About us

We're a not-for-profit organisation on a mission to transform ourselves and empower New Zealanders to live their healthiest lives.
 

With almost a million members in our care, we are New Zealand's leading health insurer.

We have an unstoppable focus, delivering outstanding experiences to our members in their time of need. This is an exciting time to be part of our journey and in return for your extraordinary talent, we'll provide a high performing values-based team environment where people are at our heart.

About the role

In this newly created role of Head of Leadership and Culture, you will play a key role in shaping the future of our leadership and culture strategy.  Working with other members of the People and Strategy Leadership team, and key stakeholders within our senior leadership teams to foster leadership excellence that drives our culture of integrity, diversity and inclusion, to be aligned with our commercial goals.

Acting as the Employee Brand Champion, you will ensure that our core values are integrated into every aspect of the employee experience, maintaining a strong and future-focused culture.

Additionally, you will innovate leadership and culture practices by implementing progressive approaches to diversity and inclusion, employee well-being, health & safety and continuous improvement.

Your role will also involve being hands on working with your team, measuring and reporting on the effectiveness of these initiatives in terms of employee engagement, retention, and commercial performance, while overseeing our Health and Safety and well-being programs to ensure compliance and enhance overall employee wellness.

About you

As an inspiring and innovative leader, you possess a genuine passion for people and culture. You recognize and effectively communicate the vital connection between leadership effectiveness, employee engagement, and business success. With a commercial mindset and a forward-looking perspective, you excel in environments where you can foster positive change.

• Demonstrated experience in leading a team of subject matter experts to effectively implement strategies, both directly and indirectly, while also being hands-on when necessary.
• Extensive expertise in implementing systems and practices that cultivate strong cultural leadership
• A thought leader in the future of work, adept at identifying relevant and practical applications and outcomes
• Significant experience in transformational and agile environments
• You’re a natural communicator who can inform, influence, coach, and challenge at all levels, from the Board to executives and frontline staff, both internally and externally
• Are capable of setting and interpreting strategy, understanding business operations, and collaborating to establish effective tools and frameworks that align with strategic goals
• Possess commercial acumen, and have a clear understanding of how leadership, culture, and business performance intersect, backed by a track record of delivering measurable results
• A strong commitment to fostering an inclusive, caring, and empowering workplace culture that aligns with our company’s values
• Future-focused, able to identify and improve practices that meet current and future needs, ensuring our leaders and culture adapt to evolving business demands
• Knowledge of the health, insurance, or financial services sectors would be advantageous.

Ngākau nui. Āhurutanga. Tikanga.

Join a proud diverse team, that's always there, always real, always true. If you thrive in a caring, honest and open culture, we think you’ll love working with us. 

We know that it is our team’s culture and wellbeing that will drive us forward. That’s why we prioritise not only professional development opportunities but opportunities to thrive personally, too. We offer exceptional work/life balance and our employees are encouraged to – and rewarded for – living well.

Southern Cross employee benefits include:

• Five days of wellbeing leave per year
• Health insurance for you and your immediate whānau  
• Life insurance cover and discounts on pet and travel insurance
• Extra parental leave benefits and financial wellbeing support
• Earn up to $1000 extra per year with our workplace wellbeing programme.

That’s not all. Need more time to study, volunteer or support your whānau? You’ll have the opportunity to purchase flexi leave. Each year, you will also get to take part in a volunteer day, to contribute to a cause or community with your team.

Our commitment to LGBTQIA+ and minority communities is reflected in our culture and we run a regular Diversity and Inclusion Forum to help ensure this continues to flourish.

Our commitment to LGBTQIA+ and minority communities is reflected in our culture, and we run a regular Diversity and Inclusion Forum to help ensure this continues to flourish. 

If you share our commitment and passion, then apply now!