Head of Strategic Interventions

• Shape how WorkSafe identifies, designs and learns from interventions
• Lead a new function at the heart of regulatory decision-making
• Permanent opportunity, flexible location across Aotearoa

About Us
He aha te mea nui o tēnei ao? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata.

Hello, Kia ora, Noa’ia, Talofa lava, Mauri, Mālō e lelei, Tālofa, Ni Sa Bula Vinaka, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Mālō ni, Kia orana, nǐ hǎo, Kamusta.

WorkSafe New Zealand | Mahi Haumaru Aotearoa is the primary workplace health and safety regulator. Our vision is that everyone who goes to mahi comes home healthy and safe. We live by our values:

• Whakakotahi – we are united in a strong purpose
• Kōrero mai – we engage meaningfully
• Tiakina mai – we are entrusted with a duty of care

About your team / Ko te tīma
Regulatory Effectiveness is a new group established at WorkSafe to strengthen regulatory focus and improve how WorkSafe understands risk, designs interventions, and evaluates impact. Strategic Interventions sits within the Regulatory Effectiveness group, which brings together the capabilities that shape how WorkSafe operates as an effective, evidence-informed regulator.

The function will be at the heart of how WorkSafe directs its discretionary regulatory effort. It will identify priority risks and harms across the work health and safety system, determine where regulatory intervention can make the greatest difference, design coherent responses and evaluate their impact over time.

You will lead five direct reports across intervention assessment, design, planning, research and evaluation. Together, the function will provide the evidence, intervention logic and strategic direction that informs delivery decisions across WorkSafe.

This is a newly established function with significant organisational backing. As its cornerstone leader, you will have genuine scope to establish its methodology, operating model and culture, and shape how it evolves over time.


About the role / Ō te tūranga
As Head of Strategic Interventions, you will lead WorkSafe’s assessment and prioritisation, intervention design and learning functions, ensuring regulatory effort is focused on the risks and harms where it can make the greatest difference.

This is a pivotal leadership role within WorkSafe’s new Regulatory Effectiveness group. You will establish the intervention methodology, operating model and ways of working that shape how regulatory problems are identified, prioritised and addressed.

Working across operational, policy, stakeholder partnering, intelligence, product and implementation teams, you will build and embed a recognised intervention-design function that translates evidence into coordinated organisational action.

Combining strategic leadership with organisational change, you will drive greater discipline, consistency and accountability in how interventions are designed, delivered and evaluated. Success will require strong regulatory credibility, change leadership and systems thinking, alongside the ability to influence senior leaders, build organisational buy-in and articulate a compelling vision for the future.

This is a unique opportunity to shape a newly established function and help define how WorkSafe evolves as a modern, evidence-informed regulator delivering lasting improvements in health and safety outcomes across Aotearoa.


What You’ll Do / Ko tōu ake mahi

• Set WorkSafe’s intervention strategy, priorities and methodology 
• Lead intervention assessment, design and organisational learning 
• Build and embed a strategic interventions function across WorkSafe 
• Integrate evidence, intelligence and evaluation into regulatory decisions 
• Influence enterprise-wide intervention planning and delivery 
• Advise executives on regulatory priorities, trade-offs and system impacts 
• Drive organisational change and continuous improvement

What You’ll Bring / Ko ngā pukenga ōu

• Significant senior leadership experience within a regulatory environment
• Experience leading intervention, regulatory, policy or strategic functions
• Strong understanding of how regulators influence systems and behaviour
• Proven change leadership across complex organisational environments
• Experience establishing methodologies, operating models or new functions
• Strong executive influence, storytelling and strategic communication skills

You will bring strong regulatory leadership credibility and a deep understanding of how regulators influence systems and behaviour. You will balance innovation and future-focused thinking with sound judgement, public accountability and evidence-based decision-making.

You will be an influential leader who can create a compelling vision, build organisational buy-in and unite multidisciplinary teams around shared outcomes. Comfortable leading through ambiguity and change, you will establish new ways of working while maintaining the trust and expertise of operational teams.
Experience within a major regulator, regulatory policy organisation, public-sector intervention environment or large-scale system reform programme will be highly regarded. 

Nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi.


Salary range / Awhe utu
The expected appointment base salary for this role is $229,219. KiwiSaver or SSRSS employer contributions are additional.

From 1 April 2026, our KiwiSaver employer contribution increased to 3.5%.

We offer a range of benefits including:

• Free life insurance for the duration of your employment
• Health insurance and eyecare discounts
• $400 home workstation contribution
• Five weeks’ annual leave
• 15 days’ sick leave
• A Reward and Recognition Framework that celebrates the impact our kaimahi make
• Professional development opportunities
• Employee-led networks supporting our diverse communities

Location
This role may be based at any WorkSafe Mahi Haumaru location.


How to apply / Me pēhea te tono
Click Apply and upload your CV and cover letter.

AI can be a helpful tool when preparing your application, but what matters most to us is you. Please ensure your CV, cover letter and responses reflect your own skills, experiences and perspective. We want to hear your real story, your passion, your personality and what makes you unique. Don’t let AI do all the talking. Let it support you, not replace you.

WorkSafe Mahi Haumaru is an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and actively welcome applicants from all backgrounds, including people with disabilities and those who are neurodivergent. We believe different perspectives strengthen our mahi and help create an inclusive environment where everyone can thrive.

If you encounter accessibility barriers in completing the application or require adjustments or support to ensure the recruitment process is accessible to you, contact worksafe@inside.co.nz for a confidential kōrero.

This vacancy has been established as part of changes to WorkSafe's organisational structure after a review of WorkSafe's operating model identified opportunities to improve role clarity, ways of working and organisational effectiveness. As part of these changes, WorkSafe has established a number of new roles to ensure we are well placed to meet expectations now and in the future.


Applications close: 5pm, 17th September 2026.