GUIDE FOR APPLICANTS

Position

Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and Chief Executive

Department

Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

Purpose

This guide provides information about the process for the recruitment and

selection of the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and

Chief Executive.

Contact

person

If you have any questions during this process, please do not hesitate to contact the

consultant supporting this recruitment:

Nick Ritchie, Strategic Advisor

Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission

E: nick.ritchie@publicservice.govt.nz

T: 021 314 896

Public Service Leadership

Leader

Profile

Excellent leadership by Public Service Chief Executives is essential for a high

performing, professional and world class public sector. Underpinning chief

executive leadership is the requirement to adhere to the Standards of Integrity and

Conduct and the higher bar expected of chief executive behaviour.

As set out in the Public Service Act 2020, chief executives are required to proactively

promote stewardship of the public service, including of its long-term capability and

people, institutional knowledge and information, system and processes, assets

and the legislation they administer.

As stewards of the system, chief executives are responsible for achieving cross-

agency, sector and system results by leading, collaborating and exerting their

influence in a cohesive way across boundaries and ensuring their staff have both

the authority and motivation to do likewise.

Making an application

General

Your application for this position should include:

• A cover letter expressing interest in the position and your fit for the role in

relation to the priorities: system leadership, context management, sector

experience and organisational leadership;

• A current curriculum vitae detailing your work history (including dates and

position titles), educational qualifications, and your preferred contact

details; and

• A fully completed application form.

Further information has been detailed below. You should make your application

via email to CErecruitment@publicservice.govt.nz

Application

form Section

A – Referee

details

This section asks you to provide the details of referees who can help us create a

360-degree picture of your personal attributes, behaviours, and skills in relation to

those detailed in the position description. These referees will be your current and

previous managers, peers, junior staff members, direct reports, or others.

Please ensure you provide each referee’s name, title, relationship to you, and their

preferred contact phone numbers. If they are based outside of New Zealand, please

also provide an email address for that referee.

We will contact you before approaching named referees.

Application

form Section

B –

Authorisation

In completing the authorisation section of the form, you are allowing the Public

Service Commissioner (the Commissioner), or their designated representative or

agent, to undertake the following checks:

• We may approach, in confidence, not only the referees you have named, but

other people who have personal knowledge of you to gather information

related to your suitability for this appointment.

• Pre-employment checks, including serious misconduct checks will be

undertaken, on the preferred candidate.

• Qualifications and credit checks are completed by an external agency on

behalf of Te Kawa Mataaho, only for the preferred candidate.

• Security checks by the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service are

required. These include vetting through the New Zealand Police and the

Serious Fraud Office.

Application

form Section

C – Criminal

convictions

declaration

The information in this section is required to check whether you have any past

criminal convictions or pending charges that might impact on your ability to be

effective in the position.

If you are the preferred candidate for the position, we will confirm the details you

have given through a criminal history check carried out by the Ministry of Justice.

Only those directly involved in the recruitment, including our agents (and if

necessary a legal advisor) will have access to this information prior to your

appointment (if you are appointed, your declaration will be filed on your personal

file).

The information provided in this section by unsuccessful applicants will be

destroyed at the completion of the process.

If you fail to provide relevant information and the Commissioner subsequently

discovers that you have a criminal conviction that could not be withheld under the

Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Act 2004 or a charge was pending at the time of

appointment, you may be dismissed.

You may access this information and request its correction.

See ‘Key Legislation’ below for information on the Criminal Records (Clean Slate)

Act 2004.

Application

form Section

D – Conflict

of interest

A conflict of interest means a conflict between a public duty and private and/or

personal interests. Personal interests may be financial or relate to family, friends

or associates. Conflicts of interest may be actual, potential or perceived. A conflict

of interest may happen at any stage during the recruitment process. You are

responsible for advising Te Kawa Mataaho immediately if you believe there is a

possible conflict of interest. Please note that this will not invalidate your

application but will be taken into consideration.

Te Kawa Mataaho produces model standards on the Public Service

Commissioner’s minimum expectations for staff and organisations in the Public

Service to support the effective reporting and management of conflicts of interests.

These standards should be read alongside other relevant rules and standards

including the Office of the Auditor-General’s Managing conflicts of interest: A guide

for the public sector.

Key legislation

Public

Service Act

2020

Appointments to chief executive positions in the Public Service are made under

Schedule 7 clause 3 of the Public Service Act 2020. This legislation sets out

procedures to be followed in making these appointments and specifies the

respective responsibilities of Ministers and the Commissioner.

Privacy Act

2020

The recruitment process is subject to the provisions of the Privacy Act 2020.

Personal information collected during this appointment process will be used solely

for assessing your suitability for employment in this position. It will be held

confidentially by the Commissioner, the recruitment and assessment consultants,

the interview panel and to Te Kawa Mataaho staff who will assist the Commissioner

with this appointment process. Evaluative information will be held in confidence

and you do not have right of access to it.

Your authority is needed to gather some of this information and an authorisation

section is attached for this purpose. If you are appointed to this position the

information will be retained. If you are unsuccessful all of your application

documents will be destroyed, unless you request that they be returned.

Criminal

Records

(Clean Slate)

Act 2004

[Extract from Ministry of Justice pamphlet ‘Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Act 2004’]

You must meet all conditions in section 7 of the Act (a summary is set out below)

before your convictions can be withheld. The Act should be consulted for full

information (see www.legislation.govt.nz – exceptions to the Clean Slate scheme

are found in section 19 of the Act).

You must:

• Have no convictions within the last seven years

• Never have been sentenced to a custodial sentence e.g. imprisonment,

corrective training, borstal

• Never have been ordered by a Court following a criminal case to be detained

in a hospital due to your mental condition instead of being sentenced

• Not have been convicted of a “specified offence” e.g. sexually offending

against children and young people or the mentally impaired

• Have paid in full any fine, reparation, or costs ordered by the Court in a

criminal case

• Never have been indefinitely disqualified from driving under section 65 of

the Land Transport Act 1998 or equivalent provision

If you meet these requirements you could answer “No”.

The appointment process

Applications

The application deadline for this position is Wednesday, 21 February 2024 at

5:00pm.

Assessments

The panel may invite you to undertake an assessment and this will be tailored to

the position. This step can provide the Commissioner and the interview panel with

further information on your suitability for the position of Secretary of the

Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and Chief Executive.

You will be given detailed feedback on your performance and if you are the

successful candidate the results of the assessment will be used to develop a first

year, professional development plan.

Interviews

Interviews will take place in Wellington or via Microsoft Teams. Shortlisted

candidates will be given more details on the interview panel and process at the

time of arranging interviews.

Panel

Interviews

The Deputy Public Service Commissioner will chair the interview panel, which is

established under Schedule 7 clause 3(4) of the Public Service Act 2020. Panellists

may be chosen for a number of reasons, such as to provide expertise in a particular

field. Panellists attend in their own right. The panel has an advisory role in assisting

the Commissioner to determine the extent to which candidates meet the criteria

set for the position and have the qualities to perform to the standards required in

section 52 and section 73 of the Public Service Act 2020.

Responsibility for making the decision on whom to recommend for appointment

rests solely with the chair of the interview panel. The Commissioner forwards their

recommendation for appointment to the Minister for the Public Service, for referral

to the Governor-General in Council.