Career Pathways
What career path will you take?
During your time in the GovTechTalent graduate programme, you will have the opportunity to work in a variety of roles within various government agencies. You won’t necessarily be doing ‘technical’ work. For example, your role could be a Policy Analyst in the Cybersecurity team or a Project Coordinator in the digital integration space, using your practical knowledge and applying it to improve Aotearoa’s digital and technological capabilities.
Your first placement will be carefully selected for you by the GovTechTalent team based on your skills, interests, and the positions available within each agency. For your second placement, you’ll have more input into the type of role you are selected for and will have a say about which agency you work in.
Variety of Career Pathways Available
While the work offerings vary from rotation to rotation, here are some of the broad categories of work that you’ll get involved with.
Note that these categories change with every rotation so don’t worry if none of them resonate with you. We’ll be in touch with you from the time you sign your letter until you start with us so that we can get a good idea of what opportunities suit you best.
Digital Integrator
Technology
Cybersecurity
User Experience (UX) and Service Design (SD)
Project Delivery
Information and Data
Digital Integrator
In a digital integrator role, you’ll put your future thinking skills to work. You will research digital trends to facilitate government's transition into digital. You will communicate your ideas with colleagues and managers to streamline services to the public.
As part of this role, you will be looking at how government can take advantage of existing digital tools, as well as understanding how these tools can be used to improve customer services.
Your responsibilities may include:
- Analysing how digital will impact New Zealand. Researching what the digital future looks like and share your expertise with colleagues and managers.
- Building relationships across multiple government agencies. You will help guide agencies towards the digital future, helping them see the benefits of a “one government” approach to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).
- Supporting the adoption of cloud services. You will help your agency to adopt cloud infrastructure, platforms and software.
- Identifying Application Programming Interface (API) opportunities. You will scope how agencies currently use API’s and see where advancements can be made.
Future career opportunities:
- Business Analyst
- Digital Strategist
- Relationship Manager
- Policy Analyst/Adviser
- Digital Communications Adviser
- Assurance Adviser
Technology
You will grow and develop your understanding of technology in a business context and help develop solutions that are designed for the customer by being aware of the needs of New Zealanders. You will gain hands-on skills in a technology-oriented roles.
Your responsibilities may include:
- Identifying areas where technology could improve processes and services. Connecting the needs of the agency with technology opportunities.
- Researching latest trends in technology and utilising them within the agency.
- Coding
- application development (designing and building Application Programming Interfaces (API) etc.)
- mobile applications design and development
- web development (building and maintaining websites, designing and implementing data management sites)
- Providing technical support to those who are non-technical.
- Communicating ways in which technology can allow staff to work more effectively and productively. Implementing some of these technologies.
- Working with your agency’s technology vendors (e.g. Vodafone, IBM, Microsoft) on managing the services they provide to your agency.
Future career opportunities:
- Software Engineer
- Web Developer
- Database Administrator
- Network Engineer
- Web Developer
- Solution Architect
- Software Integration Engineer
Cybersecurity
You’ll learn how government keeps its systems secure and manages risk. To do this, you will assess risks and remain solution focused.
In a cybersecurity role, you’ll evaluate risks so that the agency can make informed decisions. Cybersecurity is about protecting data and information between government, businesses and the public. Done securely, you will help build trust and confidence in government services in a digital world.
Your responsibilities may include:
- Advising on the management and protection of personal information. Researching and communicating the best ways of protecting personal information.
- Advising on cybersecurity policies and measures. In doing this, your expertise will help strengthen and protect Aotearoa’s networks, computers, programmes and data.
- Documenting cybersecurity procedures. Assess the current state of cybersecurity and work with relevant people to map out security procedures.
- Ensuring activities are aligned with operational cybersecurity policies and standards.
- Testing the cybersecurity environment within an agency. You will test your agency’s susceptibility to threats.
Future career opportunities:
- Network Security Administrator
- Information and Systems Security Consultant
- Cybersecurity Analyst
- Accreditor
- Technical Security Engineer
User Experience (UX) and Service Design (SD)
User Experience (UX) and Service Design’s (SD) purpose is to make things simple for the customer. You need to be customer focused, creative and detail oriented.
In a UX and SD role, you’ll work in a team designing and developing tools and services that assist with the interaction between the government and the public. Thinking of the overall experience of the user, you will evaluate and improve upon the ways government can best serve New Zealanders.
Your responsibilities may include:
- Planning the user experience process. You will work alongside the UX team to brainstorm what needs to be achieved and map out the goals of the project.
- Researching what is needed for the service. You will liaise with customers and stakeholders to ensure that the service is being designed around the needs of the user.
- Analysing data from research you’ll ensure your team's design assumptions are valid.
- Gathering ideas from users, you’ll sketch and design a prototype of a service as well as refine the product.
- Testing for any inconsistencies or issues, e.g., functional, performance, usability and stress testing.
- Finalising the service. This involves more collaboration! You will move away from creating and validating ideas to working with developers to promote the service.
The difference between UX and SD
UX and SD share many common methods and tools, especially in the early stages of their respective processes. Interviews, workshops and secondary research are typically used in both. They differ however, in the scope, analysis and application of the early discovery work.
UX designers focus on the individual (mostly digital) touchpoints. Service Designers focus on the full end-to-end experience which may include digital touchpoints – but also physical infrastructure, teams, and functions or processes that those teams do.
Future career opportunities:
- User Experience Analyst
- User Experience Designer
- Digital Designer
- Service Designer
- Tester
Project Delivery
In a project delivery role, you’ll work in a project team delivering and monitoring projects. You’ll work on small to large scale projects helping to ensure that projects are delivered according to their scope and purpose. You’ll be organised, determined and enjoy working with people.
By being involved at different stages of a project's lifecycle, you will be exposed to how projects are designed and run. Project delivery experience will stand you in good stead for a number of roles in the future.
Your responsibilities may include:
Supporting projects and their project teams to be on track. Responsibility for keeping everything organised and ensuring the project is running smoothly.
Assisting with project documentation. Tracking the progress of the project and communicating this with team members and stakeholders.
Reviewing the project's processes and identifying areas for improvement.
Assisting with the development of business cases. Identifying the project needs and communicating this with the project stakeholders.
Identifying opportunities to improve service design. You will take a customer centred approach when reviewing the project and suggest ways to make it more relevant to end users.
Future career opportunities:
- Project Coordinator
- Project Manager
- Project Office Manager
- Change Manager
Information and Data
This role will allow you to learn about how to use data collection and analysis to provide insights that will help agencies ask the right questions and support Aotearoa’s data-driven future.
In an information and data role, you’ll collate and present information and data in a way that is easy to understand and collaborate with colleagues and managers on how to keep the government’s information and data safe.
Your responsibilities may include:
Data collection and analysis. You will draw insights from data and share these insights in an easily digestible way.
Using data insights to shape the decision-making process. Presenting options to stakeholders to support informed decisions and outcomes.
Providing opportunities for data to be released so that others can use it.
Ensuring that information and data is managed safely. This involves scoping current information and data practices, recommending and implementing improvements.
Contributing to the development and maintenance of data and information standards.
Future career opportunities:
- Information Management Specialist
- Data Analyst
- Data or Information Architect
- Geospatial Analyst
