Manager Animal Health Laboratory | Wellington - Wallaceville

Job Description

Manager Animal Health Laboratory

Role type: Permanent, full-time

Location: Upper Hutt (Wallaceville)

Salary band & range: General Salary Range A: $162,094 to $216,985 depending on skills and experience

About the Role - Kōrero mō te Tūranga

As Manager Animal Health Laboratory (AHL), you will provide strategic and operational leadership to ensure the delivery of reliable, high‑quality diagnostic services and scientific advice that underpin New Zealand's biosecurity system. You will guide the laboratory's future direction, champion improvement and innovation, and ensure that AHL remains a trusted, responsive, and scientifically excellent capability supporting national decision‑making.

You will also serve as the designated Operator for AHL's containment and transitional facilities, ensuring full compliance with Ministry for Primary Industries and Environmental Protection Agency standards. In this role, you will uphold regulatory requirements, manage risk organisms within certified biocontainment facilities, and maintain the robust systems and culture needed to support safe, efficient, and resilient operations in a rapidly evolving biosecurity environment.

Some of your key responsibilities will include:

• Leading strategic change to drive a modern, high‑performing laboratory environment.
• Lifting accountability and performance, ensuring AHL delivers clear, measurable outcomes.
• Ensuring diagnostic excellence through high‑quality testing and trusted scientific advice.
• Building and inspiring a high‑performing team with strong culture, clarity, and development.
• Improving systems and workflows to enhance efficiency, resource use, and scientific rigour.
• Managing risks and emerging issues early, maintaining operational resilience.

About You – Mōu

You are an experienced senior leader who excels in guiding complex, multi‑disciplinary functions through influence, credibility, and clear strategic direction. You bring a track record of shaping culture, lifting performance, and leading organisational change at scale. With deep experience operating in complex regulatory, scientific, or government environments, you are adept at aligning diverse teams, partners, and stakeholders toward shared outcomes while maintaining robust governance, accountability, and compliance.

More specifically, your experience will include:

• Extensive experience leading through others, setting direction, and delivering outcomes in large, complex organisations.
• A proven ability to shape culture, foster collaboration, and build resilient, high‑performing teams aligned to strategic priorities.
• Executive‑level oversight of diverse technical, operational, or scientific functions, ensuring cohesion and strategic alignment.
• Strong commercial and financial management capability, including investment oversight, budget governance, and procurement leadership.
• Highly developed influencing and advocacy skills, enabling effective engagement with senior officials, governance boards, and external partners.
• A track record of building trusted partnerships across government, industry, and technical communities to achieve shared outcomes.
• Deep understanding of New Zealand's legislative, regulatory, and policy frameworks, and the ability to apply that knowledge to strategic decision‑

Just as importantly, you'll also bring advanced interpersonal, political, and system‑level acumen, enabling you to navigate complexity with confidence and clarity. You communicate with impact, balancing empathy with decisiveness, and you excel at simplifying complexity for executive audiences. Your leadership presence inspires trust, alignment, and action across diverse teams and stakeholders. Above all, you are customer‑ and outcome‑focused, guided by strong judgement, collaboration, and a commitment to delivering value for New Zealand's primary industries and biosecurity system.

About the Team - Mō tō mātou Rōpū

The Animal Health Laboratory (AHL) is New Zealand's national reference laboratory for animal diseases and provides trusted, high-quality diagnostic services that support biosecurity readiness, response, and international trade. The laboratory operates advanced PC2 and PC3+ biocontainment facilities and maintains accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025, underpinned by robust quality management systems and continuous improvement. A key priority for the laboratory is maintaining a high level of readiness to respond to key biosecurity threats such as Foot and Mouth Disease and High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza (HPAI).

About MPI - Mō te Manatū Ahu Matua

We're a large organisation with massive scope from the frontline to policy development and beyond.

To find out more about the Ministry and what we do please click here.

Benefits of working at MPI - Ngā hua o te mahi i te Manatū Ahu

• Additional MPI leave days
• Annual Wellness payment
• Bi-annual paid eye test and contribution to the costs of corrective lenses/frames

Security checks - Ngā Taki Whakahaumaru

Low level Security Clearance

• most preferably a New Zealand citizen, who has resided continuously in New Zealand for at least the last five (5) years, OR
• is a citizen of, and/or has resided continuously in one or more of the following countries for the last five (5) years: either Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom (UK) or the United States of America (USA); and has a background history that is verifiable and can be assessed as appropriate by the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) towards a recommendation of suitability for a security clearance at this level.
• click here to find out more about the national security vetting process and access the eligibility self-check tool.

If you do not meet these minimum criteria, we will not be able to accept your application.

Credit check - Tirotiro nama

Please note, given this position is identified as carrying financial risk, the preferred candidate(s) will be required to satisfactorily pass a credit check.

Drug and Alcohol Screening - Whakamātau Whakapōauau me te Waipiro

Please note, given this position is safety sensitive the preferred candidates(s) for the position will be required to undergo a drug and alcohol pre-employment screening test. Further information on this process can be found on our careers site, here.

Are you ready to make a difference? - Kua rite koe mō tēnei mahi whaitake?

We are committed to being a good partner under Te Tiriti o Waitangi which includes working closely with iwi, hapū, whānau and hāpori.

We aspire to reflect the diverse communities we serve, so we welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds, and identities. As an organisation, we are committed to making Manatū Ahu Matua Ministry for Primary Industries a great place to work for all.

In your cover letter we'd like to know about you, your values; your interest and motivations for this role; the abilities, strengths, personal attributes and diverse perspectives you will bring to the role and this organisation, which may have also been gained outside of the workforce.

To view the position description and/or apply online, please click “Apply” or visit the MPI Careers Site. To apply, you must hold the right to work in New Zealand or be eligible to obtain it – click here to find out more about work visa eligibility and options.

Applications close at 11:59pm on Sunday, 1 March.

If you have any questions about the role, please email shane.gooch@mpi.govt.nz 

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