Academic Operations Team Leader

Waipapa Taumata Rau The University of Auckland

The University of Auckland is Aotearoa New Zealand’s leading university. With more than 6,000 academic and professional staff supporting over 46,000 students, we are proud to be one of the country’s largest and most diverse employers. Our people are driven by curiosity, purpose, and a shared commitment to creating positive impact for our communities.

Job Description

Te Whiwhinga mahi The opportunity

We are seeking an experienced and people-focused Academic Operations Team Leader to join the School of Medicine. This is a pivotal leadership role responsible for leading a team of professional staff who provide operational and administrative support to academic leaders, staff and students, enabling excellence in teaching, learning and research.

This role will suit a confident and adaptable leader who enjoys building high-performing teams, fostering strong stakeholder relationships, and driving service excellence in a complex environment. As the University continues to evolve, you will bring a flexible and open-minded approach to portfolio leadership, embracing opportunities to support changing priorities and emerging needs across the school and wider faculty.

Working closely with Academic Heads and the Academic Operations Manager, you will play an important role in shaping a collaborative, customer-focused culture while ensuring the smooth delivery of operational services.

Key responsibilities

• Lead, coach and develop a team delivering high-quality administrative and operational support services.

• Partner with Academic Heads and key stakeholders to ensure the effective delivery of day-to-day operational activities.

• Champion a culture of service excellence, continuous improvement and customer-centric practice.

• Lead workflow planning, workload allocation and capability development across the team.

• Act as a specialist lead within one or more operational portfolios and support the adoption of best practice.

• Contribute to strategic planning, operational improvements and faculty-wide initiatives.

• Support recruitment, financial administration and operational processes within the school

• This is a full-time (37.5h per week), permanent position.

• For more detailed information, please see the position description.

• The salary for this position is $87,000 – $107,500, depending on skills and experience.

• About you

• You are a capable leader who brings a strong track record of developing people, building positive team culture and delivering results through others. You are comfortable navigating complexity, influencing across stakeholder groups and balancing operational priorities in a fast-paced environment.

• You are someone who can provide clear direction and bring people together around shared goals. You enjoy leading through change and are excited by the opportunity to contribute to a dynamic environment where portfolios and priorities may evolve over time.

You will bring:

• Proven leadership experience, including coaching, mentoring and development of staff
• Strong stakeholder management and relationship building skills across diverse groups
• Experience working within a large, complex organisation
• Excellent planning, prioritisation and workload management capabilities
• Strong communication, influencing and problem-solving skills
• Experience leading operational improvement initiatives and embedding best-practice

What we offer

The University of Auckland is committed to providing an excellent working environment through:

• Flexible employment practices
• Career development programmes
• A competitive salary with five weeks’ annual leave For more information, please visit Staff Benefits.

Equity

The University is committed to meeting its obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi and achieving equity outcomes for staff and students in a safe, inclusive, and equitable environment. For further information on services for Māori, Pacific, women, LGBTQIATakatāpuiMVPFAFF+, people with disabilities, parenting support, flexible work and other personal circumstances go to www.equity.auckland.ac.nz