Senior Advisor - Defence Industry

Are you passionate about building strong relationships and driving strategic collaboration? Do you have a knack for stakeholder engagement and a desire to help grow New Zealand’s Defence industry? This role is fixed term until January 2028.

We’re looking for a Senior Advisor – Defence Industry to help implement the New Zealand Defence Industry Strategy and cultivate high-trust relationships across Defence and industry. Reporting to the Assistant Secretary, Capability Delivery, this role is central to supporting the delivery of the Defence Capability Plan, an ambitious investment programme designed to ensure the NZDF has the capabilities required to meet Government expectations. Capability in this setting is defined as 'the personnel, equipment, platforms, and / or other materiel that affect the capacity of New Zealand to undertake military operation.

Delivering these capabilities can only be done in close partnership with Defence industry partners, including large multi-national Prime suppliers, their NZ and Australian-based subsidiaries, and a network of local sub-contractors and service providers. In this role, you’ll be instrumental in forging and strengthening these connections, ensuring industry engagement is purposeful, coordinated and aligned with Defence outcomes.

Your work will include preparing ministerial briefings, supporting engagement projects and events, and collaborating closely with senior stakeholders across Defence and industry to strengthen partnerships and deliver on strategic priorities.

Do you have :

• A proven ability to build trusted relationships with Defence, industry, and a diverse range of stakeholders
• A highly developed customer focus approach
• Great written and oral communication skills, including brief writing
• Experience in events management and effective organising skills
• Exposure to Ministerial and Public Service decision-making
• Awareness of Government policy and procurement procedures
• Familiarity with commercial practices and probity
• A relevant academic qualification or equivalent experience

We ask all our people to undertake a commitment to doing their part to deliver on the Crown’s commitments to Māori under Te Tiriti o Waitangi. We do this by actively striving to build te ao Māori capability into our day-to-day work.

You don’t have to tick every box. If the role sounds like you, please apply.

We know that some people, especially women, can be unsure about working in the defence sector. If you’d like a confidential conversation about what it’s like working at the Ministry of Defence, please email us at

Who we are – Ko wai mātou

We are the Government’s lead civilian advisor on defence. We also purchase major equipment which becomes a capability when it is used by those in service of the New Zealand Defence Force.

Salary and Benefits – Utu ā-Tau

We are careful to maintain pay relativities amongst our people and our roles. For this reason, the salary offered for this role will be between $110,000 – $120,000.

Before you apply

Working within our environment means we have to ensure you're eligible for employment.

You must :

For most roles you'll have a 10-year checkable background in countries NZSIS Vetting can make meaningful and reliable checks.

Still unsure? Use this online tool to self-check your eligibility for a security clearance :

Applications close :

Monday 24 November 2025 at 5 : 00pm. Please note that this role will commence in 2026.

Please direct any queries regarding this role to We will, however, not consider applications emailed to this address.

Things to know about Security Clearances : Read More

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