Play Specialist Practice Supervisor - Kidz First

Full time 1FTE, Permanent
Remuneration as per PSA SECA guidelines

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is firmly grounded in the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and is committed to building a health system that serves all New Zealanders.

Are you passionate about supporting tamariki and their whaanau through the challenges of illness and hospitalisation? Join our Kidz First team as a Play Specialist and help us create meaningful, therapeutic play experiences that make a real difference in the lives of children and young people.

At Kidz First, we believe in delivering whaanau-centred, culturally safe care that recognises the unique developmental and emotional needs of each child. As a Play Specialist, you’ll use play as a therapeutic tool to reduce anxiety, enhance understanding, and promote resilience in tamariki who are navigating the hospital journey.

About the role

As a Practice Supervisor, you will support colleagues with their clinical work, and the team leader to meet Ministry of Education and Health NZ requirements. This role has a balance of clinical work as a play specialist and leadership/management responsibilities.

Play specialist role responsibilities include:

• Planning and delivering play programmes tailored to individual clinical, emotional, and developmental needs
• Supporting children, young people and whaanau during procedures, admissions, and treatment through distraction, preparation, and coping strategies
• Advocating for child-friendly spaces and practices within the hospital setting
• Partnering with whaanau to maintain a sense of normality and empowerment throughout their hospital stay

Leadership/management responsibilities include:

• Having a thorough understanding of Ministry of Education requirements for ECE services and supporting the service to meet these requirements
• Encouraging and supporting the growth of colleagues through orientation, mentoring, supervision, and professional growth cycles
• Supporting and planning professional development for the service including the facilitation of the Preceptorship modules
• Supporting service management through strategic and annual planning, recruitment, appraisal processes, and Ministry of Education funding
• Contributing to service development through policy and guideline development and facilitating weekly team meetings

About you

We are looking for someone who brings:

• A degree qualification with a focus on ECE/primary teaching and/or child development
• Full teacher registration and a current Practicing Certificate
• A minimum of 7 years of experience working in healthcare and education settings
• Current Full Hospital Play Specialist Registration

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills with a compassionate and professional approach
• A commitment to equity and culturally responsive practice, especially for Maaori and Pacific whaanau

Working at 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 Maori, Pacific, disabled, and rainbow communities.

How to apply

To apply please click 'apply now'. All applications must be submitted through our online career’s portal by 24^th September 2025. To view the job description, please click here.

For more information, please contact Amy on amy.lin@middlemore.co.nz.

At Counties Manukau Health people and their lives matter to us. We are a values based and inclusive organisation that is committed to delivering the best health outcomes for our community. To help us achieve this we need a workforce that reflects the population we serve. We strongly encourage applications from all backgrounds who share our values and have a passion to work in our community and would greatly value seeing applicants from our Maaori and Pacific communities. We are also committed to our Disability Strategy, which focuses on people with disabilities; they are our patients, whaanau, community and our staff - all carefully considered in our action plan. Together we will improve the accessibility needs for everyone who has a disability. Our values are Valuing Everyone- Whakawhanaungatanga , Kind –Manaakitanga, Together –Kotahitanga, Excellent- Rangatiratanga. If these are your values too, then join us today.