People and Development Manager

Role overview

This is a hands-on opportunity for an experienced People & Development Manager to take ownership of learning, capability, performance and people initiatives in a busy professional services setting. The position sits at Auckland CBD, includes the option to work from home one day each week, and requires monthly travel to Christchurch.

What the role covers

You will lead operational HR and learning and development activity across the employee lifecycle, working closely with leaders and the Head of People and Culture to deliver practical, consistent and people-centred outcomes. The role also includes day-to-day ownership of core people processes such as onboarding and offboarding.

Key responsibilities

• Plan and deliver learning and development programmes that build capability.
• Work alongside leaders to strengthen performance and development across teams.
• Own performance review and feedback processes and frameworks.
• Coach leaders through development discussions and people-related conversations.
• Provide advice on HR policies, procedures and general people matters.
• Support recruitment activity, onboarding, engagement and offboarding processes.
• Lead wellbeing activities and health and safety initiatives.
• Oversee and support one team member reporting into the role.
• Prepare HR reporting, analysis and insights for the business.
• Assist with payroll checks and related processing support.
• Contribute to wider people and culture projects and improvements.
• Conduct training needs analysis and help identify capability gaps.
• Facilitate and deliver learning sessions and programmes directly.
• Integrate into existing L&D programmes and help refine and roll them out.
• Build trusted relationships with Partners and senior stakeholders in a fast-moving environment.
• Maintain clear professional boundaries and stay resilient in a high-touch stakeholder role.

Candidate profile

The ideal candidate brings experience across learning and development as well as operational HR, preferably from a professional services or corporate background. Experience in legal services would be helpful, but it is not essential.

Working arrangement

This is an Auckland CBD-based position with one day per week of work-from-home flexibility. Travel to Christchurch is required about once a month.

Eligibility

Only candidates who hold New Zealand residency will be considered for this position.

Additional information

This role is broad, practical and highly collaborative, with a strong focus on employee experience, capability building and continuous improvement.