"Senior Space Planning Advisor"

Te Ratonga Whakahaere Whare| Facilities Management

Located in Ōtautahi | Christchurch, Aotearoa | New Zealand

5 weeks annual leave +5 days university holidays

Professional development opportunities

Generous superannuation provisions (up to 6.75% employer contribution)

Permanent position

Kia hiwa rā, kia hiwa rā! He hiahia, he pūkenga nōu ki te mahi a te Senior Space Planning Advisor? Nāia te pōwhiri nā Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha kia tono mai i te tūranga nei.

Āu Mahi | What You Will Do

As a Senior Space Planning Advisor within Facilities Management, you will play a key role in shaping how space is planned, managed, and utilised across the University. This role has a strong focus on establishing, embedding, and improving clear space planning processes, ensuring consistent, transparent, and well-informed outcomes aligned with UC’s strategic priorities.

Key responsibilities include:

Designing, implementing, and maintaining clear space planning processes, frameworks, and procedures.

Collecting, analysing, and translating stakeholder information into structured space planning advice.

Proactively engaging with faculties and departments to support informed and timely space decisions.

Developing and maintaining documentation, data capture standards, and process mechanisms for managing space.

Working closely with the Strategic Space Manager, Campus Information Coordinator and Facilities Management teams to align processes with technical documentation.

Contributing to the continuous improvement of space planning practices, tools, and policies.

Mōu | Who You Are

You are a highly organised, process-driven professional who enjoys bringing clarity to complex environments. You are comfortable setting up processes from scratch and working collaboratively across diverse stakeholder groups.

You will also have:

At least 3 years’ experience in a coordination, planning, or advisory role within a complex organisation.

Demonstrated experience building and embedding processes and procedures.

Strong stakeholder engagement skills, including information gathering and facilitation.

Excellent organisational skills and high attention to detail.

Strong analytical thinking and written communication skills.

Effective leadership, coordination, motivational, negotiation, and dispute resolution skills.

Active commitment to upholding the values, tikanga, kawa of cultural practice and traditions as guided by mana whenua, Ngāi Tūāhuriri, and valuing te reo Māori.

Competency in Te Reo Māori me ōna tikanga (advantageous).

Mahi Ngātahi | Who You Will Work With

You will be part of the Facilities Management team, working closely with the Strategic Space Manager, Campus Coordinator, project teams, and stakeholders across faculties and Professional Services.

Together, you will support UC’s vision of delivering fit-for-purpose, efficient, and future-focused learning and working environments.

Ngā Painga o UC | Why UC

At UC, being part of our team means more than just a job. We are committed to supporting our kaimahi | staff’s career and wellbeing with benefits designed to help our kaimahi grow and feel connected, supported and valued. 

UC’s Benefits approach is shaped by Ngā Uara | Our Values Whanaungatanga, Tiakitanga, and Manaakitanga. They are designed to be relevant, support and inspire our people, they include:

5 weeks annual leave +5 days university holidays

UC Parental Leave (up to 9 weeks paid) + 26 weeks Government paid parental leave and onsite childcare facility

generous employer contribution to superannuation (up to 6.75%)

flexible working arrangements

professional development and study opportunities

supportive working environment

a wide range of retail discounts across shopping, entertainment and travel

on-campus staff discounts including UC RecCentre

living in revitalised Ōtautahi | Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand

a unique working environment in a beautiful campus with access to UC facilities such as UC RecCentre and Staff Club at discounted rates plus onsite cafés and eateries, and more.

For more information, please visit us: https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/about-uc/work-at-uc/benefits-working-uc .

For more information about Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury, please visit https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/.

The closing date for this position is: 3 March 2026 (midnight, NZ time)

Please note applications will be reviewed after the close date.

Pēhea te tono mai | How You Apply

Applications for this position must be submitted via our careers website and should include a cover letter and resume.

Please note, we do not accept applications by email, however we are happy to answer your queries in relation to the application process, please forward these to WorkatUC@canterbury.ac.nz

You must have Aotearoa New Zealand or Australian citizenship/permanent residency or hold a valid NZ work visa to be considered for this role.