HR Business Partner (People Specialist) at Air New Zealand · Auckland

Job Description

Kia ora!

Shape the future of people partnering at Air New Zealand.

This is an opportunity to help redefine how HR creates value across one of New Zealand's most recognised organisations. As a People Specialist (HR Business Partner) within our People Partnering team, you'll work with Senior Leaders to deliver strategic, evidence-led partnering that strengthens leadership, drives organisational performance, and helps our people thrive. If you're energised by change and thinking about the future of work, enjoy building trusted relationships, and want to influence meaningful business outcomes, we'd love to hear from you.

With a strong reputation for culture, service and innovation, Air New Zealand is consistently ranked as one of New Zealand's most attractive employers. Behind the scenes, our corporate teams are shaping strategy, driving performance, and supporting a thriving, future-fit business.

As part of our evolving People Partnering model, you'll work alongside dedicated People Partners, Employee Relations specialists, HR Solutions, and self-service channels to ensure leaders receive the right support, at the right time, through the right expertise. This model enables our People Specialists to focus on the work that creates the greatest impact, including organisational design, workforce planning, leadership capability, culture, engagement, and strategic change, while routine HR enquiries are supported through centralised services.

How you'll make an impact

• Partner with senior leaders to deliver people strategies that enable business performance, organisational capability, and workforce success.
• Support transformational organisation-wide change initiatives from planning through to implementation, including restructures, communications, and job sizing.
• Coach and influence leaders to build leadership capability, strengthen engagement, and foster high performing teams.
• Partner with leaders to identify opportunities that improve culture, productivity, and performance across your portfolio.
• Lead key people processes including performance, talent, remuneration, and development planning, ensuring quality outcomes and consistency.
• Balance commercial outcomes, union interests and relationships, legislative compliance, and organisational values.
• Contribute to enterprise People initiatives that strengthen the future capability of Air New Zealand's People function.

What we're looking for

• Significant experience partnering with leaders in a complex HR environment, including proven success influencing and partnering with senior leaders to deliver strategic people outcomes.
• Demonstrated experience supporting organisational change and transformation initiatives.
• Strong working knowledge of employment legislation and contemporary HR practices,
• Proven ability to influence, coach, and build credibility with leaders at all levels.
• Excellent judgement, with confidence navigating complex people challenges and competing priorities.
• Strong communication and relationship building skills, with a collaborative and customer-focused approach.
• Experience working in unionised environments and/or with industrial relations matters is highly regarded.
• Experience working in agile operating environments or supporting agile ways of working would be advantageous.

If you bring most of this experience, along with transferable skills and the drive to grow, we'd love to hear from you.

What we can offer you

We want our people to live their best lives and access great benefits that support their lives outside work.

• A learning culture with meaningful development opportunities and experiences that help you grow your career.
• Few HR roles give you the opportunity to shape an iconic Kiwi brand while influencing an organisation that connects New Zealand to the world and has a genuine impact on our country, our people and our economy
• Access to a wide range of wellbeing support, including our Wellbeing Hub, Employee Assistance Programme, and Peer Support networks.
• Discounts across hotels, retail, banking, insurance, gyms, and more through our employee perks programme.

Ready for take-off?

If you're excited by partnering with leaders, influencing meaningful change, and helping shape the future of People at Air New Zealand, we'd love to hear from you. Join a team that is transforming how people partnering is delivered, while making a lasting impact on our people, our leaders, and our business. Apply today and help us build the future of work at Air New Zealand.

Applications close 10th September 2026.

Please note, while we will deliver an outcome to all applications, due to high recruitment volumes we will only organise conversations with shortlisted candidates.

Additional Information

At Air New Zealand, we are proudly committed to diversity, equity and inclusion and believe in creating a truly inclusive workplace where everyone can be themselves and thrive. Our people are our greatest asset – because while everything else we do in our operation can be replicated by our competitors, it is our people that truly set us apart. We are firm believers in celebrating the differences and diversity of thought our people bring to their roles. We encourage candidates from diverse backgrounds, including those with a disability, additional health and mental health needs, and/or are neurodiverse to apply for our roles.

If you have encountered any accessibility barriers and require further information or reasonable accommodations to our recruitment process, please reach out to the recruiter listed on this job advert so they are able to support you to freely participate equitably in our recruitment and selection process.

Whāia te pae tawhiti kia tata. Ko te pae tata whakamaua, kia tina.

"Seek to bring distant horizons closer. Once near, seize them and make them your reality."