Programme Manager - Growth and Development Improvement Plan

He kōrero mō mātou | About Watercare

Ki te ora te wai, ka ora te whenua, ka ora te tangata
When the water is healthy, the land and the people are healthy

Now is an exciting time to join Watercare, we're planning to spend $14 billion over the next 10 years to ensure we can continue to support our growing city in a climate-resilient way. When you average that out, that's an investment of $3.8 million every day!

He whakamārama mō te tūranga mahi | About the role

This is a rare opportunity for an experienced improvement and stakeholder leader to lead our Growth and Development Improvement Programme on a two-year fixed-term contract, based in Newmarket.

This high-profile, role sits at the centre of Watercare's relationships with Auckland's development sector. Working closely with developers, council representatives, iwi, industry partners and internal teams, you will help shape and deliver improvements that strengthen trust, enhance collaboration, and improve how Watercare supports Auckland's growth.

Combining strategic thinking, stakeholder engagement and programme leadership, you will identify barriers, uncover opportunities for improvement, and bring together diverse stakeholders to deliver meaningful, lasting change. You will lead multiple workstreams focused on improving customer experience, governance, processes, communication, and organisational capability across Watercare's growth and development functions.

Success in this role will require exceptional relationship-building skills, strong commercial and strategic thinking, and the ability to navigate complex environments where outcomes depend on influence, collaboration and shared ownership.

This is an opportunity to make a lasting impact on how Watercare partners with Auckland's development community and enables sustainable growth for the region.

Key responsibilities include:

• Lead the planning, governance and delivery of the Growth and Development Improvement Programme
• Build strong, trusted relationships with developers, industry stakeholders, Auckland Council, iwi and strategic partners
• Understand the end-to-end developer experience and identify opportunities to improve processes, communication and outcomes
• Lead engagement initiatives that strengthen collaboration between Watercare and the development sector
• Facilitate conversations across technical, operational, commercial and customer-facing teams to align priorities and solutions
• Drive multiple improvement workstreams from concept through to implementation

Ngā pūkenga e rapu nei mātou | About you

You are highly collaborative and skilled at building connections. You can engage confidently with developers, understand complex challenges, identify opportunities for improvement and bring people together to turn ideas into action.

You may have built your career in programme leadership, stakeholder engagement, strategic communications, business transformation, urban development, infrastructure strategy, customer experience or a related field. What matters most is your ability to build trust, influence outcomes, and deliver meaningful improvements in complex environments.

You are comfortable operating at both a strategic and operational level, working with senior leaders, technical specialists and external stakeholders to create alignment and deliver results.

Your skills and experience include:

• Significant experience in programme leadership, stakeholder engagement, communications, strategy, transformation or a related discipline
• Exceptional relationship-building skills and the ability to establish credibility with a diverse range of stakeholders
• Experience working with developers, infrastructure providers, local government, planning, property or growth-related sectors
• Strong facilitation and influencing skills, with the ability to bring people together around shared objectives
• The ability to work comfortably within technical environments and engage confidently with engineers, planners, developers and subject matter experts

Ideally, you will also bring:

• Experience within the water, wastewater, utilities, or infrastructure sectors
• Experience in the growth related service delivery
• Experience managing high-value programmes
• Professional programme management certification (PgMP, MSP or equivalent)
• Experience working with local government, developers, iwi, and community stakeholders

Ngā hua mōu | What's in it for you

We offer a competitive salary and staff benefits package including:
• Training and development opportunities
• Employee discounts at a range of large retailers

Me pēhea te tono mai | How to Apply

Come and join our team! If you are looking for an exciting career opportunity with a fantastic team then please apply online today - careers.watercare.co.nz.