Team Leader Community Resilience - Hawke's Bay CDEM

Published: 10 March 2026

Te whakapakari tahi i tō tātau Taiao – Enhancing our environment together.

Our vision is a healthy environment and a resilient and prosperous community.

About the Opportunity | Ko te āheinga

Following Cyclone Gabrielle, Hawke’s Bay is reshaping how it builds resilience to a wide range of shocks and stressors, including natural hazards, climate impacts, and infrastructure disruption. This transformation includes strengthening the resilience of communities, organisations, and systems that are critical to the wellbeing of the region.

With our community at the heart of our civil defence system, our mission is to build strong connections, empower local voices, and enhance collaboration across the region to create a safe, informed, and resilient Hawke’s Bay that is prepared for, responds to, and recovers from emergencies and disasters well.

Hawke’s Bay Emergency Management operates as a shared regional service on behalf of the region’s councils. We take a strategic, evidence-led approach to resilience that focuses on where effort will have the greatest impact, particularly for communities, sectors, and systems that are most at risk.

As the Team Leader Community Resilience, this role moves beyond relationship management. It focuses on understanding risk, vulnerability, and behaviour at a regional scale, and designing approaches that influence preparedness, self-reliance, and adaptive capacity over time. You will set the strategic direction for community resilience and align councils, agencies, iwi, and partners around shared priorities and consistent approaches.

This is a strategic leadership role where you will:

• Lead the development of a regional resilience strategy that looks beyond local outreach to address systemic vulnerabilities across at-risk sectors.
• Design and implement behavioural change initiatives that influence how communities and organisations prepare for, and adapt to, emergencies.
• Collaborate with iwi, councils, and partner agencies to ensure a coordinated regional approach that amplifies resilience efforts without duplication.
• Drive the "Community Connections" area of focus, supporting a rebalanced system where strong local capability is underpinned by a resilient regional backbone.
• Fulfil the statutory responsibility of the CDEM Group Welfare Manager, ensuring regional welfare services arrangements are aligned and operationally ready.

This role also involves:

• Travel within the region and occasional travel elsewhere in Aotearoa New Zealand
• Participating in the 24/7 duty team roster and supporting emergency response and recovery activities when required

This is a full time, permanent opportunity based in Hastings, Hawke’s Bay.

About You | E pā ana ki a koe

We are seeking a strategic systems leader who understands how communities, organisations, and systems respond to disruption. You will have a strong interest in how societies function under pressure and a proven ability to influence community behaviours at scale.

To be successful in this role, you will demonstrate:

• Experience developing or leading strategic resilience, preparedness, or risk-based programmes across multiple organisations or sectors
• The ability to understand communities at a macro level to identify trends, gaps, adaptive capacity, and opportunities for targeted regional intervention. 
• A track record of working across agencies and sectors to achieve shared outcomes and amplify collective impact.
• Experience in public education or social change programmes designed that drive measurable shifts in behaviour.
• A sound understanding of Tikanga Māori and a commitment to working in partnership with mana whenua to strengthen regional resilience.

A relevant tertiary qualification in emergency management, public policy, social sciences, or a related field is expected, along with a full New Zealand driver licence.

What we offer | Nga huanga mōu:

The salary range for this role is between $113,305 to $133,300 and will depend on the qualifications and experience of the successful candidate.

Other benefits of working for our team include:

• Flexible working options to support work/life balance
• 5 weeks annual leave after 3 years
• 4% superannuation after 3 years
• Life insurance and income protection
• Subsidised eye tests and lenses, flu vaccinations, and other well-being initiatives
• Strong commitment to developing and upskilling people within a supportive working environment.

See a full list of our staff benefits here 

As an equal opportunity employer, we are dedicated to creating a welcoming and inclusive environment. We recognise that collaborative and innovative organisations depend on having a workforce made up from a diverse range of perspectives and experiences. We're all about excellence, and we encourage open communication – if you need any specific support, just let us know! Our main goal is to empower each person to share their unique talents to contribute to the outcomes for our community. This commitment ensures that our workplace is a dynamic and progressive space where everyone can flourish.

HBRC is responsible for Civil Defence emergencies and as such, all staff may be called upon to support the response.

How to apply | I pēhea ki te whakauru:

Applications close Thursday, 9 April 2026, however we will be shortlisting and interviewing appropriate candidates as applications are received. If you are interested in this position, please do not wait to apply as we may close the ad earlier than advertised.

Please apply through Seek. If you would like any further information regarding the role, please email hr@hbrc.govt.nz 

To view the job description please click here. 

Applicants must have existing rights to work in New Zealand.

About us | E pā ki a mātou:

At Hawke’s Bay Regional Council our purpose is to work with our community to protect and manage the region’s precious taonga of rivers, lakes, soils, air, coast and biodiversity for health, wellbeing and connectivity. Our organisation is diverse and our work is varied. Our structure comprises of six key business units; Corporate Services, Integrated Catchment Management, Asset Management, Māori Partnerships, Policy & Regulation, and the Executive Advisory Group which also consists of the Civil Defence and Emergency Management.

We focus on prioritising:

Te kounga o te wai, te haumarutanga me te mārohirohi ā-āhuarangi o te whakamarutanga | Water quality, safety and climate-resilient security.  

Kia koi, kia toitū hoki te whakamahinga o te whenua | Climate-smart and sustainable land use. 

Kia ora, kia āhei, kia mārohirohi ā-āhuarangi hoki te rerenga rauropi | Healthy, functioning and climate-resilient biodiversity. 

Kia toitū, kia mārohirohi ā-āhuarangi hoki ngā ratonga me ngā hanganga ā-whare | Sustainable and climate-resilient services and infrastructure. 

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