People Operations Lead

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Southern Cross Health Insurance supports New Zealanders on their health journeys, giving people access to the private healthcare they need, when they need it.

As a New Zealand owned, member-focused Friendly Society, our purpose is simple — to empower more than 951,000 members to live well for longer.

We stand apart from other health insurers in Aotearoa New Zealand as a membership-based organisation with a vision for a healthier society.

Our difference lies in the value we offer members and the experience we create for our people.

Now is an exciting time to join us.

You'll be part of a high-performing, values-driven team where people are at the heart of everything we do — and in return for your talent, you'll have the opportunity to grow, make an impact, and be proud of the difference your work makes.

About the role

We're looking for a People Operations Lead who thrives on making things work better, someone who loves turning complexity into clarity and ideas into action.

In this role, you'll lead the delivery of our cyclical people processes and initiatives that power a high-performance culture and great employee experience.

You'll work across the People team to co-design initiatives, lead change, and ensure our people frameworks and practices are modern, fair, and effective.

From performance and benefits to onboarding, engagement, and remuneration, you'll make sure our people processes are simple, equitable, and aligned with our employee value proposition.

What you'll do

Lead key cyclical processes that enable a high-performance culture, including performance, remuneration, benefits, onboarding, and engagement.

Manage the annual remuneration process, ensuring fairness, equity, and market alignment.

Champion simplification and digital enablement, using feedback, technology, and automation to enhance self-service and clarity.

Collaborate across the People team to co-design initiatives, drive change, and operationalise people strategies.

Oversee payroll and people operations delivery, ensuring accuracy, compliance, and value-adding outcomes.

Use people data and analytics to deliver insights that inform decisions and strengthen the people experience.

Act as Risk Champion, maintaining strong governance and compliance with employment obligations.

What you'll bring

Strong experience in people operations, HR services, or workforce programmes, ideally in a larger complex organisation.

Strong expertise in remuneration modelling, pay review cycles, and advanced Excel skills.

Skilled in people analytics—able to translate data into insights that drive strategic and operational improvements.

Proven experience leading and coaching a team, and delivering people change initiatives with measurable outcomes.

Deep understanding of employee needs and a people-centric approach to process design.

Strong collaboration skills, with the ability to co-create solutions across teams.

Working knowledge of New Zealand employment legislation and compliance practices.

What we offer you

five days of wellbeing leave per year

health insurance for you and your immediate whanau

life insurance cover and discounts on pet and travel insurance

extra parental leave benefits and financial wellbeing support

ability to participate in our workplace wellbeing programme

But that's not all.

If you need more time to support your whanau, we offer work-life balance, a hybrid environment and each year you have a volunteer day to spend with your team contributing to a cause or community of your choice.

We are proud to be Rainbow Tick accredited, and we facilitate an active employee-led Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Forum which supports many diverse groups including our Maori network, Pasifika Collective, Neurodiversity and Whanau Support networks.

If you share our commitment and passion, we'd love to hear from you.

Seniority level

Mid-Senior level

Employment type

Full-time

Job function

Human Resources

Industries

Insurance

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