Head of Engagement - Foundation North
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Head of Engagement - Foundation North
- Newly created SLT role reporting directly to the Chief Executive
- Lead the design and evolution of our engagement model and pathways
- Put community voice at the heart of funding
Mō mātou | About Us
Foundation North stewards an endowment of around $2 billion and grants close to $90 million a year to communities across Tāmaki Makaurau and Te Tai Tokerau. Building the relationships, insight and partnerships that connect community aspiration to funding opportunity is critical to how Foundation North works.
Its values, Ngā Ūara, guide how the organisation works: Kia Kotahi te Hoe (teamwork), Me mahi i roto te tika, te pono me te aroha (doing the right thing with care), Whakamana (uplifting and enabling) and Ako (learning and sharing knowledge). Foundation North takes a Te Tiriti o Waitangi-informed approach to its leadership and its relationships with iwi, hapū and Māori organisations.
Mō tēnei tūranga mahi | About this role
The Head of Engagement is a newly created role on the Leadership Team, reporting directly to the Chief Executive. You will be the face of Foundation North to communities and provide engagement dedicated leadership and a strong voice at the leadership table as the Foundation extends its reach across the rohe.
Engagement needs to be purposeful, responsive, culturally informed and connected to strategy, so communities can access and navigate funding opportunities. Leading a team of seven, you set the direction for how Foundation North connects with communities, and make sure what it hears, shapes what it does next.
Working closely with the Head of Granting, you will bring community insight as well as data and analytics into the design and improvement of funding approaches, while keeping a clear separation between community engagement and formal grant assessment and approval.
The role is based in Auckland, with regular travel across Te Tai Tokerau.
Ko wai koe | About you
We are seeking a senior leader from a community engagement or development background, philanthropy or a comparable relationship-led environment. You will bring proven experience working with iwi, Māori and Pacific communities.
You have designed and delivered engagement models and strategies that are accessible and culturally responsive, and turned community insight into advice and decisions that made a real difference. You build enduring, high-trust relationships and partnerships, and bring the commercial judgement to weigh impact, risk and value. You are an empowering leader who has led teams through change and lifted their capability, and a confident facilitator and communicator with communities, staff and Trustees alike. You are ambitious, responsive and adaptable, and as comfortable out in community as you are shaping strategy.
Experience in philanthropy, the not-for-profit sector or public funding, and established networks across Tāmaki Makaurau and/or Te Tai Tokerau would be valued. Most importantly, you lead with humility and integrity, reflecting the importance Foundation North holds in its relationships with communities.
Me pēhea te tuku tono | How to apply
For a copy of the information pack please email info@amytea.co.nz
To apply, please email your cover letter and CV (preferably in PDF format) to apply@amytea.co.nz
In your cover letter, please include a specific example of a community or customer engagement strategy you have developed or helped develop, including the metrics you used and the outcomes achieved.
Applications close Sunday 18th October.
Please be assured that a human will carefully read every application. We encourage judicious use of AI.
You must have the right to live and work in Aotearoa New Zealand to apply for this job.
