Working at the Ministry

The work of the Ministry for the Environment touches the lives of all New Zealanders. Focused on developing and delivering sustainable solutions on environmental issues, our work reaches across New Zealand from the places where people live and work, to the natural world.

Most Ministry for the Environment staff are “policy advisers”, whose main roles are giving advice to the Government on environmental issues and implementing Government decisions. Our policy staff come from a wide range of professional, technical and scientific backgrounds, including resource management, law, engineering, and science. Many of our people have previously worked in local government, the private sector, or other central government agencies. Though experience in environmental policy is useful, we welcome applications from people with wide policy experience or proposals for secondments.

The Ministry also employs a range of professional and support staff in areas such as communications, information management, human resources, finance and business support.

At the Ministry for the Environment we positively encourage a healthy work life balance for all our people. Our new purpose-built Head Office in Wellington is complete with an integrated recycling system, state-of-the-art air conditioning system and an in-house early childhood centre. Working for us, you'll also be able to enjoy a great social scene, lunch time yoga, sporting challenges, positive and friendly colleagues, excellent proximity to transport hubs and panoramic harbour views. As well as reading information about the position, we suggest you read our general introduction to working at the Ministry below.

Working at the Ministry for the Environment

Working for the Ministry for the Environment you'll see more computer screens than fresh water streams, more meeting rooms than forest floors. But you'll still learn a great deal about the environment, from research data and from the experiences and perceptions of people inside and outside here.

In the short time that humans have been in New Zealand, we have dramatically changed the natural environment through activities such as clearing forests, draining wetlands, introducing new plants and animals, and generating pollution. As our numbers and consumption levels have grown, the pressures on the natural environment have soared. Governments around the world now recognise that we must all learn to live within the capacity of the environment to sustain itself. As a nation, New Zealand is formally committed to environmental sustainability.

Our role

The role of the Ministry for the Environment is to provide the Government with the information and advice it needs to decide on the action necessary to improve environmental management. We know that we don't have all the answers, and, indeed, there is seldom consensus on environmental issues, so research and consultation with stakeholders are fundamental to our activities.

We recognise that the environment is important for economic, social, and cultural reasons, and that sometimes hard choices have to be made. Our advice to the Government needs to be based on thorough analysis of the issues, a good understanding of the views of those who will be affected by any changes in policy, and careful study of the proposed action to ensure it will achieve the right outcomes. By clearly explaining the options, and the advantages and disadvantages of adopting particular policies, we can help the Government in reaching a decision.

Our role also includes providing the information and advice that local government, businesses and the wider community need to make environmental policy work in practice. We publish reports and guidelines, run seminars and workshops, and meet regularly with representatives of key stakeholder groups.

The stakeholders

We work with a wide and diverse range of issues and people. Most positions here require contact with other government departments, local government, iwi, resource users such as business and industry sector groups, environmental and community organisations. We have more limited contact with the general public, as much day to day environmental management is the responsibility of local government.

Deciding our work programme

Each year the Government, through the Minister for the Environment, decides what advice, reports, reviews, regulations, guidelines, or other products and services the Ministry should produce. The Minister makes the final decision on the effort and funding allocated to each work programme. The work programme is driven by the Government's priorities and our Statement of Intent.

The work programme may change during the year, as new issues or information emerges, and those changes are agreed with the Minister. We report informally to the Minister each week on progress with our work and formally four times a year, as well as through regular briefing notes.

The people who work here

Approximately 250 people work here, most of them at Head Office in Wellington. Many of our staff are policy advisers, who work in small teams. They are backed up by groups of specialists such as lawyers, librarians, communications advisers, business administrators, human resource advisers, finance staff, and information management specialists, including a Māori policy unit, Maruwhenua.

Policy advisers are highly skilled and qualified people from a range of disciplines. They include planners, engineers, economists, natural and social scientists, and lawyers. Many of our staff have experience in other government agencies or in local government.

The skills we need

Advisers must be particularly interested in policy and legislation for managing natural resources, and want to help ensure that this is based on well-reasoned advice and the best information available. They must have excellent analytical skills, and the technical, political and communications awareness needed to respond to the practical realities of policies, issues and situations. All staff need to be good communicators, cooperative team workers, and flexible in their approach to work.

Vision, mission and values

Our vision is of:

A healthy environment which sustains people and nature.

We see our mission as:

Delivering the environment that New Zealanders expect and deserve.

The values that are important to us in our work are to be:

• Effective
• Trusted
• Influential.

Cultural sensitivity

The legislation under which we operate recognises the important role of Māori in managing natural and physical resources. As well as our commitment to consult and inform on environmental policy issues, we encourage sensitivity to Māori culture. We have a group that meets regularly to discuss and make recommendations on how we can improve our cultural sensitivity. Each week at our staff meeting we practice a waiata so that when staff are involved in a hui or powhiri, they are able to participate actively.

Supporting our people

We have an Equal Employment Opportunities Policy, a Work and Life Policy, a Wellness Policy and a number of innovative development initiatives. We develop our internal policies and initiatives in-house, using project teams which include a cross-section of our staff and union representatives.

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