About Us
What is the most important thing in the world, it is people, it is people, it is people
He aha te mea nui o tenei ao? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata.
WorkSafe New Zealand/ Mahi Haumaru Aotearoa, is the primary workplace health and safety regulator - our vision is that everyone who goes to mahi (work) comes home healthy and safe. Our kaimahi (employees) are passionate about our vision and embrace and demonstrate our Matapono WorkSafe Values through the mahi they do:
- Whakakotahi - we're united in a strong purpose
- Korero mai - we engage meaningfully
- Tiakina mai - we're entrusted with a duty of care.
We offer a range of benefits including:
- Free life insurance
- Discounts on health insurance and eye care
- Five weeks annual leave
- 15 days sick leave and
- Learning and professional development opportunities
There are a growing number of employee led networks to promote the goals and needs of our diverse communities, such as our Rainbow Network, Pacific Network, Women's Network, and Tu Rangatira Maori Network.
About your team / Ko te tima
The Hazardous Substances Authorisations team carries out a variety of certification and authorisation functions in the area of hazardous substances to support compliance with workplace health and safety regulations.
We are flexible in the location of this role, most of the team is Wellington-based and sees plenty of variety and encounters challenging topics daily. We work closely with industry and other experts, as well as with key WorkSafe teams including legal and policy.
About the role / O te turanga
The Principal Advisor Hazardous Substances Authorisations plays a key leadership role within WorkSafe Mahi Haumaru, bringing deep expertise in hazardous substances authorisations and exemptions. They work closely with their People Leader and colleagues to ensure authorisation processes are effective, consistent, and aligned with legislative responsibilities. This includes overseeing the coordination of authorisation activities across various industries, implementing recommendations from recent reviews, and ensuring robust systems are in place to manage authorisations throughout their lifecycle.
In addition to providing subject-matter expertise, the Principal Advisor is responsible for enhancing team capability, refining procedures, and supporting the development of a new online processing system. Their work is critical to maintaining best practice in hazardous substances management and mitigating organisational risk. Through collaboration and strategic oversight, they contribute to continuous improvement and ensure WorkSafe's authorisation functions are fit for purpose and future-ready.
What You'll Do/ Ko tou ake mahi
- Providing strategic advice and support to the Manager Hazardous Substances Authorisations and the Head Authorisations and Advisory on the effective management of authorisations.
- Co-ordinating hazardous substances authorisations and exemptions activity that occurs across various teams within the organisation, while contributing to the development of internal policies and procedures.
- Building capacity and knowledge for kaimahi involved in processing hazardous substances authorisations and exemptions through tailored training and support and supporting the development of material used to train others and assist in the presentation of this material.
- Implementing recommendations as outlined in the Authorisations Process Review -Recommendations for Improvement report.
- Working with relevant internal and external stakeholders to ensure effective authorisation monitoring processes are in place and ensuring effective oversight of, and working relationships with, third party authorising agencies
- Providing support to the Inspectorate for the ongoing monitoring of specific authorisations.
- Preparing, and contributing to, any briefing papers or reports required for the
Minister's Office or for internal requests.
What You'll Bring / Ko nga pukenga ou
- A sound working knowledge of relevant Health and Safety legislation and its application in a regulatory environment.
- experience and an expert level of knowledge of the regulations that apply to the specific areas of responsibility (i.e. hazardous substances authorisations).
- Demonstrated ability to consistently make sound and pragmatic decisions on compliance with legal requirements and the ability to effectively assess and manage short and long term risk for the organisation.
- Demonstrated success in developing relationships with customers and stakeholders.
- Ability to maintain accurate information and to provide informative reports to management on a regular and ad hoc basis and experience to ensure systems and processes are in place to enable appropriate information management for monitoring and reporting purposes.
With your food basket and my food basket the people will thrive.
Nau te rourou, naku te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi.
Salary range / Awhe utu
As part of our remuneration framework the full salary range for the position is from $129,038 to $170,159, and our expected starting base salary for the right person is from $129,038 to $142,745. Note: KiwiSaver/SSRSS employer contribution is additional too/on top of your base salary.
How to apply / Me pehea te tono -
Click the apply link, complete an application form and submit a copy of your CV and cover letter.
For further information please contact [email protected] with any queries, or to find out more about working for us, go to Careers | WorkSafe.
WorkSafe Mahi Haumaru is an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and welcome and encourage applicants from all walks of life. We value the experience your point of difference could bring to us.
Please let us know if there is any support we can provide to ensure the recruitment process is accessible to you. We look forward to reviewing your application and getting to know more about you.
Applications close on Sunday 14 September 2025
