About Horizons Regional Council
Whether you want to work in an office, out in our environment, in a city or a small town, Horizons has a career for you.
We employ everyone from accountants to zoologists, and our staff work from offices and depots in Palmerston North, Wanganui, Woodville, Marton and Taumarunui and depots in Levin, Kairanga and Taihape.
At Horizons we know business success is driven by excellent people. We are committed to being a good employer and encourage a motivated and well-informed workforce. We have a strong focus on staff training, development and job satisfaction and consider ourselves an innovative organisation keen to further develop a safe and stimulating work environment.
Michael McCartney - CEO
Fancy a career in regional council? I say great choice! Regional government in this country is an incredibly rewarding career.
Even after 20 years in the business, I am blown away with the variety of different work we are involved in. Scientists, researchers, river engineers, transport planners, policy analysts, plant and animal officers, hydrologists... these are just a few of the careers at Horizons.
The opportunity to move to different roles within Horizons makes it a great career choice, so I encourage you to join our 200 dedicated staff in making our region a great place to live and work.
The Horizons region...
- covers 10 local authorities, 7 completely within its boundaries
- covers 22,215 sq km of land, 8.1% of New Zealand's land area
- Horizons' jurisdiction extends 12 nautical miles out to sea
- is home to approximately 220,000 people.
- includes 160 km of coastline, with the Tasman Sea to the west and Pacific Ocean to the east
What We Do At Horizons Regional Council
Horizon's Regional council helps communities, industry and other groups to preserve its Regions water, soil, air and coastlines for all to enjoy, and to ensure that any development is sustainable now and in the future.
Managing our environment
This covers five main activities:land management water quantity and quality management (ground and surface water) habitat protection regulatory (resource consents and environmental compliance) and strategic management. Air, coast, pest plant and pest animal management and waste issues are also part of this group of activities.
Keeping people safe
We have responsibilities to manage risk from natural and man-made hazards in the Region. Our key role is to identify potential hazards and risks to people, property, infrastructure, the environment and the economy in four areas: biosecurity, Tb vector control, flood protection and emergency management.
Getting people places
We plan passenger transport services for the Region; subsidise bus services in areas where they cannot be provided commercially; manage the Total Mobility service which provides transport for people who are not able to use public passenger transport; organise community road safety education and activities; and coordinate the Regional Land Transport Committee.
Engineering Specific
The Operations team employs around 40 staff throughout the Horizons region who work on an extensive range or river and drainage projects from gravel extraction, flood protection (which includes the building and maintenance of stop banks), creation and maintenance of flood gates, drainage systems, pump stations and working with communities on projects such as the recent city reach project in Palmerston North which involved lining the Manawatu River's stop banks with extensive rock works to stabilize them, and enhancing the river areas for improved public access and use.
Throughout your graduate year you will undertake a structured and comprehensive training and development program. Operation's graduate programme aims to equip you with the skills and knowledge that will place you in a highly competitive position within the team and Horizons.
As part of the Operations Group's graduate programme you will be provided with:
- A formal induction programme that will introduce you to working within the operations group and provide an overview of Horizons.
- Financial support towards a Diploma in Engineering.
- A professional programme of training and development.
- Work experience across the Operations teams and locations with the Horizons region that aim to give you a diverse overview of the Operations Group.
- The opportunity to contribute to the planning of key river and drainage projects, project management and managing staff and contractors early on in your career.
- Coaching and mentoring from managers and previous graduates.
- Opportunity to give and receive feedback on your progress through individual meetings, regular focus groups and monthly group meetings.
- Leadership, communication and professional skills training.
Our People
Alistair Beveridge Biodiversity Manager
"I've got the coolest job! I get to work with iwi, landowners community groups and a bunch of wonderful staff to make a real difference to the region's living heritage. Our region has lost 95% of its wetlands and 70% of its forests, so those that remain are really special and worthy of protection. My staff and I are working hard to do just that with fencing, planting and pest control.
My goal is to ensure that in the future people will still get the opportunity to see parts of New Zealand the way it once was."
Jean Archer
Communications and Promotions Officer
What sort of work do you do in your role on a day to day basis?
My day to day job consists of a wide range of responsibilities. I handle everything promotional for the organisation, looking after important information that teams need to get out to the public. I liaise with external design and print companies and guide Horizons employees on the requirements of branding. Specifically, the sorts of things I coordinate are brochures, billboards, corporate publications, flyers, advertising campaigns and events. If I have the time, I also do a bit of in-house design work.
What sort of skills do you need to undertake your role?
To excel as a Communications and Promotions Officer at Horizons, I've found it's most important to have fantastic organisation skills. At any one time I'm juggling around 15 projects, so it's important to know how to prioritise effectively and communicate clearly as well. I also need to exercise a good eye for detail and excellent relationship management skills - people from all over the organisation come to me to relay their messages to the community so I've got to be able to relate well to everyone.
What qualifications did you obtain prior to starting your role?
I completed a Bachelor of Communication at Massey University, so this role was the perfect one for me to step into. I also spent a year working towards a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration with an endorsement in Communication Management.
What other areas of work could use your qualifications for?
I could use my degree for a broad range of jobs. I would be able to work doing anything with an element of media liaison, relationship management, event organisation, or internal/external communication management. My qualifications also give me the opportunity to consider closely related fields such as journalism or marketing.
What do you enjoy about your job?
I like the fact that my job requires me to talk to lots of different people everyday at the same time as working in a supportive Communications team. I have a passion for the English language so I enjoy editing away at key messages, etc. and advising Horizons employees on good ways to word things. Being able to juggle lots of projects at the same time can be a challenge but it's a positive thing at the end of the day because I gain real satisfaction by ticking things off as completed.
What's it like working for Horizons Regional Council?
One of the major factors I look for in a job is that it stimulates me, and I've found Horizons Regional Council is a great organisation to work for in that respect. My position allows me to get out of the office now and then to meet designers, printers and other contacts which makes each day varied. There's a friendly atmosphere and plenty of opportunity to get involved in social sport teams, which is a good way to meet people and keep fit!
One of the advantages I had in applying for my role at Horizons was that I'd done a two-week unpaid internship with them as part of my undergraduate degree. I chose Horizons as it was the perfect opportunity for me to get involved in a little bit of the practical side of my course. I found it very easy to start my job with Horizons and felt as though there were a number of people I could approach if I needed help with anything.
Phillip Goulter
Graduate Hydrology Technician
What sort of work do you do in your role on a day to day basis?
My day to day job at the moment consists of monitoring and installing rain gages and fire weather warning stations, flow monitoring and flood gauging all over the Horizons region. I work daily with different people, pieces of technology, radios, data loggers and radio communications.
What sort of skills do you need to undertake your role?
Organization skills, you need to be onto it when it comes to wiring electricity, modems, an understanding or river/fluvial morphology, geomorphology, geology, how climate systems work/change. A good driving record helps also as most of my time is spend outdoors. A lot can be learnt on the job though.
What qualifications/experience did you bring to your role?
I did a Bachelor of Science in Geography at Victoria University of Wellington with extra emphasis on earth sciences and environmental studies. I am also about to undertake additional studies in environmental management and policy this year.
I was awarded the Don Linklater Memorial Bursary Scholarship from Horizons in my third year of uni which was awesome as Horizons contributed $4,000 towards to my final year's fees. I also worked in the Hydrology team during my university holidays for three years so that provided me with loads of hydrology experience.
What do you enjoy your job and working for Horizons Regional Council?
It's good to be outside a lot and not stuck behind a desk; I've already learnt loads of new skills such as wiring electricity, using and understanding data loggers, modems and radios. My team is great; there are 16 guys which makes for a pretty social environment. Also lots of decent benefits including financial assistance for study fees if I continue to study.
I enjoy working for a regional council too because there are lots of diverse roles and opportunities to obtain experience within other teams such as science, compliance, consents, environmental and project management. The Council has lots of projects on the go that use people from different teams which means to you get to work with different people all the time. Down the track, there are also plenty of opportunities to use my degree and find roles within other areas of Council depending on the career path I want to head down.
Fritha Witton
Consents Planner
What sort of work do you do in your role on a day to day basis?
My day to day job consists of processing a wide range of resource consents and answering general enquiries. This involves communicating with all different types of people, from the general public to consultants and scientists. Most of the resource consents I process require a site visit to be undertaken, so in my time at Horizons I have traveled all over the Region.
What sort of skills do you require in your role?
As a planner it's important that you have good communication skills, be approachable, enthusiastic and be able to deal with a wide range of people. One day you might be carrying out a site visit on a dairy farm and the next day you might be attending a hearing as an expert witness, therefore you need to be able to cope in a wide range of situations. This is a skill in itself. Under the Resource Management Act 1991 we are required to meet certain timeframes when processing resource consents, this makes time management another important skill to master.
What degree did you study at University?
I studied the Bachelor of Resource and Environmental Planning at Massey University, specialising in Human Geography and Development Studies.
What other areas of work could use your degree for?
I could remain in local government working in Policy development, resource consent processing and compliance or I could work for national government. I could also work in the private sector as an environmental consultant.
What do you enjoy about your job?
I love the fact I am challenged everyday. I really enjoy working alongside all different types of people. Another great thing is I get to go out onsite and experience things first hand. I have a great, fun team around me who make me laugh everyday and this really makes coming to work worthwhile.
Why do you enjoy working for Horizons Regional Council?
Horizons Regional Council is a great organisation to work for. In my short amount of time here I feel like I have been given every opportunity to develop my career further. On top of this, I have a great support network around me. The Council also has great benefits available, from offering scholarships and cadetships to being open to different options to ensure employees have the most productive work life balance.
Where Your Career With Horizons Can Take You
We'll help you, as a Horizon's employee, to develop your career in a way that is best for you.
At Horizons we know business success is driven by excellent people. We are committed to being a good employer and encourage a motivated and well-informed workforce. We have a strong focus on staff training, development and job satisfaction and consider ourselves an innovative organisation keen to further develop a safe and stimulating work environment.
You have many career options within Horizons Regional Council. We invest in our high-performers to help you to have the career you want. For example, professionals may wish to continue developing their specialist expertise, or they may prefer to progress into management. Both options are available.
Every employee helps us to meet our obligations to the community. No matter what your job, we acknowledge its value within one of the Horizons career pathways.
We can also suggest a range of tertiary study options to progress you career in a regional council environment.
Want to know more?
Please download our careers brochure which details positions available to graduates and qualifications we look for.
Please contact our Human Resources team on our free phone 0508 800 800 to discuss your career options at Horizons.
Staff Benefits at Horizons
All Horizons staff members receive great staff benefits on top of their remuneration. As a good employer, we promote employee wellness, development and work-life balance as part of our culture.
All employees receive the following benefits:
Work/Life Balance
Horizons promotes work life balance through our Lifestyle Policy which offers benefits such as Christmas close down, 4 day working weeks, part-time working arrangements, time off in lieu, 5 weeks annual leave after 2 years and various types of leave such as a career breaks to take an OE and sporting and cultural leave.
We also ensure that work outside of hours is kept to a minimum.
Health and Wellness
- Free health checks for staff
- Life Insurance for all employees
- Active social club & sports teams
- In house sporting challenges and competitions
- Free car parking.
- Subsidised Corporate Clothing.
- Parental Leave and childcare subsidies.
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP) to provide staff with workplace support and a professional confidential counseling service.
Training and Development
- On the job training and availability to attend courses to further your learning and development.
- The ability to apply for help with study fees.
- Financial support towards professional subscription fees.
- Creation of individualised personal development plans to grow you in your career with Horizons.
- Coaching and mentoring provided.
- Cadetships and Scholarships available for tertiary students.
