Work for us

This is an exciting time to join the Office of the Auditor-General. We're here to make a difference, and we have opportunities for you to further your career in an organisation uniquely placed to influence improvements throughout the public sector.

Principal Advisor, Security and Risk - 15 Month fixed term

Join our team as a Security and Risk Expert!

The Office of the Auditor-General | Te Mana Arotake (the Office) provides New Zealanders an independent view on public spending and performance. As the statutory auditor of all public organisations, we play a vital role in ensuring that New Zealand’s public sector remains one of the most trusted in the world.

As Principal Advisor, Security and Risk, your responsibilities will include overseeing the Office’s security, risk, and business continuity programmes. You will directly advise senior leaders and the Auditor-General, as well as lead risk and security awareness initiatives across the Office.

Why you should apply:

  • Collaboration: Work closely with senior leaders and staff to enhance and maintain the Office’s security and risk management.
  • Impact: As the Principal Advisor, Security and Risk, you’ll directly advise senior leaders and the Auditor-General, shaping critical decisions.
  • Leadership: Lead risk and security awareness initiative across the Office, making a difference every day.

What we’re looking for:

  • Experience: 5+ years’ experience working in a senior advisory position, with knowledge of all three areas of the government’s protective security requirements, and a focus on information security.
  • Education: a tertiary qualification in business, management, or a related field.
  • Expertise: a qualification or extensive training and experience relating to implementing risk management frameworks and standards.
  • Skills: experience developing and testing business continuity plans, along with strong written and oral communication skills.

Benefits we offer:

  • Learning and growth: Opportunities to expand your knowledge and skills.
  • Flexibility: Supportive, flexible working.
  • Well-being: Health benefits to support you in staying at your best.

What we stand for:

People matter | Our independence is critical | We act with integrity and courage | We’re here to make a difference.

Be part of our diverse and inclusive team that reflects contemporary New Zealand. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds. If you have specific support or access requirements, let us know – we’re here to assist you throughout the recruitment process.

For this role, you must be able to gain and maintain a Secret national security clearance. Ordinarily, this means that you must be a New Zealand citizen, a permanent resident, or hold a current residency class visa and intend to become a citizen when eligible. You must have a ten-year checkable background in New Zealand, the UK, the USA, Canada, or Australia.

For more information, please contact Sandy Hoggarth on 04 917 1500 or recruitment@oag.parliament.nz.

Apply online through jobs.govt.nz (you'll find the application form and position description there, too).

Applications close Monday 29 April 2024.

Performance Auditor

A job you never knew existed

Jobs with unmatched variety and intellectual stimulation are rare. Here’s your chance to join a respected and influential organisation focused on improving the performance of, and the public’s trust in, the public sector. If you’re passionate about making a difference alongside talented and committed colleagues, performance auditing at the Office of the Auditor-General could be a new career path for you.

Performance audits are not financial in nature – instead, they report on issues that are important to New Zealanders. Currently we are looking at a range of issues including climate change in local government, cyber security, immigration, and child poverty. You can read more about our work programme in our annual plan.

We currently have a vacancy for a 12-month fixed term or secondment as a Performance Auditor. In this role, you’ll be assisting others in the team to produce performance audits on behalf of the Controller and Auditor-General. From day to day, you could be carrying out fieldwork in different parts of the country, analysing large amounts of information, or interviewing people from a wide range of organisations, from frontline public servants to politicians. It’s a challenging and varied role that gives you a unique view of the public sector. 

If this sounds like the job for you, we’d love to hear from you, especially if you have a good understanding of te Tiriti o Waitangi and the machinery of government and have experience in supporting:

  • large research or evaluation projects in the public sector;
  • the development of public policy; or
  • significant government reviews or inquiries.

In your cover letter, please provide specific examples that show where you have:

  • analysed and evaluated information;
  • written coherently and concisely;
  • organised and managed your work; and
  • collaborated in a team.

This role is ideally suited to someone early in their public sector career with about three to five years’ relevant experience.

The Office is committed to a diverse workforce and an inclusive workplace, and we welcome applicants from all backgrounds. If you have any support or access requirements, we encourage you to tell us when you apply so that we can assist you through the recruitment process. 

You can also hear directly from our Performance Auditors about what they do and the work they’re involved in.

We offer our staff:

  • Learning and development opportunities.
  • Flexible working.
  • Health and well-being benefits.
  • A unique operating environment with Parliament.

For more information about this role, please contact recruitment@oag.parliament.nz.

You must apply online through jobs.govt.nz (you'll find the application form and position descriptions there, too).

Applications close Sunday 28 April 2024.

Senior Advisor – Good Practice and Policy

The Office of the Auditor-General | Te Mana Arotake (the Office) aims to improve trust and confidence in the public sector. The Auditor-General is the statutory auditor of all public organisations, playing a major part in ensuring that New Zealand’s public sector remains one of the most trusted in the world. No other organisation, public or private, has the overview of the whole public sector that the Office of the Auditor-General has.

We’re looking for an experienced advisor who wants to develop their public sector experience and step up to the next level in their career. This is a unique opportunity to build your understanding of the machinery of government and play an impactful role in improving public sector capability and public accountability.

As Senior Advisor – Good Practice and Policy, you’ll focus on understanding and sharing good practice, be part of our work programme on integrity in the public sector, and engage in discussions on improving public accountability.

In this role, you’ll be responsible for:

  • participating in, or leading, projects and initiatives as part of the Office’s work programme;
  • helping to develop, promote, and maintain the Office’s good practice guides, working with subject-matter experts across the Office;
  • helping to develop the Office’s position on government proposals related to our mandate, and co-ordinating input from across the Office on key government consultations and submissions; and
  • developing an understanding of the strategic and operational business challenges and opportunities in the Office.

To be successful in this role, you’ll need:

  • a tertiary qualification, ideally in a relevant subject (for example, public policy, law, or equivalent specialist knowledge);
  • outstanding verbal and written communication skills and an eye for detail;
  • proven experience in researching topics and synthesising information to produce material that clearly explains key ideas and issues;
  • a good understanding of the parliamentary and public sector environment, including public accountability and integrity; and
  • well-developed analytical skills, critical thinking, and judgement.

As an organisation, people matter to us, our independence is critical, we act with integrity and courage, and we’re here to make a difference.

We have a diverse and inclusive team that helps us to understand the issues facing the public sector and how these affect the lives of New Zealanders. We strongly welcome applicants from all backgrounds. If you have any support or access requirements, we encourage you to tell us when you apply so that we can assist you through the recruitment process. 

The variety, skills, and networking opportunities we offer will be of immense value to any professional seeking their next step up in the public sector. We offer our staff:

  • Learning and development opportunities.
  • Supportive, flexible working.
  • Health and well-being benefits.
  • A unique operating environment with Parliament.

You must be able to gain and maintain a Confidential national security clearance. Ordinarily, this means that you must be a New Zealand citizen, be a permanent resident, or hold a current residency class visa and intend to become a citizen when eligible. You must have a five-year checkable background in New Zealand, the UK, the USA, Canada, or Australia. Use this online tool to self-check your eligibility for a security clearance: www.protectivesecurity.govt.nz/eligibility-tool. (Please note that this tool is not part of the formal security clearance process.)

We’re also open to this opportunity being fixed term or secondment.

For more information, please contact Sandy Hoggarth at recruitment@oag.parliament.nz.

You must apply online through jobs.govt.nz (you'll find the application form and position description there, too). 

Please note that applications will be reviewed as they are received, and this job vacancy may end before the closing date. 

Applications close Sunday 21 April 2024.

  1. We usually ask candidates to apply through the jobs.govt.nz website. We'll use the information you provide through that site to help us consider your suitability for the position you've applied for. (If your application is successful, we'll put this information on your personnel file. You can ask to see the information in that file, and to seek any correction you think necessary to ensure accuracy.)
  2. If the advertised position doesn't include a link to the jobs.govt.nz website, please email your curriculum vitae and a covering letter to the Advisor, Talent and Recruitment.
  3. Many positions in Audit New Zealand and the Office of the Auditor-General require you to have a satisfactory security clearance. Therefore, any offer of employment might be conditional on a satisfactory security clearance.
  4. If we proceed with your application, we'll ask for the details we need for your security clearance and details of any criminal convictions.
  5. Please note that if you've given incorrect or misleading information, or have left out any important information or fail to obtain a security clearance, you may be disqualified from appointment. If you've already been appointed, your employment may be immediately terminated.
  6. If your application is successful, we'll need to see:
    • certificates of your educational qualifications;
    • if applicable, evidence of your New Zealand Citizenship, residency, or work permit.
  7. All employees of the Controller and Auditor-General must be independent of the organisations we audit. Accordingly, as an employee you will be required to complete an independence declaration. This declaration includes the disclosure of a financial interest of you (or a family member) in an audited organisation, or a personal relationship with a member of that organisation’s executive or staff.
  8. If your disclosure reveals an existing or potential problem you won't be assigned to any project where your independence as an employee could be compromised, or where a conflict of interest situation might arise. At the extreme end of the spectrum, you might be asked to divest yourself of any investments in an organisation under audit.

What we stand for: People matter | Our independence is critical | We act with integrity and courage | We’re here to make a difference

Page last updated: 15 April 2024