Wellington based
Competitive salary c. $170-210,000 per annum
I'm proud to partner with this values‑led organisation, seeking an experienced Head of People & Culture to lead and strengthen their people capability, systems and leadership for the long term.
This role offers a rare opportunity to build the maturity and impact of a People & Culture function, balancing hands‑on operational leadership with thoughtful, sequenced organisational development.
The Opportunity
Reporting to a senior executive leader, you will lead a small People & Culture team and act as a trusted advisor to the Senior Leadership Team. Your mandate is to ensure the organisation is well supported today, while progressively strengthening leadership, culture, capability and performance over time.
This is a role for someone who thinks long‑term, understands operational realities, and knows how to deliver change that sticks.
Key Responsibilities
Building capability and resilience
- Lead and shape a fit‑for‑purpose People & Culture function with clear roles, priorities and ways of working
- Strengthen core people systems and practices including performance, training, employee relations, remuneration and payroll
- Sequence and embed change pragmatically to lift people capability, leadership and culture over time
Performance, capability and workforce development
- Own and continuously improve the enterprise performance framework, including role clarity, KPIs and annual cycles
- Design and embed practical training, development and capability frameworks aligned to business priorities
- Establish effective workforce planning, talent and succession approaches, with a focus on managing critical role risk
Leadership, culture and engagement
- Partner with senior leaders to translate values and behaviours into clear, observable expectations
- Lift leadership and management capability through coaching, development frameworks and targeted interventions
- Support the consistent embedding of values, performance and recognition, and evaluate impact through engagement tools
Operational stewardship, ER and governance
- Provide enterprise‑wide oversight of People & Culture operations across the employee lifecycle
- Act as escalation point for complex employee relations, people risk and change matters
- Own remuneration and reward frameworks, including pay equity and governance of annual review cycles
- Ensure robust employment law compliance, payroll governance and data integrity
Partnering and leadership
- Act as a trusted coach and advisor to senior leaders across people, change and performance matters
- Lead and develop the People & Culture team, contributing operationally when required while maintaining strategic focus
What you’ll bring
- Strong professional judgement, integrity and commercial awareness
- Credible, hands‑on leadership style, comfortable leading in a small or lean team
- Deep generalist People & Culture/HR capability across the full employee lifecycle
- Proven experience leading organisation development, culture and leadership initiatives
- Strong employment relations expertise and sound knowledge of New Zealand employment legislation
- Ability to translate complex people matters into clear, practical and actionable advice
- Resilience, ownership and the ability to manage competing priorities in a dynamic environment
Why consider this role?
This is a high‑impact leadership role for an experienced People & Culture professional who enjoys balancing strategy with real‑world delivery, values credibility and pragmatism, and wants to shape an organisation’s culture and capability for the future.
For a confidential kōrero and a copy of the position description, please contact:
Kirsty Clarke - Manager, HR & Executive Search at Beyond Recruitment at kirsty.clarke@beyond.co.nz
OR CLICK THE APPLY NOW BUTTON - deadline for applications is 5pm, Friday 15th May 2026
Please note: you will need existing right to work in New Zealand in order to be eligible for this role.
