Service Manager - Community Dental Service

Mō tēnei tūranga mahi | About this role

• Based at Burwood Hospital
• Full time permanent opportunity 40 hours per week
• Lead a team to achieve outstanding service outcomes

About the role

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Waitaha Community Dental Service provides oral health services to over 97,000 children aged 0-13 in Canterbury and South Canterbury and supports the delivery of oral services to adolescents. There are 110 front-line clinical staff who work with modern equipment in 22 mobile dental units and 13 dental clinics.

The Service Manager - Community Dental Service will lead and manage the day to day operations of the service, working collaboratively with the Clinical Manager and Clinical Director to ensure excellent patient outcomes and fostering a culture of continuous improvement. This role involves developing and reporting on business and operational plans, managing budgets, supporting clinical teams, and driving performance against health targets. 

In this role, you will be responsible for:

• Working in partnership with the clinical leaders, to provide leadership and management for clinical services
• Supporting the delivery of high quality patient care and outcomes and having robust systems to evaluate performance against health targets alongside clinical leaders
• Develop, monitor, and report on annual budgets, operational and business plans
• The achievement of performance targets and indicators within clinical services
• Ensuring staff are appropriately supported to deliver on service objectives through the development and implementation of effective systems and processes
• Ensuring the health, safety and wellbeing of all staff while at work
  

About You

We are looking for an enthusiastic, energetic, innovative person to join us in this leadership role as Sevice Manager of our Community Dental Service. This is an exciting opportunity to lead staff in strengthening support for whānau and improving outcomes in the first 2000 days of life, while overseeing the day to day management of the service.

You - ll be working alongside clinical staff and will be well supported by a strong administration team to further enhance service delivery and ensure equity of outcomes with a focus on Māori and Pacific children and those from disadvantaged backgrounds. You will be a person who embraces innovation, can work with ambiguity and is comfortable engaging with communities and other oral health providers across the motu. 

Skills  and Qualifications:

• Proven leadership experience in healthcare or service management
• Experience in developing, monitoring, and reporting on business and operational plans, ensuring alignment with organisational goals, and meeting health service targets
• Strong financial acumen, including managing budgets and achieving financial and performance targets within clinical services
• Ability to motivate, guide, and empower staff to achieve collective goals while fostering an inclusive, positive, and high-performing team culture
• Competency with te ao Māori, tikanga, and te reo Māori or a commitment to starting your journey and taking ownership of your learning and growth
• Strong focus on service innovation and quality improvement, using data-driven insights to enhance patient flow, service delivery, and operational efficiency
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to clearly convey messages, provide constructive feedback, and maintain open lines of communication with all team members
• A post-graduate qualification in management is desirable but not essential

Working for Health New Zealand

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is - the weaving of wellnesses. We're dedicated to ensuring excellent healthcare for the people of Aotearoa/New Zealand. The Equity Work Programme at Health NZ focuses on helping everyone in the health system think about equity when they do their work. It also promotes the cultural change needed for the whole system to reach equity in health outcomes.

Our people are at the heart of everything we do. Health New Zealand are committed to being good employers and honouring our equal employment opportunity obligations.

Our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion

We want to see the real you in your application and welcome the real you on board if you come and work with us. Skills are gained across many areas of our life, not just in formal employment. If you can demonstrate the skills listed in the ad, but the experience was gained through whānau life, community or mahi aroha (volunteering) we encourage you to apply and share your story with us in your cover letter.

We particularly welcome applications from our diverse Māori, Pacific, disabled, and rainbow communities.

How to Apply

To view the position description and/or apply for the role please click - apply now. - All applications must be submitted through our online careers portal before 11:59pm on Sunday, 2nd February. If you have any questions about the role, please contact Alex Jay at Alexandra.jay@tewhatuora.govt.nz