Kaipara District Council has moved to boost its in-house capacity and lessen its reliance on external consultants.
The council will advertise for four roles: a Planning and Community General Manager, Revenue Manager, Planning Engineer, and Resource Consents Team Leader.
Chief Executive Steve Ruru said the advertising follows a review of council’s staffing requirements which aimed to boost its in-house capability in areas like contract management, project management, policy, planning and finance.
“In the past council outsourced those skills and that left the organisation vulnerable and relatively poorly resourced,” Mr Ruru said.
“We need people on board who are skilled and well-trained with the knowledge, skills and experience to do their jobs at a very high level. I also wanted clearer lines of responsibility and accountability.”
The review has resulted in the creation of three groups within the council – one focusing on planning and community, one focusing on finance and one on operations. A general manager will head each group. Two managers were already in place and the third would be recruited.
Mr Ruru said staff had been consulted throughout the review process and understood the need for change.
The review had also driven changes to contracts with the council’s external consultants, freeing up resources so the work could be completed in-house.
Mr Ruru said council was also looking to strengthen its engineering capacity and would soon be recruiting for an Operations Engineer and Asset Management Information Officer to work within its water services area.
The changes meant that council could lessen its reliance on external contractors and would reduce costs while increasing internal capability and the effectiveness of the services delivered.
