About Us

Every day, our Inspectorate works across the country to uphold the Animal Welfare Act and ensure animals are protected from harm.

This role offers a chance to make a real difference — by strengthening our compliance and enforcement capability, you’ll help us deliver on our mission to give every animal in New Zealand the life they deserve.

About the Role

We have an exciting opportunity for a Compliance Support Specialist to join our inspectorate team.

In this role, you’ll provide operational support by assessing capability gaps within the SPCA Inspectorate and developing and implementing training and mentorship strategies to improve the skills and capabilities of team leaders and inspectors.

You will be responsible for reviewing and analysing investigation files in order to offer expert guidance to the inspectorate on complex or challenging cases and provide continuous learning by supervising and supporting employee skills and leadership growth to ensure the delivery of SPCA compliance and enforcement services aligns with SPCA national strategies and plans.

This is a role for someone who thrives on combining technical knowledge with people development — balancing a deep understanding of compliance and investigative practice with the ability to support, coach, and uplift others.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Reviewing and analysing investigation, prosecution, and compliance files to ensure legal accuracy and best practice.
• Providing technical guidance and operational support to inspectors and team leaders.
• Identifying capability gaps within the Inspectorate and leading training, mentoring, and development programs.
• Supporting consistency in the application of SPCA policies, procedures, and compliance strategies nationwide.
• Building strong working relationships with internal teams, legal partners, and external stakeholders including MPI, NZ Police, and local authorities.
• Contributing to the continuous improvement of SPCA’s compliance and enforcement function.

About You

You’ll bring both technical expertise and a people-first approach, with the ability to balance compliance excellence and the development of others.

Skills & Experience:

• Proven experience in a training, capability-building, or mentoring role within a regulatory or compliance environment.
• Strong knowledge of investigative processes, compliance, and enforcement strategies.
• Experience reviewing case files, evidential sufficiency, and legal frameworks (e.g. Search and Surveillance Act, Evidence Act, Bill of Rights).
• Demonstrated ability to coach, train, and mentor individuals and teams to lift performance.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and judgement skills.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including formal reporting.

Desirable:

• Relevant qualification in training, adult education, or compliance.
• Experience in animal welfare or a comparable regulatory environment.
• Experience and desire to build consensus and buy-in across teams.

SPCA Purrrks

At SPCA, working with purpose is just the beginning. Here’s what we offer:

• Flexible working options.
• A paid day off on your birthday – because you deserve it.
• A workplace culture where collaboration, development, and kindness are key.
• Exclusive discounts and benefits, including pet insurance and retail offers.
• Access to 24/7 confidential wellness support.
• The satisfaction of knowing your work is directly improving the lives of animals across Aotearoa.

How to Apply

Excited to join the team? We’d love to hear from you! Click Apply Now to visit our careers portal and submit your application. Please note that emailed CVs will not be accepted. Applications are reviewed as they’re received, so don’t wait — apply today!

We value diversity and welcome applicants from all backgrounds. All candidates must have the legal right to work in New Zealand.