- Inaugural role at the heart of Coast Waters leadership
- Lead operations, asset management and regional service delivery
- Shape the asset and service foundations of a brand-new organisation
- Based in Buller, Grey or Westland
About the Company:
Coast Waters is a newly established, purpose-built water services organisation bringing together the water services teams of Buller, Grey and Westland District Councils into a single, unified workforce. Operating across a geographically long, diverse and often challenging region, Coast Waters manages an extensive network of drinking water, wastewater and stormwater assets, underpinned by significant council investment programmes over the next decade and beyond.
Coast Waters exists to provide safe, reliable and sustainable water services that help West Coast communities thrive. Their work is grounded in service, stewardship and partnership, with a focus on building resilient infrastructure, supporting community wellbeing and creating a positive future for the region.
About The Role:
The General Manager Operations and Asset Management is a senior leadership role providing strategic and operational leadership across infrastructure operations, asset management and regional service delivery for a brand-new organisation.
The role’s responsibilities include ensuring the safe, reliable and compliant delivery of drinking water, wastewater and stormwater services across the region; leading asset strategy, planning and capital investment prioritisation; overseeing water quality, regulatory compliance, operational health and safety, incident response and business continuity; and acting as a trusted advisor to the Chief Executive and leadership team on operational, asset and infrastructure risk matters.
Ideal Candidate:
You will bring demonstrated senior leadership experience within water services, utilities, infrastructure, local government or a comparable regulated and complex operational environment, including leading geographically dispersed, multidisciplinary operational and technical teams through other leaders.
You will have a strong understanding of drinking water, wastewater and stormwater or comparable infrastructure services, including asset management, lifecycle planning, renewals and infrastructure investment, with the ability to bring long-term asset planning together with operational and capital requirements.
In addition, you will have:
- Experience managing large infrastructure portfolios, budgets and delivery partners, balancing service, risk and affordability.
- The leadership skills to unite three district teams while retaining vital local knowledge.
- The ability to build trusted relationships with councils, iwi, regulators and communities.
- Resilience and sound judgement through establishment and operational pressure.
- A relevant tertiary qualification in engineering, asset management, infrastructure or a related field, and a full NZ driver’s licence.
This is a rare opportunity to bring three district teams together into one integrated regional water services organisation, shaping how the West Coast’s water infrastructure is operated, maintained and invested in for decades to come. A broad and influential role you will report directly to the Chief Executive, with genuine scope to shape systems, culture and strategy from Day One.