Senior Project Manager – Social and Community Statistics | Kaiwhakahaere Kaupapa Matua - Christchurch or Wellington
Lead impactful projects that shape insights into New Zealand's diverse communities and help improve the wellbeing of Māori, disabled people, and other priority groups.
This two-year fixed-term position is ideally based in Wellington, though Christchurch may be considered for the right candidate.
The Social and Community Unit produces statistics about people's wellbeing and social conditions, with a focus on priority population groups (e.g. disabled people, Māori) and using concepts and frameworks that are relevant and useful for government, stakeholders, customers and the communities themselves. We work closely with others across Stats NZ to ensure that we provide a coherent picture of communities and how they live. Our key external stakeholders include: a range of government agencies, Iwi Māori, NGOs, community groups and other data users.
We have a regular statistical release programme alongside significant development work for updating/redesigning less frequent regular releases, designing new surveys or tailored solutions for communities such as data frameworks, building data capability or improving administrative data.
About Us | Ko mātou
Stats NZ | Tatauranga Aotearoa is a Central Government employer of 1200+ 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: $118,609 - $160,471 + superannuation
Other benefits of joining Stats NZ include:
Contribute to meaningful work that makes a difference to all people in Aotearoa
3 extra annual leave days (taken during Christmas office closure)
Balance life and work commitments.
The role | Te tūnga
The purpose for the role is to bring a strong project management capacity and capability to support the delivery of pieces of work that are significant, complex and above the scale of what can be handled within BAU without additional support. The successful candidate will have sound foundations in project management, whether that is supporting day to day running of the workstreams, experience in handling interdependencies across different units, be capable in supporting the delivery of key milestones, and actively supporting good decision making where trade-offs are required.
The Senior Project Manager will collaborate closely with the Unit Manager, Senior Analysts, and other team members to:
Lead preparations for the successful launch of the General Social Survey in 2026
Oversee the planning and development of the 2028 Te Kupenga (Māori wellbeing) Survey
Support the creation and implementation of a Disability Data Framework
Coordinate resources and manage interdependencies across the Unit's workstreams
Provide additional project management support to enable the effective delivery of the Unit's work programme.
What you bring | Nōu te rourou
We aim to match our people with mahi that complements their strengths and provides opportunities to learn and grow. We understand transferable skills can come from experience gained from outside of work. We encourage you to be you in your application. Tell us about yourself in your cover letter, tell us what attracted you to this role, and tell us what you would bring to Tatauranga Aotearoa Stats NZ.
We're looking for someone with the following:
Experience leading and delivering projects through all phases of the project lifecycle
Highly organised, with a strategic, pragmatic, and solutions-focused approach
Comfortable engaging with a wide range of stakeholders, including governance boards, and ideally Ministers or senior public sector leaders
Excellent relationship management and communication skills, with the ability to tailor messages for diverse audiences
Resilient and adaptable, with the ability to lead others through complexity and ambiguity
Enthusiastic about contributing to the Project Management Community of Practice and supporting continuous improvement
A demonstrated understanding of mātauranga Māori, use of te reo Māori, awareness of tikanga, and a commitment to applying Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles in a professional setting.
How to apply | Me pēhea te tuku tono
If this sounds like you, click on the Apply now button to be redirect to the application page on our careers site. The position description is located on the right-hand side of the page.
We are truly 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.
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.
