Finance roles - two influential opportunities

This is a great opportunity to be part of the Water Hawke's Bay (WHB) establishment team – your input and engagement stands to make a lasting contribution in terms of how water services and infrastructure is set up and managed across the Hawke’s Bay region moving forward. Best practice finance clarity and systems will sit at the heart of these roles. We are recruiting two different roles, reporting to the Finance, Funding and Commercial Lead. Financial Planning Specialist Revenue, Charging & Billing Specialist, Both of these roles are fixed term until June 2027 and will play a key part in establishing the finance systems and best practice for a new era for water services across Hawke’s Bay. Water Hawke’s Bay is a council-controlled organisation (CCO) jointly owned by Hastings District, Napier City and Central Hawke’s Bay district councils, established under the Government’s Local Water Done Well Reforms. WHB is governed by an independent and commercially accountable Board. The establishment team will ensure that Water Hawke’s Bay is ready to begin delivering drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater services from 1 July 2027 with a focus on providing safe and reliable water services for generations to come. This is your chance to have a real impact on this region’s future – you will be joining a high performing, focused team who are determined to get this right for Hawke’s Bay. As Financial Planning Specialist , you will be responsible for establishing the financial planning and business planning capability required to support Water Hawke’s Bay through transition and into Day 1 operations. This is a finance business partnering role with a strong management accounting focus. You will coordinate and scrutinise financial information from participating councils and integrate specialist modelling advice into practical planning, budgeting, forecasting and decision making. To be considered, you will ideally be CA or CPA qualified with a strong knowledge of financial planning, analysis, forecasting and driving operational budgets. You will feel at home working alongside financial modelling advisors to develop and implement the WHB’s financial forecasting model, all with a view to supporting strategic decision making. You’ll have strong stakeholder relationship skills, be commercially minded and be able to challenge council models, data and frameworks. The Revenue, Charging & Billing Specialist will be responsible for designing and implementing the revenue and customer charging framework required for WHB to commence operations on Day 1. This includes determining the water rates, ensuring sufficient income to cover maintenance costs, as well as funding growth for the future. This will be suited to those with an economics and commercial lens, ideally with infrastructure and asset exposure. Those with experience within NZ local government funding, utility charging, rating or revenue management will be highly regarded for this specific role. Both of these roles will be suited to those who want to take an early lead in shaping the finance planning and revenue structures of Water Hawke's Bay. If you have the required finance expertise, strategic capacity and stakeholder engagement ability to perform here, then please apply through this portal. Or call the team at Populous People on 06 875 8446 for a confidential discussion to learn more of what this could mean for your career. Competitive market rates and remuneration reflect the significance of these two roles.