Vacancies

Following Cyclone Gabrielle, Hawke’s Bay has committed to fundamental change in how we prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies. Communities, mana whenua, councils, and partners rightly expect a system that works when it matters most.

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.

This role exists to provide confidence that the regional system is high-performing and ready for the challenges ahead. The role focuses on understanding risk, vulnerability, capability, and performance across councils, agencies, and shared arrangements.

As the Principal Advisor Assurance, you will be the architect of a new region-wide performance and assurance system. Reporting directly to the Director, you will provide the oversight necessary to advise the Joint Committee and Executive Leadership on where the regional system is strong, and where further effort is required to ensure excellence across five councils and multiple partner agencies.

This is a strategic leadership role where you will:

• Develop and implement a structured, region-wide performance system to measure the readiness and effectiveness of all CDEM capabilities.
• Identify critical gaps across reduction, readiness, response, and recovery, while driving regional levels of service so all communities are well supported.
• Evaluate regional vulnerabilities and response capabilities to ensure the emergency management system remains adaptable, resilient, and aligned with national expectations.
• Provide objective, high-level reporting to the Coordinating Executive Group and the Joint Committee to support transparent decision-making and continuous improvement.

Application close date: Wednesday 8th April 2026

View the job description and apply on the Hawke's Bay Regional Council website

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.

Application close date: Thursday 9th April 2026

View the job description and apply on the Hawke's Bay Regional Council website

We are looking for a Principal Advisor - Māori Partnerships to join the Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management (HBCDEM) team. Working closely with the Team Leader – Community Resilience, this role ensures that Māori perspectives are meaningfully embedded across all aspects of Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management, including planning, policy, and operational decision-making. The role provides strategic, system-level advice and cultural leadership across CDEM by ensuring engagement practices uphold the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. reflect a strong Māori worldview, and strengthen relationships between Māori communities, local authorities, and emergency management organisations to foster mutual understanding and equitable participation.

The role supports Māori-led approaches to resilience, including enabling marae, whānau, hapū, and iwi to lead and participate in emergency preparedness, response, and recovery. This includes contributing to, and where required leading, Māori Partnerships functions within emergency response structures.

This role involves:

• Travel within the region and occasional travel elsewhere in Aotearoa New Zealand.
• Participating in the 24/7 duty team roster and performing emergency response and recovery functions as necessary during emergencies.

Application close date: Friday 17 April 2026

View the job description and apply on the Hawke's Bay Regional Council website

We are looking for a Team Leader - Planning to join the Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management (HB CDEM) team. This role is responsible for coordinating regional emergency management planning across Hawke’s Bay, ensuring all plans are risk-informed, community-driven, and aligned with national frameworks such as the National Disaster Resilience Strategy. You will oversee the development and integration of the Group Plan, hazard-specific and consequence-based contingency plans, and other strategic documents. As the team leader, you will guide a small team and collaborate closely with councils, iwi, emergency services, government agencies, and communities to deliver inclusive, evidence-based, and operationally practical planning.

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 performing emergency response and recovery functions as necessary during emergencies.

Application close date: Friday 17 April 2026

View the job description and apply on the Hawke's Bay Regional Council website

We are looking for a Transformation Manager to join the Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management (HBCDEM) team on a full time, fixed term basis (up to 12 months). Working closely with the Director Emergency Management, councils, mana whenua, and partner agencies, this role will lead and coordinate the implementation of the Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management Transformation Strategy, driving delivery of agreed changes across the regional emergency management system.

This includes supporting the shift to a locally led, regionally coordinated operating model and embedding the Service Level Agreement (SLA) across the region, ensuring agreed roles, responsibilities, and service levels are understood and consistently applied. The role focuses on maintaining momentum across the transformation programme, working with councils and partners to resolve barriers, align approaches, and ensure changes are embedded in practice

This role is focused on delivering system-wide change to strengthen community resilience and enhance emergency management capability across the region, operating in a complex, multi-organisational environment where alignment, consistency, and sustained adoption are critical to success.

This role requires a strong background in change management, programme delivery, and stakeholder engagement, with the ability to translate strategic intent into practical, coordinated action across multiple organisations.

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 performing emergency response and recovery functions as necessary during emergencies.

Application close date: Friday 17 April 2026

View the job description and apply on the Hawke's Bay Regional Council website

We are looking for a Principal Advisor Intelligence to join the Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management (HBCDEM) team, and lead the regional intelligence capability that delivers high-quality situational awareness, forecasting, and analysis to support effective decision-making at local and regional levels. This role is responsible for integrating information from multiple sources to identify emerging risks, anticipate impacts, and provide clear, evidence-based insights across all areas of emergency management. Working closely with councils, mana whenua, emergency services, and HBRC’s ICT and GIS teams, you will ensure that intelligence processes and information flows are coordinated, resilient, and aligned with national standards.

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 performing emergency response and recovery functions as necessary during emergencies.

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

Application close date: Friday 17 April 2026

View the job description and apply on the Hawke's Bay Regional Council website