Wētā Workshop is a world-renowned design and manufacturing studio, with a vibrant consumer products and tourism business, home to some of the most talented and passionate craftspeople, creatives and technicians in the world.

As we continue to grow and evolve, we're looking for a new Chief People Officer to lead our dedicated People & Culture team, and partner with our leaders to continue to positively shape our culture of excellence, creativity, and kindness.

You'll be instrumental in developing our organisation for the future and enabling how we work, with solid change management experience, backed by detailed working knowledge of employment law, and sound judgement to navigate our wonderfully complex organisation with tact and diplomacy.

The Role

As Chief People Officer, you'll be an influential member of our Senior Leadership Team and report directly to the CEO-Chief Operating Officer. You'll lead the People and Culture function from strategy development to execution, across organisational design, talent acquisition, reward and recognition, employment relations, culture and capability development, and crew wellbeing. You'll be a trusted adviser to our CEOs, SLT and Board, and a hands-on leader for your own team.

You can see all the finer details in our job description here.

What You'll Bring

We need someone who can operate at both the strategic and the operational level, so the following aren't nice-to-haves:

• Sound, current knowledge of New Zealand employment law, and the judgement to apply it pragmatically

• Significant change management experience to help position our organisation for future growth: you've led organisational design and transformation programmes before, not just supported them.

• Generalist HR and ER experience, with excellent conflict resolution skills.

• 10+ years in senior HR/People and Culture leadership, ideally with exposure to executive and Board-level advisory work.

You'll Also Need

• The commercial acumen to balance people outcomes with business reality.

• Genuine care for employee health, safety and wellbeing, backed by an understanding of employment obligations.

• The confidence to advise, influence and respectfully challenge senior leaders and the Board.

• A natural relationship builder with a collaborative and consultative leadership style that brings people with you through change.

Why This Role?

You'll help shape the people strategy behind some of the most creative and technically ambitious work around the world, with the autonomy to continue to evolve the People and Culture function from a position of genuine influence.

How To Apply

If you have these attributes and want to be part of the future of one of New Zealand's most creative and iconic organisations, we'd love to hear from you.

Applications close on Monday 17 August 2026.

You can reach out to recruitment@wetaworkshop.co.nz if you have any questions.

If there’s anything we can do to accommodate you through the recruitment process, please let us know.