Chief People and Assurance Officer

THE OPPORTUNITY

A meaningful and exceptional, career-defining opportunity awaits you to:

• Lead and shape Kāinga Ora’s people, culture, assurance, and communications strategies.
• Champion organisational transformation and change, enabling high performance.
• Deliver meaningful social and commercial outcomes for New Zealand communities.

KĀINGA ORA – HOMES AND COMMUNITIES

Kāinga Ora is one of New Zealand’s most high-profile Crown entities.  It has a portfolio of 77,000 homes across the country that meets the needs of more than 200,000 New Zealanders. Through partnerships with government agencies, local councils, iwi, and private sector organisations, it creates warm, dry, and healthy homes that help people build stable lives. Following a Cabinet approved Reset Plan, and strengthened governance and leadership capability, Kāinga Ora is entering an exciting new phase of transformation and performance.

THE ROLE

Reporting to the Chief Executive, the Chief People and Assurance Officer leads a multi-functional group responsible for people and culture, risk and assurance, communications, engagement, and marketing. The role ensures Kāinga Ora has the talent, leadership, and organisational health required to deliver on its strategic goals by driving enterprise-wide change, leading strategic workforce planning, and overseeing internal governance and external stakeholder engagement. The role also includes shaping and delivering integrated communications strategies that enhance Kāinga Ora’s reputation and relationships across government, iwi, communities, and employees.

THE CANDIDATE

You are a seasoned executive with extensive experience leading multi-functional teams to drive transformational change and organisational performance through a commercial lens. You bring a collaborative leadership style, resilience, and strategic insight that enables you to succeed in large scale complex environments, including the public sector. With strong interpersonal and stakeholder engagement skills, you are adept at building trusted relationships across government, iwi, and community partners. You are passionate about enabling high-performing cultures, aligning people strategies with business outcomes, and ensuring assurance and communications functions support enterprise success.

HOW TO APPLY

The closing date for applications is Friday, 28th November 2025. The reference number to include in your application is H25_5300.