Manager Water Treatment Plants – Ref: 602
The opportunity | He angitūtanga
Join our team and help safeguard our community’s water supply. We are seeking an experienced and motivated Water Treatment Plants Manager to lead the delivery of safe, reliable, and high-quality drinking water across the District.
In this key leadership role, you will be responsible for the supervision, operation, maintenance, and ongoing performance of Council’s water treatment plants and associated infrastructure. Your focus will be to ensure that potable water is supplied to all connected customers at all times, meeting stringent public health, environmental, and regulatory standards.
- Deliver a safe, reliable, and compliant potable water supply across the district by effectively managing the operation, maintenance, and renewal of all water treatment plants and associated assets.
- Ensure full and ongoing compliance with drinking water quality regulations, public health requirements, environmental legislation, resource consents, and Council policies, with no unplanned regulatory breaches.
- Maintain treatment plant performance at or above agreed service levels, including water quality, plant availability, process reliability, and operational resilience.
- Lead and manage operational teams to achieve high standards of safety, competency, and performance, ensuring staff capability meets regulatory and operational requirements.
- Implement continuous improvement initiatives to optimise operational efficiency, asset lifecycle value, risk management, and cost control.
- Contribute to Council’s strategic and financial objectives by supporting the delivery of Annual Plan and long-Term Plan outcomes, including capital works and operational budgets.
- Lead effective responses to operational incidents and emergency events impacting water services, including regulatory notification, impact assessment, stakeholder coordination, and timely service restoration.
- Monitor, report, and act on performance against agreed KPIs, audit findings, and compliance requirements, ensuring transparency and accountability to Council and regulators.
About you | He kōrero mōu
To excel in this role, you will have:
- Effective interpersonal skills with a demonstrated commitment to customer service and willingness to and capability for working with a wide range of people within and outside the organisation.
- Demonstrated ability to build and maintain effective professional working relationships with all key stakeholders, including with other council staff members based on a collaborative, collegial and cooperative working style.
- Effective time management skills and ability to work effectively without supervision and collaboratively as an effective team member.
- National Diploma in Water Treatment Level 5 or equivalent (industry credential / Tertiary degree or diploma in Civil/Environmental Engineering, Science or relevant technical field.
- Hands-on experience with water treatment processes and technologies; strong problem-solving and communication skills
- 5+ years’ relevant experience in water treatment, ideally with staff management exposure.
- Holder of a current and valid NZ Drivers’ licence.
For more information regarding the role, please view the job description [PDF 324 KB]
Enquiries about this position should be directed to Nick Urlich, Senior Assets Planning Engineer, [email protected], by phone on 04 296 4700 or free phone 0800 486 486.
If you’re excited to work in a community focused, energised and enthusiastic team environment, we’d love to hear from you!
How to apply | Me pēhea te tono
Applications close Monday 2 March 2026.
Click below to complete your application:
You must be eligible to work in New Zealand. Please note preferred candidates are required to undergo pre-employment checks including drug and alcohol screening and Police checks.