaboratively to ensure patients receive a high-quality nutrition service, underpinned by excellence in customer service.

Hamilton, where Waikato Hospital is located is a growing riverside city offering a relaxed pace of life, supported by a strong community spirit and a vibrant local food and cultural scene. With nature and outdoor adventures right on your doorstep, Hamilton is very central to many other beautiful destinations such as Raglan, Coromandel, Tauranga, Rotorua, and Taupo.

About you

To succeed in this role, you will:

• Be a New Zealand Registered Dietitian
• Be a newly qualified dietitian looking to build experience in food service and quality systems or an experienced dietitian with an interest or background in food service management within a healthcare setting
• Demonstrate strong knowledge of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and apply its principles in practice
• Be able to manage complex priorities in a dynamic health service environment
• Have attention to detail, objective, logical, critical thinking and sound decision making

Working at Health New Zealand

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is dedicated to ensuring excellent healthcare for the people of New Zealand. We embrace a workforce that is diverse and inclusive so that we are better positioned to understand and service our community. We welcome applications from our diverse Māori, Pacific, disabled, and rainbow communities.

How to Apply

To apply please click Apply online or apply via our Waikato Careers website by clicking here.

All applications must be submitted through our online careers portal before 11:59 pm on 12 February 2026. If you have any questions about the role, please contact Shivani Kulkarni at Shivani.Kulkarni@TeWhatuOra.govt.nz.

We will review applications as received and may proceed with the recruitment process, before the closing date of this advert.