Group Manager Finance, Midcentral

Permanent, full time

Palmerston North based

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is reshaping how healthcare is delivered by empowering regional decision-making.

The Central Region serves more than 1m New Zealanders in rural and urban communities in five districts : Wellington and Hutt Valley, Wairarapa, Hawkes Bay, Manawatu, and Whanganui.

With a $5b annual operating budget and 20,000 dedicated staff working across these districts, we are working to ensure resources are used efficiently to deliver better care, reduce waiting times, and support equity across communities.

As Group Manager Finance, you'll be the lead financial manager for a district, partnering with the senior leadership team to drive financial performance and sustainability while improving health outcomes.

This role is an opportunity to make meaningful impact on the future of public healthcare in Aotearoa – with so much potential to make a positive difference.

About the Role

As GM Finance, you will :

Lead a district finance team and oversee core finance functions for the district, including reporting, cashflow, budgets, and forecasts while ensuring that insight is drawn from results and translated into action.

Partner closely with the Group Director Operations (GDO) and senior leadership team of your district, providing the financial insight and foresight to support fact-based decision making.

Report to the Regional CFO and work with the GMs Finance who support other districts in the region.

Drive financial performance, mitigate risk, and ensure resources are used efficiently to support the district to deliver health targets while operating within budget.

Connect operational and financial outcomes, so decisions are informed and support health target delivery.

Help to prioritise investment – allocate resource to areas of highest need.

This is a location-specific role, based alongside the GDO and their District leadership team.

About You

You are a senior finance leader with :

• years' experience in complex financial management roles, ideally in large-scale public or service organisations with significant infrastructure.

Proven people leadership experience.

A track record of leading teams through change and developing capability.

Strong experience in providing decision support – from business casing to ad hoc analysis to making trade off decisions.

Strong commercial skills.

A proven ability to translate numbers into a meaningful narrative and shape action.

From management to governance, you will be comfortable framing and presenting information.

Expertise in financial and management accounting, cost analysis, and performance analytics.

Professional credibility (Chartered Accountant or equivalent) combined with a practical, solutions-focused approach.

Health sector experience is an advantage, but not essential.

What matters most is leadership, insight, and a passion for making a positive impact.

Working for Health New Zealand

At Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora we are dedicated to providing excellent healthcare for the people of New Zealand.

We embrace a diverse and inclusive workforce, recognising that a workforce that reflects our communities is better positioned to serve them.

We welcome applications from Maori, Pasifika, disabled, and rainbow communities.

How to Apply

If you're ready to take on a significant finance leadership role in a really challenging sector, we'd love to hear from you.

Apply now to help shape the future of healthcare in your community.

All applications must be submitted through our online careers' portal by Sunday, 23 November.

If you have any questions about the role, please contact Matt Kelly at

Whilst Health New Zealand is undergoing change, affected employees will be given preference and priority for this position.