Practice Lead – Continuous Improvement

Mercury is a bold future-focused organisation, providing energy and telecommunications to more Kiwi than anyone else, leading the way with renewable energy and working toward a sustainable future.
At the heart is our purpose which pushes us to do all we can to create a better future for our people, our communities, and Aotearoa New Zealand.We operate in a highly competitive environment.
Our ability to deliver value quickly, provide exceptional customer service, attract and retain great talent, and maintain our licence to operate is what enables our ongoing success.
Our goal is to evolve so that we not only achieve our goals, but build a competitive advantage that enables us to expand our ambitions and strategy even further.In this newly created role, you will play a pivotal role as Practice Lead - Continuous Improvement to ensure we deliver our strategy in a fast, nimble and efficient way.
Your role is to ensure the growth of Mercury's organisational capabilities of the practice, which includes setting the right expectations on the tools and approaches used in the practice across our squads and operational teams and developing people capability to meet these needs.
You will play a critical role in developing tools and mindsets aligned to the Adaptive Ways of Working.As the Practice Lead, your role will be to lead the continuous improvement practice for our Customer business unit, establish and implement frameworks to deliver strategic capability and identify and implement integrated cross-team process improvements, using fit-for-purpose solutions.
You will be leading a team of approximately 6 direct reports, consisting of Continuous Improvement Specialists and Coordinators.
This is an exciting time to come onboard as we continually evolve - this role will be the lifeblood that runs through many aspects of our business with lots of interesting projects in the pipeline where you will work closely with the robotics team.This role is flexible to be based in any of our offices including Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga with travel required to key office locations.
We operate in a hybrid flexible working environment, which gives you the flexibility to work from home while still understanding the importance of connecting and collaborating with the business.Key accountabilities include:
Design professional standards and development of practice membersSet the direction for the craft, including required people capability, tools, technologies and processesDefine the professional standards and define "best practices" (e.g.
ensuring adoption of industry standards where applicable, building DevOps culture and aligning on tools)Define processes of interaction and transfer of knowledge among the members of the practiceProfessional support and develop members of the practice to support their personal development and increase productivity of squadsIdentify growth opportunities within a practice by empathetic listening and utilising data and feedbackFoster and build close working relationships with robotics capabilitySupport large and complex initiativesWe are looking for:
Certification in a continuous improvement framework like Six Sigma, Lean methodologies is advantageous.Experience in continuous improvement, process optimization, or quality management is advantageousExperience in leading and implementing successful continuous improvement initiatives.Strong understanding of process mapping, root cause analysis, and data-driven decision-making.Experience with Agile or Scrum frameworks is advantageous.Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence and motivate cross-functional teams.Experience in leading a practice is advantageousProven ability to develop and implement strategic improvement plans aligned with organizational goals.Strong leadership and management skills with experience in mentoring and developing high-performing teams.Strong presentation, and stakeholder management skills.Ability to drive cultural change and foster a continuous improvement mindset across the organization.Mercury offers (full benefits are listed on our Career Page):
Additional 5 days leave per annum (MyDays)$400 one off tax-free payment towards setting up your home officeA diverse workplace where your unique abilities and talents will be recognised and encouragedAnnual salary reviews with excellent parental leave policy, with the option to purchase additional leaveThe opportunities, career paths and facilities associated with working for one of New Zealand's largest multi-utility providersFlexible working policy - The autonomy and trust to work flexibly from our purpose-built premises and from home, recognising the value of this flexibility in the modern worldDiscounted health insurance and free life and income insuranceExcellent well-being programme including up to $100 annual check ups and confidential assistance programmeGender affirmation leave and supportive bereavement leave to be taken when you lose anyone close to you, including your petInterview Questions:
To help you be your best in our interviews, we provide an outline of the interview questions that we intend to ask in advance.
Please note that due to time constraints or where you have provided extensive examples, we may not necessarily ask all questions.Provide us with an example of a time when you were leading a team, project or work item, and you could feel that the team was in disagreement with your direction or decision.
How did you approach it?Can you tell us about a time when you had to lead through a period of significant change and uncertainty?Can you provide us with an example when you brought a significant change to team/teams or part of the organisation that resulted in improved performance?Give us a brief summary of your qualifications and experience and how you believe it would help you in this position.Mercury is a learning organisation that is committed to providing you with opportunities to grow and develop that will benefit you now and in the future.
Part of your role includes building your skillset and mindset through a variety of ways.
We believe this creates an energised, innovative and agile work environment where you will feel valued.
At Mercury, we believe that having a team of individuals with different backgrounds, experience and capability working together makes us stronger and better as an organisation.
We know that some candidates may only apply for a role if they meet all of the criteria.
If you want to join our team, we encourage you to apply for any role that matches your skills, capabilities and interests, even if you aren't sure if you meet all of the criteria.Please click 'apply' to submit your application.
If you require accessibility or assistance support from us during the application and selection process, please reach out to
• .A full position description is available below.
Applications close Friday, 21st June at 5:
00pm.
Please note that Mercury retains the right to bring a particularly strong candidate through to interview more quickly.Reference # 35183Posted 10 Jun 2024Closing 21 Jun 2024 17:
00Location(s) Auckland, Hamilton, Oamaru, TaurangaExpertise Continuous Improvement, Customer Experience (CX), People Leadership, Strategy#