POSITION DESCRIPTION
Position :
Solicitor
Location :
Wellington
Responsible to :
Manager Legal
Effective:
1 July 2010
Context of the Position
To provide legal advice to the Minister and the Ministry.
About the Ministry
The Ministry’s role is to ensure our transport system helps New Zealand thrive.
As a policy ministry, it is our role to provide strategic sector knowledge, day-to-day
transport advice, and a programme of work that meets the government’s priorities of
the day. We work closely with transport Crown agencies to deliver results.
As a flexible and responsive ministry, we believe that:
 transport connects us: it is vital to society and the economy
 we see the big picture of transport
 we shape the transport system for the long term
 we ensure quality, innovation and value in everything we do
 we deliver results by working with and through others
 we are a great place to work
Direct contribution to the role of the Ministry
The Solicitor’s direct contribution to the Ministry achieving its role is to provide a high
quality legal service to the Ministry and Ministers.
Purpose and Key Accountabilities
Purpose of the Role
Provide general legal advice
Solicitor
Key Accountabilities and Deliverables
 Provide general legal advice to Ministers and the
Ministry
 Provide legal advice on the development of policy,
including consistency with the New Zealand Bill of
Rights Act, Treaty of Waitangi, Constitution Act, Official
Information Act, Privacy Act, international law and other
aspects of the Legislation Advisory Committee’s
Guidelines
 Provide legal and other services related to new and
amending legislation, including instructing
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General functions
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Parliamentary Counsel, attending cabinet committees
and assisting at Select Committees
Provide input into draft transport rules and associated
regulations, including preparing drafting instructions
and liaison with transport agencies and other
Government Departments
Provide legal advice on Official Information Act and
Privacy Act requests
Process roading orders from the New Zealand
Transport Agency and local authorities, as well as
orders of the Maori Land Court involving proclamations
and gazette notices
Process consents by the Chief Executive to delegations
by the transport crown entities
Draft and review contracts and agreements and review
other documents relating to the Ministry’s activities
Instruct external counsel to provide legal advice
Ensure records are created and maintained in
accordance with the Public Records Act 2005 (specific
recordkeeping responsibilities are located in the
Ministry’s Information Management Policy under
“Information ownership, roles and responsibilities”)
Undertake any other tasks, as requested
Person Specification
Qualifications
 The ability to hold a current legal practising certificate
Experience and skills
 Sound judgement and analytical skills
 An interest in the development of legislation
 Initiative and the ability to work to deadlines
 Sound time management skills
 Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work effectively as part of a team
 Well developed research and communication skills.
Core Competencies (Per Lominger Leadership Architect Library)
Managing diverse relationships
Customer focus
 Is dedicated to meeting the expectations and requirements of internal and
external customers
 Gets first-hand customer information and uses it for improvements in products
and services
 Acts with customers in mind
 Establishes and maintains effective relationships with customers and gains their
trust and respect
Acting with honour and character
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Integrity and trust
 Is widely trusted
 Is seen as a direct, truthful individual
 Can present the unvarnished truth in an appropriate and helpful manner
 Keeps confidences
 Admits mistakes
 Doesn’t misrepresent her/himself for personal gain
Understanding the business
Functional/technical skills
 Has the functional and technical knowledge and skills to do the job at a high level
of accomplishment
Keeping on point
Priority setting
 Spends his/her time and the time of others on what’s important
 Quickly zeroes in on the critical few and puts the trivial many aside
 Can quickly sense what will help or hinder in accomplishing a goal
 Eliminates roadblocks
 Creates focus
Making complex decisions
Problem solving
 Uses rigorous logic and methods to solve difficult problems with effective
solutions
 Probes all fruitful sources for answers
 Can see hidden problems
 Is excellent at honest analysis
 Looks beyond the obvious and doesn’t stop at first answers
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Communicating effectively
Written communications
 Is able to write clearly and succinctly in a variety of communication settings and
styles
 Can get messages across that have the desired effect
Other Important Competencies (Per Lominger Leadership Architect Library)
Approachability
 Is easy to approach and talk to
 Spends the extra effort to put others at ease
 Can be warm, pleasant, and gracious
 Is sensitive to and patient with the interpersonal anxieties of others
 Builds rapport well
 Is a good listener
 Is an early knower, getting informal and incomplete information in time to do
something about it
Ethics and values
 Adheres to an appropriate (for the setting) and effective set of core values and
beliefs during both good and bad times
 Acts in line with those values
 Rewards the right values and disapproves of others
 Practises what (s)he preaches
Intellectual horsepower
 Is bright and intelligent
 Deals with concepts and complexity comfortably
 Described as intellectually sharp, capable, and agile
Self-knowledge
 Knows personal strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and limits
 Seeks feedback
 Gains insights from mistakes
 Is open to criticism
 Isn’t defensive
 Is receptive to talking about shortcomings
 Looks forward to balanced (+’s and –‘s) performance reviews and career
discussions
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