Careers

Are you ready to start shaping an awesome Hamilton?

Underpinning everything we do is our purpose: to improve the wellbeing of Hamiltonians.

Around 1200 staff across 29 business units and 20 different sites are responsible for keeping our great river city running now, and helping it to thrive in the future.

Are you ready to shape an awesome Hamilton?

View what opportunities are available now

What we do

From pipes to playgrounds, parks to parking, pools to paintings, and so much more – the range and complexity of what we do is staggering.

Whether it’s permits or planning, policies or partnerships, the people of Hamilton are our top priority.

We offer a huge range of roles – including zoo keepers, building inspectors, engineers, accountants, gardeners and many more!

But more important is the why and the how of what we do. Our purpose is to improve the wellbeing of Hamiltonians.

We look for people who have an open mindset, are always willing to grow and develop, and who ooze our behaviours:

Adaptability - Kia urutau.
Simplicity - Kia ngaawari.
Inclusiveness - Kotahitanga.
Guardianship - Kaitiakitanga.
Ambition - Kia manawanui.

Benefits of working for us

Community day - an extra day off each year to help a recognised community organisation.
Wellbeing day - an extra day off each year to spend with family.
Flexible working hours - we want staff to have a good work-life balance, and many roles have flexible working hours.
Flu jabs - free for all staff.
Medical insurance - health insurance paid for by us for you to ensure you have access to the best healthcare when, and where you need it.
Paid parental leave - annual leave continues to accrue for staff on parental leave (above and beyond what legislation requires).
Social club - a variety of events like quiz nights and after work drinks.
Sick leave - permanent employees get sick leave on commencement (above and beyond what legislation requires).

Equal opportunities

Hamilton City Council is an equal employment opportunity employer and a member of Diversity Works NZ.

We are committed to fostering a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace that reflects and celebrates our community. That includes people of all ages, genders, ethnicities, religions, physical abilities, sexual orientations, and life circumstances.

Work better through wellbeing

Hamilton City Council is committed to creating a safe, happy, healthy, and whaanau-friendly workplace.

We recognise the importance of workplace wellbeing and are working to embed a culture of wellbeing across all corners of the business. We use the WorkWell framework and advice to help Council build on existing wellbeing activities, to ensure that they are relevant, effective, and part of a comprehensive and holistic workplace wellbeing programme.

Our recruitment process

1. Apply

Have a look at our current vacancies, find the right fit and click Apply Now.

2. Shortlist

We create the shortlist - if you are selected then get prepared for the next exciting step.

3. Interviews

We will contact you for an interview where we get to know you in more depth. Our questions tend to be behavioural and competency based, meaning we will be looking for you to provide examples to demonstrate your experience. Initial interviews may be by phone or online video. If successful, this will be followed by either an online or a face-to-face interview where you also get the chance to ask more about the position and working for us. For some positions, you may need to attend more than one interview.

4. Pre-employment checks

If you are our preferred candidate, we will undertake our pre-employment checks.

These are role-dependent and the checks vary depending on the role and the type of work:

Ministry of Justice or New Zealand Police vetting - for conviction history
Pre-employment medical assessment - for roles requiring labour, or in environments of risk e.g. chemicals/noise etc
Credit check - for roles that have financial responsibility e.g. P-card or Purchase Order approvals
Qualification check - for specialised roles that require confirmation of achievement (i.e. engineers, planners) and if relevant to the Children's Act 2014
Professional membership check - if required, to acknowledge continuous professionalism and development within the industry (e.g. CA ANZ, PINZ) or if relevant to the Children’s Act 2014 (i.e. Teaching Council for education-based roles and if the role requires frequent interaction with children).

All roles covered by the Children's Act 2014 require shortlisted candidates to undergo relevant safety checking under the Act before commencing employment, as well as during employment.

5. Assessments and testing

Psychometric assessments and skills-based tests are mostly done after background checking, but not all roles require this step.

If you’re asked to complete a psychometric assessment, it’s likely to be a personality or ability assessment (or both) and these can be completed online. These are another tool to get to know you more. Feedback and copies of these assessments are provided to candidates.

Skills-based testing may include online tests, written tests, presentations or manual work-based tests.

we are collecting relevant information from applicants
only those within the organisation directly involved in the recruitment decision-making process can access your information
the information gathered is confidentially stored in our recruitment and document management system
we gain permission from applicants for background checks and contacting referees
interview/reference/recruitment notes are typically destroyed after a period of three months
applicants have the ability to request or change information held on their record.