- Lead a highly engaged team shaping the future of emergency management in the Greater Wellington region
- Collaborate to drive strategic resilience across nine councils, empowering connected and prepared communities
- Wellington based
The Wellington Region Emergency Management Office (WREMO) is seeking a visionary and strategic senior leader to step into the role of Regional Manager. This is a career-defining opportunity to influence and enhance how our region prepares for, responds to, and recovers from natural and human-made emergencies.
WREMO operates as a semi-autonomous unit within Greater Wellington Regional Council (Greater Wellington) and coordinates the Civil Defence Emergency Management across nine councils. WREMO is entrusted with delivering on the vision set by its stakeholder councils: a resilient community that is ready, capable and connected.
About the role:
As Regional Manager, you will lead a team of experienced professionals across three core functions—Community Resilience and Recovery, Operational Readiness and Response, and Business & Development. Your ability to foster collaboration, inspire performance, and drive continuous improvement will be essential to ensuring the region remains prepared and adaptable in a changing risk environment.
This senior leadership role requires strong political and strategic insight, stakeholder management expertise, and outstanding communication skills. You will work closely with Chief Executives, elected members, iwi, emergency services, and national partners like NEMA, FENZ and others. During emergency events, you will serve as “the voice”, and ensure recovery and response operations are coordinated and effective.
Skills and experience required:
We are seeking a visionary leader with:
- A demonstrated ability to provide inspiring and courageous leadership, bringing together a high performing leadership team that delivers successfully.
- Significant experience (5-10 years) in leadership roles in a complex organisation, and in a context where influencing a Board or Council and sound political awareness is critical to success.
- An understanding of the emergency management and response landscape, particularly at leadership levels.
- Strong Communication & Relationship-Building Abilities: A talent for working collaboratively with senior leaders, council members, and stakeholders to deliver the desired outcomes.
- Experience in leading collaboratively to co-create strategy and translating that into implementation and delivery through others.
- A Commitment to Health, Safety, and Wellbeing: Ensuring that WREMO’s workplace is a safe, supportive, and thriving environment.
What we offer:
- Work to suit your life and whānau with our flexible working policy.
- We’ll encourage you to grow and prosper with a range of learning and development opportunities, internal secondments and career progression.
- Your wellbeing is our priority – we’ll provide medical and trauma insurance, support through our employee assistance programme or Manawa Ora providers, generous annual and sick leave, along with Tangihanga leave and support.
- We want you to have a sense of belonging, where you can reflect your personal and cultural identity in the way that you work.
- Social clubs, staff networks and a friendly and inclusive culture.
- Great working environments across our beautiful region.
Come help treasure and grow our rohe together:
Our rohe and its lands, waterways, animals, plants and people can only grow stronger if they are nurtured.
To join our wider Greater Wellington team is to step up and commit to playing an active part in this important mahi. That means restoring nature, connecting people and places, reducing environmental impacts, and helping this rohe and its people prosper.
We are committed to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and support mana whenua as Kaitiaki. We’re also part of a collective movement alongside our community members whose hopes for the future of this region are just as high as your own.
Our efforts across environmental management, public transport, flood protection, regional parks and water supply are interconnected and integral to treasuring our rohe and growing our future.
How to apply:
Greater Wellington and WREMO are proud to be a member of Diversity Works. We value diversity and are committed to an inclusive, flexible, and supportive workplace. We encourage candidates from all backgrounds and welcome the unique talent and experience you will bring to our team.
We are passionate about ensuring our recruitment processes are fair and equitable. Please let us know if you have any accessibility needs or adjustments that need to be made so we can offer a recruitment process that is more accessible to you.
This recruitment is being managed by our partners at SWR Group on Greater Wellington/WREMO’s behalf. To apply for this role, please send your CV and covering letter to graeme@swr.nz or tony@swr.nz quoting reference no. 3918042.
Alternatively, to find out more contact Graeme Sandri on 029 248 8502 or Tony Walsh on 029 271 1101.
Applications close: 5.00pm, Tuesday, 10th June 2025.
However, we will be shortlisting applications as they come in and will interview as soon as possible to secure the right person.
