Principal Advisor Occupations

Mō mātou | About Us Our Vision: Preventing Harm. Saving Lives. Securing our Future We play a key role in the guardianship of New Zealand waterways. We're bringing together our aroha, work and skills to achieve our outcomes of sustainable supply chains and sectors, safe people and operations, secure ports and ships, and clean seas and waterways. Our values are about who we are as individuals and the behaviours we expect from each other at Maritime NZ. Care | Kia Tika - We care for each other and do the right thing Connect | Kotahitanga - We unite in a common purpose Courage | Kia Māia - We are brave, capable and confident Te tūnga | The role
Maritime New Zealand are stewards of the maritime system, focussed on preventing harm, saving lives, and securing New Zealand’s future. We are a modern risk-based regulator that works to ensure ships and ports are safe, co-ordinate marine search and rescue, and help protect our marine environment so it can be enjoyed for generations to come.
The Principal Adviser Occupations sits in our Occupations & Third-Party Oversight team, part of our Technical Advice & Support group. To be successful in this role you will need to bring a deep experience as a senior mariner (e.g. Master), which you will combine with strong relationship and advising skills – so that you’re influential, both inside and outside of Maritime New Zealand. We’re seeking proven experience that includes advisory, assurance, leadership, mentoring, delivering results, engagement, and relationship building.
This is a great opportunity to join a focussed and motivated organisation that is doing outstanding work for our country.
Nōu te rourou | What you bring
We're looking for an experienced senior mariner who combines deep industry expertise with a genuine passion for supporting and developing others. You'll have successfully transitioned ashore and understand how to operate effectively within a broader organisational environment. With strong relationship-building skills, you're able to engage confidently with a wide range of stakeholders, earning trust and credibility through your practical experience and sound judgement. You value the lessons of traditional maritime practice while remaining open to new ideas and ways of working, enabling you to balance proven wisdom with innovation in a changing industry.
To be successful in this role, you'll bring: * Proven senior seafaring experience and knowledge of maritime operations. * Experience providing advice to wide range of audiences * Strong analytical skills and ability to problem-solve in complex environments with experience of using these to create insights that drive process improvement * Ability to influence and provide support and subject matter leadership to peers and staff * Experience contributing and taking the lead in projects and programmes of work involving multiple objectives and diverse stakeholders in a fast changing environment * Relevant tertiary qualification or equivalent experience * Successful track record as a proactive and innovative thinker who is willing to involve others to look at problems from different perspectives and develop fresh solutions * Aptitude for fostering positive working relationships with people across all levels of an organisation; collaborative working style with a strong user focus * Experience adapting working and communication style appropriately for different audiences and channels; highly effective written and oral communication skills * Ability to cope under pressure and manage stakeholder expectations in difficult circumstances * Ability to manage and coordinate a high volume of work in a dynamic environment * Mentally agile, resilient, highly organised, with a high degree of business acumen * Ability to work in a culturally safe and respectful manner, always being mindful of the cultural diversity of the industry and having regard to Te Ao Māori and Treaty of Waitangi principles Mōu | For you
Maritime NZ recognises and respects te Tiriti o Waitangi and we are committed to working with Māori to build strong, meaningful and enduring relationships to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes. We aim to be a workplace where everyone feels valued, supported with a sense of belonging. We encourage our people to actively contribute to our workplace culture where we all thrive and authentically live our values. Upon joining us you'll receive a full range of benefits including Income Protection and Life Insurance so check out our full range on our careers page to find out more about why we love working here.
Applications for this role close 5pm, Tuesday 25th August 2026.
Please note that you must have the legal right to live and work in New Zealand to be considered for this role. We are unable to accept applications via email. Please click the apply button to submit your application.
This is a permanent, full-time role (37.5 hour per week). The appointing salary range is $140,735- $171,945, depending on skills and experience.
If you have any questions, please e-mail [email protected]