POSITION DESCRIPTION Oranga Tamariki Ministry for Children Title: Group: Reports to: Location: Direct Reports: Budget: Senior Advisor, Pa Harakeke Community Tamariki Advocate/Voices of Children Team Leader Pa Harakeke Community Wellington National Office No No OUR ORGANISATION About us Our vision a Our purpose The Oranga Tamariki way Oranga Tamariki is a new Ministry dedicated to supporting New Zealand s children and young people whether they be well or are at significant risk of harm now, or in the future. We also work with young people who may have offended, or are likely to offend. Our belief is that in the right environment, with the right people surrounding and nurturing them, any child or young person can, and should flourish. Our vision is: New Zealand values the wellbeing of tamariki above all else. Our purpose is: To ensure that all tamariki are in loving whānau and communities where oranga tamariki can be realised. We re introducing a new way of doing things. A way of looking at the world that guides everything we do: Our core outcomes Our core outcomes are: - All children and young people are in loving families and communities where they can be safe, strong, connected, and able to flourish. - Improved outcomes for all children, especially Maori tamariki and rangatahi.
POSITION PURPOSE The purpose of this role is to support the development of community based support and coordination programmes and services that improve life outcomes for tamariki, rangatahi and their family and wider whanau. The Whanau and Community Initiatives team leads the early intervention and prevention initiatives to keep tamariki and rangatahi safe and help them thrive: we achieve this by working with community organisations, Iwi and Maori organisations. Te mana o te tamaiti is front and centre of our mahi and the values of Oranga Tamariki underpin our mahi. The Pa Harakeke Community team within Whanau and Community Initiatives lead a number of services including: Social Workers in Schools, Youth Workers in Secondary Schools, Multi Agency Support Services in Secondary Schools, Strengthening Families, Youth One Stop Shops, Teen Parent Services and the Social Media Innovation Fund. The Pa Harakeke Community team work alongside and support the Pa Harakeke Family team (Family Start and SKIP services). As Senior Advisor, Pa Harakeke Community, you will add your knowledge, skills and passion to the team and work alongside your colleagues to improve the lives of our most vulnerable tamariki, rangatahi their families and wider whanau by ensuring that the services we are responsible for are operating at their optimal potential. In this role, you will primarily support the suite of school and kura delivered social and youth work services. The role will require taking a lead on particular pieces of work associated with these services. You will be responsible for identifying and progressing opportunities for service improvement, expansion and collaboration, as well as keeping up to date with national trends and issues impacting on the services. Your work includes contributing to high quality qualitative and quantitative analysis and reports for key internal and external stakeholders, including advice to senior management and Ministers. A key component of the role is to build strong relationships with community organisations, key government stakeholders and internal ministry staff to foster an environment of increased capability and capacity. This includes working closely with the Tamariki Advocate, Partnering for Outcomes, Research and Evaluation teams and interface with other business groups. The Senior Advisor, Pa Harakeke Community plays a key role in mentoring and developing capability within the Pa Harakeke Community team. KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES Key Result area Mana Tamaiti Whakapapa Key Accountabilities - Provide support and advice to strengthen a focus on actively supporting, promoting and advancing the mana of te tamaiti Māori throughout the Pa Harakeke Community services. - Develop collaborative relationships to ensure that Pa Harakeke Community services actively encourage and connect tamariki Māori with their bloodline (multi-generational kinship ties). - Develop innovative ways to reinforce a sense of belonging as a critical consideration when Pa Harakeke Community services are Position Description Senior Advisor Pa Harakeke Community 2
working with tamariki Māori. Whanaungatanga Programme Development and Implementation - Provide support and advice to assist Pa Harakeke Community services to build meaningful and purposeful relationships with tamariki and rangatahi Māori and all networks of support. - Provide advice and support for management of services in schools to achieve positive outcomes for tamariki, rangatahi and their families and wider whanau. - Undertake appropriate planning to ensure that the components of the work programme are delivered to the required quality standard, and within required timeframes. - Monitor impacts and outcomes from investment in programmes and services and report on performance as required. - Provide advice on programme and performance enhancement to maximise the outcomes for the Government s spend in the sector. - Have responsibility for the identification of key issues, within the area of responsibility, in the development and implementation of child and youth programmes. - Have responsibility for the identification of needs, objectives, outcome options and appropriate programme delivery and implementation issues relating to the development of programmes. Delivery Analysis and Reporting - Provide high quality, balanced analysis and advice on a range of specialist issues based on best practice programmes and quality service delivery. - Monitor impacts and outcomes from investment in programmes and services and report on performance as required. - Provide timely and accurate advice to the management and Oranga Tamariki. - Undertake other tasks and duties as required by management. - Respond to written and verbal enquiries as required, including: Requests from staff and providers to ensure the smooth running of services and programmes. Preparation of official and Ministerial correspondence, parliamentary questions and Official Information Act requests in conjunction with Ministerial and Executive Services. Strategic Perspective and Advice - Gather information on best practice, patterns, trends, potential areas of improvement and identify child and youth development gaps. - Identify and implement initiatives to raise the performance and profile of Pa Harakeke Community services. - Provide advice and support to service providers to ensure best practice and increased positive outcomes for children and their families. - Provide high quality advice on complex issues without the need for guidance from others. Position Description Senior Advisor Pa Harakeke Community 3
Relationship Management - Lead on the development and maintenance of high quality relationships with key national and regional stakeholders. - Liaise with government and non-government agencies, providers and stakeholders in relation to Pa Harakeke Community services and child and youth programmes. - Establish, develop, implement and monitor effective relationships and networks with both internal and external stakeholders in relation to child and youth services and programmes. - Work collaboratively within Tamariki Advocate and across Oranga Tamariki and the wider child and youth sector to achieve positive outcomes children and their families. Leadership - Take a leadership role in internal or external meetings as appropriate. - Maintain a high standard of personal integrity and work ethics in all matters and ensure Oranga Tamariki processes and protocols are followed. - Build and share knowledge, information and expertise with others. - Exercise sound judgement. - Represent and support the Team Leader in national and regional forums, including the delivery of initiatives promoting the positive outcomes for children, youth and their families. - Actively participate and where appropriate lead the development and operation of projects. - Take action to improve the capacity and capability of the youth development sector both at national and regional levels. Work Programme and Project Management - Contribute to other areas of the work programme as agreed with management in accordance with the needs Tamariki Advocate and Oranga Tamariki. - Undertake other tasks and duties as required. - Lead substantial work programmes and initiatives for children and youth across Whanau and Community Initiatives. - Coordinate input from team members and other contributors. Risk Management - Actively identify and manage organisational risks. - Keep management informed of any critical risk issues, and the strategies in place to mitigate them. - Review risk assessments for relevant policy, research and other reports and provide advice on mitigation strategies. Being part of the Oranga Tamariki team - Actively and positively look at new ways of doing things - Actively and positively implement the Oranga Tamariki values - Consider yourself as a role model in and for Oranga Tamariki and encourage and promote the Oranga Tamariki Way. - Proactively look for opportunities to improve the Oranga Tamariki operations. - Actively and positively incorporate the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi into your work. Position Description Senior Advisor Pa Harakeke Community 4
- Perform any other duties as agreed if needed by Oranga Tamariki. - Comply with and support all health and safety policies, guidelines and initiatives. - Ensure all incidents, injuries and near misses are reported into our H&S reporting tool. - Comply with all legislative and regulatory requirements, and report any breaches as soon as they become known. - Adhere to all Oranga Tamariki procedures, policies, guidelines, and standards of integrity and conduct. KEY RELATIONSHIPS Internal External - Manager and Administrator Whanau and Community Initiatives, Team Leader and Pa Harakeke Community team, Team Leader and Pa Harakeke Family team - Management and staff of Tamariki Advocate and Oranga Tamariki both National and Regional. - Providers and partners of Pa Harakeke Community services. - Providers of community based child and family support services. - Other government departments and agencies including local and regional government. - Non-government agencies and community networks. - Iwi and Maori organisations and partners - Pacific peoples organisations. - Local stakeholder and management groups. QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE Qualifications - Tertiary education in a related discipline. - A clean, current driver s licence is essential. Experience - In-depth knowledge and understanding of te Ao Maori and relevant experience working with whanau and service providers within this context. - A thorough understanding of child development principals and child and family issues. - Appropriate and relevant experience in youth service delivery or education/training related environment. - Experience in acting in an advisory capacity to senior leaders within an organisation. - Understanding of and involvement in a social sector setting and quality of social service delivery in communities. - Knowledge about the support and implementation of cross-agency approaches. - A good understanding of parliamentary processes and the Position Description Senior Advisor Pa Harakeke Community 5
workings of legislation. Skills - Ability to communicate in te reo Maori if necessary. - Highly developed analytical skills and a demonstrated commitment to developing and maintaining specialist skills and knowledge in own area of expertise. - Ability to produce and recognise high quality written work and provide peer support and coaching to colleagues. - Project management skills. - The ability to establish robust relationships and partnerships with national and regional stakeholders. - Computer literate, with competence in the use of the Microsoft suite of products. - Familiarity with basic statistical analysis desirable. Other requirements - Willing to travel to fulfill job requirements. POSITION COMPETENCIES - Applies the principles of Mana Tamaiti, Whakapapa and Whanaungatanga to their practice, in order to ensure their practice is responsive to tamariki and whānau Māori. - Will promote and encourage Pa Harakeke Community service providers to see and engage with the family, whānau, caregivers and youth and victims of youth offending, in order to understand their needs and ensure they have a say in decisions about te tamaiti. - Translates strategy into action, sees ahead clearly, can anticipate future consequences and trends accurately, is future oriented. - Drives for results, sets clear objectives and measures to monitor progress and results, can be counted on to exceed goals and steadfastly push others for results. - To tackle issues, doesn t hold back on anything that needs to be said, provides current and direct feedback, faces up to people problems quickly and directly. - Navigates through ambiguity, can effectively cope with change, can decide and act without having the total picture, and isn t upset when things are up in the air. - Builds Partnerships, easily gains trust and support of other groups/agencies, can quickly find common ground and solve problems for the good of all parties. - Decision quality, has a wide ranging perspective that contributes to excellent decision quality. Position Description Senior Advisor Pa Harakeke Community 6