It’s an exciting role, as the Managing Director oversees a diverse portfolio of business entities, and also holds non-executive board positions. You will be the “right hand,” ensuring quality project management, working with an exceptional leadership team, and implementing the fundamentals of the Four Disciplines of Execution.
Key Responsibilities
• Complex Portfolio Management: Coordinate activities across multiple business entities, ensuring the MD is briefed and prepared for every meeting.
• Board & Governance Support: Manage the lifecycle of board meetings, including the collation and distribution of digital board packs, drafting agendas, and tracking post-meeting action items.
• Strategic Inbox & Diary Control: Act as a sophisticated gatekeeper, prioritising high-value stakeholder interactions and managing a fluid, high-volume calendar.
• Logistics: Coordinate travel and accommodation arrangements.
• Project Oversight: Lead business projects and research tasks to support the MD strategic decision-making.
• Personal Support: Manage select personal administrative matters to support executive effectiveness and performance.
The Ideal Candidate
• Experience as an EA or PA to a senior leader, ideally within a multi-entity or group structure.
• Ability to build relationships with board members, investors, and staff at all levels with absolute discretion.
• Proficient in Microsoft 365 and board portal software i.e. BoardPro
• A “forward-leaning” mindset with the ability to anticipate needs before they are articulated.
• Calm under pressure and comfortable navigating ambiguity in a fast-paced, 2026 environment.
Key Selling Points
• Competitive Remuneration
• Subsidised Health Insurance
• Paid day off on your birthday
Why join Symons Group?
You’ll be trusted with real ownership, backed by clear role boundaries, and supported by leaders who value standards, fairness, and doing things properly.
If this role and Symons Group sounds like you, we’d like to hear from you.
Applicants should have NZ residency
Apply Now
We’re looking for a People & Performance Manager to own the people-performance system for our driver workforce. This is a senior role for someone confident in establishing and maintaining boundaries, addressing underperformance early, and following issues through to resolution.
The Role
This role exists to hold front-line staff to account fairly, consistently, and professionally, with a specific focus on Symons Transport drivers.
You will own the people-performance system end-to-end – from recruitment through to performance management and exit – ensuring expectations are clear, behaviour is addressed early, and issues are resolved rather than allowed to linger. This role is accountable for outcomes, not just activity.
• Lead recruitment, onboarding, and performance management of our staff
• Initiate and lead difficult performance and behaviour conversations early
• Address repeated or unresolved underperformance rather than deferring it
• Apply people-performance processes consistently and fairly
• Maintain clear, accurate documentation of conversations, decisions, and outcomes
• Support supervisors and managers to hold expectations and standards
• Recognise and reinforce good performance, not just manage poor behaviour
This role does not own training system design or delivery. Training needs and competency gaps are managed by the Training & Capability Manager; this role owns the behavioural and performance response where issues persist. You will not be expected to be an employment law specialist. Symons Group works with an external HR advisory service (Peninsula) to provide guidance on employment law, process, and documentation. This includes support with disciplinary correspondence, meeting invitations, and outcome letters where required.
What matters most in this role is your ability to:
• identify and address people-performance issues early,
• gather and present clear evidence, and
• lead the human conversations at the front end of any process.
About you
This role suits someone who is calm, grounded, and comfortable with accountability with the following skillsets.
• Proven ability to hold people to account fairly and consistently
• Confidence in initiating difficult conversations without waiting for escalation
• Emotional steadiness in conflict and under pressure
• Strong discipline in applying people-performance processes and maintaining clear documentation
• Low tolerance for unresolved or repeatedly deferred performance issues
• Clear, direct communication that maintains respect without avoidance
Why join Symons Group?
You’ll be trusted with real responsibility, supported by clear role boundaries, and backed by leaders who value clarity, fairness, and doing the right thing – even when it’s hard.
If you believe that kindness and accountability can coexist, and that unresolved issues don’t help anyone, we’d like to hear from you.
Applicants should have NZ residency
Apply Now
We’re looking for a Training & Capability Manager to own our driver training and competency system end-to-end. This is a senior, hands-on role for someone who cares as much about completion, evidence, and standards as they do about delivery.
The Role
At Symons Group, training isn’t about running sessions – it’s about building and proving competence. This position owns the training system for our driver workforce across Symons Group. You will be accountable for ensuring training is identified early, designed to a high standard, completed properly, and documented in a way that stands up to scrutiny.
Key Responsibilities
The Training & Capability Manager is accountable for outcomes, not just activity. This role will suit someone who enjoys seeing things finished properly, not just started. You will:
• Proactively identify training needs using incident data, near misses, behaviour trends, and operational feedback
• Design and improve training so it is clear, repeatable, and assessable
• Ensure mandatory and critical training is completed to standard – including following up when it isn’t
• Maintain clean, auditable training records and evidence
• Work closely with senior drivers and operational leaders to ensure training is applied consistently
• Close training gaps rather than simply recording them
• Maintain confidence with auditors, customers, and external stakeholders through a defensible training framework
You will not manage performance or discipline – behavioural issues are handed over for follow-through – but you are accountable for ensuring remedial training is completed and documented.
This role is not
• A facilitation-only or “delivery” role
• A position where training stops once a session is run
• A role for someone who loses interest after the engaging part is over
About you
This role suits someone comfortable with structure, persistence, and accountability.
You are likely to bring:
• Proven ability to own a function and deliver outcomes, not just coordinate activity
• Strong follow-through and persistence, including with repetitive or low-glamour tasks
• High comfort with documentation, evidence, and audit standards
• Excellent organisation and attention to detail, even under pressure
• Credibility in a transport, heavy vehicle, or operational environment
• Confidence in designing and delivering training, including classroom-based delivery
• A mindset that values doing the same thing well, repeatedly, over novelty
Looking ahead
Symons Group continues to invest in building internal capability and strengthening our training framework. While the core focus of this role is firmly on delivering today’s training outcomes, there is scope for the role to grow over time as our training and capability needs evolve.
An “I endorsement” is not currently required for this role. However, as our training capability continues to develop, it may become relevant in the future. For that reason, an interest in, or eligibility to obtain an I endorsement would be an advantage, and support can be provided for the right person.
Why join Symons Group?
You’ll be trusted with real ownership, backed by clear role boundaries, and supported by leaders who value standards, fairness, and doing things properly.
If you’re someone who takes pride in closing the loop, not just opening it, we’d like to hear from you.
Applicants should have NZ residency
Apply Now