Mahia ngā mahi kei tamariki ana - Make the most of your opportunities as a youth

Are you passionate about the health and wellbeing of our communities and want to be part of the journey to improve the lives of all New Zealanders? Would you like to contribute to the wellbeing of the diverse New Zealand population, and help our communities to build better social-connections and develop their knowledge and skills through play, active recreation and sport? Nau mai haere mai ki Sport NZ Ihi Aotearoa.

The Sport New Zealand Ihi Aotearoa Graduate Programme aims to support the leadership development of talented individuals who aspire to work in the play, active recreation and sport sector. It is a unique opportunity that enables graduates to identify and develop areas for personal and professional growth, gain valuable work experience, contribute to a diverse range of projects, and build professional relationships while working alongside sector leaders.

Each year we look for degree qualified graduates to join our team and start our full-time Graduate Programme with Sport NZ from mid-January the following year. The programme is a paid, two-year fixed term opportunity, based at the Sport NZ Wellington office for the first year, before moving into two sector placements of your choice in year two. These placements can be located anywhere within New Zealand.

We are looking for a graduate with:

• Awareness of, and commitment to honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi
• Leadership potential
• Knowledge and passion about the play, active recreation, and sport sector
• Fantastic initiative, self-motivation, openness and being ready to learn and act for impact in a fast-moving environment
• An academic qualification from a diverse range of degrees.

You can expect from the programme:

• A choice of a mentor from Sport NZ staff who supports you for the full two years
• A personalised work plan - you get to choose which projects you become involved in
• Leadership opportunities throughout year one (for example, as project lead, facilitating and directing working groups, presenting at public speaking opportunities, or attending professional development opportunities)
• Networks and connections across the sector
• Choice over your year two placements.

When applying, please include your academic transcript with your CV, and a succinct one-pager outlining;

• your leadership potential, what leadership means to you and how you have demonstrated this to date
• what you hope to gain from this opportunity
• why you are the best candidate for this role and,
• who or who drives you to succeed

For more detail on Sport NZ's Graduate Programme, please see information on Sport NZ's careers website.   We recommend you read the job description below to further understand what we're looking for and what you can look forward to from this unique opportunity.

If the careers page and/or job description leave you with any unanswered questions, please email recruitment@sportnz.org.nz.

GRADUATE WEBINAR

We also have an exciting opportunity for you to hear from our current graduates! Both webinars will be hosted by one first year, and one second year Graduate so you can hear about their different experiences.

Join our online Q&A through Microsoft Teams

• Thursday 3 April 2025: You can access this webinar
• Tuesday 8 April 2025: You can access this webinar here.

Applications close midday, Sunday 4 May 2025. Due to the high volume of candidates applying, applications received after this date will be automatically declined.

Job Details

Reference #28137

Posted on21 Mar 2025

Closes on04 May 2025 23:00

Location(s)Wellington

ExpertiseSport NZ vacancies, Insights, Leadership, Youth Participation (Secondary school age)

Job level(s)Graduate

Work type(s)Fixed term full-time

More details (document)Graduate Programme 2026-2027.pdf

Additional documentGraduate Programme 2026-2027.pdf

Article added: Monday 24 March 2025