Senior Technical Business Analyst

Role overview

New Zealand Customs Service is seeking a Senior Technical Business Analyst to join its Digital Travel portfolio in Wellington on a permanent full-time basis. This position is suited to someone who can influence both strategic direction and day-to-day delivery, while also working across the NZTD programme and the end-to-end traveller and border officer systems for air and maritime channels.

The role sits within an organisation focused on border management and on creating a workplace where people feel they belong and are equipped to meet future challenges. The successful person will help the team build the right solutions by digging into the real problem, validating what users and customers need, and shaping delivery from discovery through implementation.

Key purpose of the role

Reporting to the Product Manager for NZTD, the Senior Technical Business Analyst is responsible for giving delivery teams clear, validated requirements and a strong understanding of underlying user and customer needs. You will represent business goals, priorities, drivers, and impacts, and help define what success should look like for each piece of work.

Working closely with stakeholders and subject matter experts, you will write user stories, run refinement sessions and other Agile ceremonies, and help translate larger pieces of work into smaller, value-focused delivery items. The role also acts as a link between team-level work and other government agency business analysts to support the continued development of the Digital Travel product set.

You will partner with the Product Manager and Product Owner to gather feedback throughout the product lifecycle, contribute to discovery activities, lead user acceptance testing, and confirm acceptance for releases.

What you need to bring

To be effective in this role, you should have substantial hands-on experience as a technical business analyst within ICT solution delivery, ideally in software development BAU environments and complex technology settings. You should understand the full product lifecycle and the operational support needs of business-critical services.

Experience working in Agile delivery environments is important, along with familiarity with DevOps, lean, and product management practices. You will need strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to simplify complex ideas and issues for different audiences. The role also calls for strong collaboration, flexibility, adaptability with new technologies and approaches, and solid problem-solving ability.

A practical understanding of software development topics is expected, including programming languages, databases, integrations, DevOps, build pipelines, automation, APIs, cloud concepts, UX design, product development, networking, security compliance, and capacity management.

Working at Customs

New Zealand Customs Service says its mission matters to the safety and success of New Zealand. The organisation aims to provide a strong sense of belonging, support personal growth and job satisfaction, and offer opportunities to learn and develop across a range of roles.

Support offered includes on-the-job training, formal learning and leadership programmes, the ability to move across different roles, an inclusive and supportive team culture, flexible working arrangements within operational requirements, discounted health insurance, and free on-site gyms in some locations. Employees also receive three service holidays in addition to four weeks of annual leave.

Values and team culture

The role sits in a team that values customer and user focus, delivering around value, using data to inform decisions, visibility and transparency, enabling people and teams, and fostering diversity, inclusion, and belonging.

For the Digital Travel team, strong candidates will communicate clearly and directly, collaborate respectfully, work toward shared outcomes, act consistently, welcome honest feedback, care about wellbeing, recognise that every voice matters, and be willing to try new approaches even when the outcome is uncertain.

Eligibility and security requirements

To work in any role at Customs, applicants must be a New Zealand citizen or a New Zealand permanent resident. In addition, applicants must meet residency conditions that include continuous residence in New Zealand for the last five years and being resident in New Zealand at the time of application. Time spent outside New Zealand for periods of six months or more within the last five years may be acceptable if it was preferably in Australia, Canada, the UK, or the USA, and overseas police certificates will be required for those periods abroad.

Applicants must have a background that can be verified and assessed as suitable for a higher level of security clearance. A clear police record is required, and the successful applicant must pass a drug test and will also be subject to random drug testing during employment. These conditions apply to all successful Customs applicants and employees.

How to apply

Applicants are asked to submit a CV and cover letter through the organisation’s online application process. The closing date is 11pm on Thursday 2 July 2026. Applications may be reviewed as they arrive, and interviews may take place before the advertised closing date. Recruitment agencies are not being used for this vacancy. Contact details are available for role-specific questions.

Additional information

This is a permanent full-time position based in Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.

The role is part of the Digital Travel portfolio, which includes NZTD and end-to-end traveller and border officer systems for air and maritime operations.

The organisation also notes its commitment to diversity, equal employment opportunity, and an inclusive workplace.