Senior Management Accountant

Ministry of Defence | Manatū Kaupapa Waonga

Permanent role
Wellington CBD
Grow your career

About the role I Mō te tūnga

The Ministry has a fantastic opportunity for an experienced Senior Management Accountant to help the Ministry to continue to lift the level of financial literacy and insight across its Capability portfolio.

Capability in this setting is defined as ‘the personnel, equipment, platforms, and/or other materiel that affect the capacity of New Zealand to undertake military operations.’

You will provide practical, dedicated financial support and advice to senior leaders and project teams in our Capability Delivery Division. You’ll partner with our projects to develop robust budgets, forecasts and financial reporting, and you’ll work alongside the Ministry’s Finance Division to ensure all appropriate project reporting requirements are met.

Our ideal candidate is someone who:

has experience in partnering and influencing non-finance stakeholders, identifying opportunities for continuous improvement/change in financial systems and reporting and working through complexities to deliver solutions
has an in-depth understanding of management accounting and financial management principles and practices, with the ability to develop and maintain trusted advisor relationships
is driven and has a can-do attitude
has experience facilitating group training, or is willing to do so, and possesses the confidence and communication skills required to communicate effectively with groups of people
we ask all our people to undertake a commitment to doing their part to deliver on the Crown’s commitments to Māori under Te Tiriti o Waitangi. We do this by actively striving to build te ao Māori capability into our day to day work

You don’t have to tick every box. If the role sounds like you please apply.

We know that some people, especially women, can be unsure about working in the defence sector. If you’d like a confidential conversation about what it’s like working at the Ministry of Defence please email us at [email protected]

Who we are I Ko wai mātou

We are the Government’s lead civilian advisor on defence. We also purchase major equipment which becomes a capability when it is used by service men and women of the New Zealand Defence Force.

Ko mātou ngā kaitohutohu matua ki te kāwanatanga mo ngā kaupapa waonga. Nā mātou hoki, ngā taputapu nunui i hoko, hei āheitanga i roto i ngā ringa o ngā tāne me ngā wahine o Te Ope Kātua o Aotearoa.

Salary and Benefits I Utu ā-Tau

We are careful to maintain pay relativities amongst our people and our roles. For this reason the salary offered for this role will be around $130,000-$140,000.

We have a great range of benefits including:

Kiwisaver contribution on top of remuneration
An annual wellbeing subsidy
Some flexible working options that support the individual, the team and the organisation
Contributions towards childcare for children up to age 14
Eyewear subsidy
A range of employee led networks you can join

We support career and skill development. We have a number of internal communities of practise that support the delivery of large complex capabilities for the Defence Force.

Before you apply

Working within our environment means we have to ensure you're eligible for employment.

You must:

Have been a New Zealand Citizen for at least 10 years

Hold a current NZ Residency Class Visa and ideally have been a citizen of the UK, USA, Canada or Australia for at least 10 years

For most roles you'll have a 10 year checkable background in countries NZSIS Vetting can make meaningful and reliable checks.

Still unsure? Use this online tool to self-check your eligibility for a security clearance: http://www.protectivesecurity.govt.nz/eligibility-tool

We know that some people, especially women, can be unsure about working in the defence sector. If you’re curious reach out for a confidential chat about what it’s like working at the Ministry of Defence at [email protected]

Please direct any queries regarding this role to [email protected] we will however, not consider applications emailed to this address.

Applications close: 9am Monday 2 November 2026