Clinical Informatics Director, Centre for Digital Modernisation of Health

Please note: this role is open only to current Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora employees. As Health New Zealand continues to undergo change, affected employees will be given preference and priority for this position. 

 

Clinical Informatics Director

• Work from your local Health NZ office – stay connected to your community while delivering nationwide digital health change 

• Work across Clinical Portfolios within Health New Zealand  

• Secondment role until 15 December 2026  

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is the country's largest employer, delivering universal public healthcare to 5 million New Zealanders.  

We provide essential hospital, specialist, and community health services across 80+ locations - from large urban centres to rural towns and remote communities.  

Our goal is to improve health outcomes for all New Zealanders by delivering equitable, accessible and innovative care.  

About the Role 

This role will work across clinical informatics portfolios within Health New Zealand, some within the Centre for Digital Modernisation of Health (the Centre) which has been established to deliver the Health Digital Investment Plan (HDIP). The Centre will manage the largest technology investment programme in New Zealand to modernise Health NZ's digital capabilities and infrastructure.  

The primary purpose of the Clinical Informatics Director is to provide expert, systemwide clinical informatics oversight to ensure that digital services across Health New Zealand are clinically safe, high quality, and genuinely useful for clinicians, consumers, and whānau. As a senior clinical leader, you will operate at an executive level to embed clinical excellence, digital safety, and patient-centred thinking into national digital health design and delivery. 

In this role, you will lead clinical informatics decision-making within defined boundaries, escalating significant issues such as cross-system, budget-related, etc, where appropriate. You will work closely with national service portfolio owners, Strategy & Design, clinical networks, and digital delivery teams, within Digital Services and/or the Centre to influence national digital priorities and ensure that clinical expertise shapes planning and implementation. Central to your work is establishing strong governance, facilitating clinical stakeholder engagement, ensuring that local insights meaningfully inform national direction, and related matters where appropriate.  

You will champion clinical safety, quality, and digital equity for all communities, including Māori, Pacific, disabled people, and others, ensuring digital services support safe, consistent, and equitable care across the motu. Your leadership will strengthen the clinical voice within digital services while uplifting digital capability and consistency across clinical communities. You will play a key role in shaping short, medium, and long, and longterm system planning, helping to accelerate the spread of clinically valuable innovation nationwide. 

Ultimately, this role ensures that the flow of clinical information across the health system is seamless, safe, and designed to minimise rework, reduce errors, and enhance both clinician and patient experience. By driving high-quality informatics leadership, you will help build a digitally enabled health system that supports better outcomes for all New Zealanders. 

About the Centre for Digital Modernisation of Health  

The Centre represents an unprecedented opportunity to transform healthcare delivery across New Zealand. Established to deliver the HDIP, the Centre will manage large multibillion programmes in investment over the next 10 years to modernise Health NZ's digital capabilities and infrastructure. 

This is a unique, once-in-a-generation opportunity to work at a scale rarely seen in New Zealand - leading digital transformation that will deliver tangible benefits for clinicians, patients, and communities across the motu. The Centre provides the strategic leadership and specialist capability needed to develop and deliver new digital services that will fundamentally improve healthcare delivery. 

The Centre operates as a distinct entity within Health New Zealand, purposefully designed to function differently from business-as-usual operations. With its own dedicated Board responsible for HDIP delivery and Centre performance, it brings together a core team of senior specialists in investment, technology, design, and delivery, supported by world-class technology and implementation partners. 

This role offers a rare chance to be part of the Centre while simultaneously delivering large-scale transformation. We are seeking senior leaders with the experience and expertise to build this capability from the ground up and drive delivery of New Zealand's most ambitious health digital modernisation programme. 

About You 

You're a seasoned clinical leader who can operate across multiple programmes in large organisations, you bring credibility, deep clinical experience, and extensive expertise in digital health. You can translate between clinical and digital worlds with ease, influence at all levels, and help shape systemwide transformation. 

You will bring: 

• An active Annual Practising Certificate (APC) is mandatory (minimum of 0.6 FTE dedicated to this role). 

• Advanced degree in healthcare informatics, IT, clinical discipline, or related field (desired). 

• 5+ years in healthcare IT leadership, including senior responsibility for clinical informatics. 

• 10+ years working in clinical decision-making settings. 

• Proven success implementing and optimising largescale clinical information systems. 

• Deep knowledge of clinical workflows, digital safety, and health information standards (HL7, FHIR, SNOMED, etc.). 

• Experience with strategic planning, governance, and cross-system leadership. 

• Ability to inspire and influence clinical, operational, and digital leaders. 

• Strong strategic thinking and ability to connect system level priorities with operational realities. 

• Ability to model Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations with cultural humility and commitment to equity. 

• Collaborative, innovative, and committed to safe, meaningful digital transformation. 

• Excellent communication skills, able to explain complex concepts across clinical and technical audiences. 

 

Working for Health New Zealand 

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is dedicated to ensuring excellent healthcare for the people of New Zealand. We embrace a workforce that is diverse and inclusive so that we are better positioned to understand and service our community. We welcome applications from our diverse Māori, Pacific, disabled, and rainbow communities.     

How to App

To apply please click “apply now.”  All applications must be submitted through our online careers' portal by Sunday, 15 March 2026. If you have any questions about the role, please contact Ash Mohan at Ash.Mohan@tewhatuora.govt.nz 

Please note: this role is open only to current Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora employees. As Health New Zealand continues to undergo change, affected employees will be given preference and priority for this position.