ILEINI TALOA
Porirua
Summary
Intentional leader, Authentic, and driven by love and passion to help Pacific peoples. I have a great project management skill, people skills and can navigate through ambiguity. I possess excellent problem-solving, communication and interpersonal skills. I am organized and successful at managing multiple priorities with a positive attitude.
Overview
14
14
years of professional experience
Work History
Senior Advisor, Leadership and Development Workstream
Public Service Fale, Public Service Commission
10.2023 - Current
- Lead, organise, plan and deliver on the Fale's Mentoring and Women in Leadership programme.
- Lead and manage the Fale's mentoring and women in leadership programme.
- Organise and deliver leadership training for Pacific leaders to help build capability.
- Scope and respond to bilateral requests through talanoa and understand the needs and priorities for Pacific public service commissioners.
- Ensure that Pacific public service commissioners feel respected, understood, and supported.
- Provide timely and relevant advice to the Pacific public service commissioners.
- Work through others to access and facilitate sharing of knowledge from across the region, including from within the New Zealand public service.
- Influence and facilitate the development of innovative cross system solutions to challenges faced by Pacific public service commissioners.
- Working with international and national civil, non-governmental and cross government groups to enable and support Pacific public service commissioners’ needs.
Senior Advisor, Customer Experience Team
Te Whakatairanga Service Delivery, Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment
04.2022 - 10.2023
- Review campaigns to ensure messaging and communications complies with the Treaty of Waitangi, resonates with Pacific communities, accessible to all, and inclusion.
- Review the Customer Team's working group to ensure its fit for purpose
- Engage, interview, and manage relationships with key stakeholders internally
- Foster relationship across the branch to enable effective delivery of working programme improving customer experience
- Support relationship between Relationship Managers with TWSD and INZ to ensure flow of information and insight supporting positive change meeting business objective
- Manage contractual agreements, relationship, and projects with the Citizen Advice Bureau
- Managing the TWSD Accessible priority
- Lead, manage projects and initiatives contribute to the Customer Experience work program and deliverables
- Review New Zealand Travel Declaration to ensure fit for purpose and user friendly
- Raise awareness of customer experiences impacts and best practices and provides high quality advice to all TWSD group public-facing activity
- Lead and/or support complex and strategic projects as requested by Customer Experience General Manager
- Work across teams to understand how we can use data to inform our decision and understand our service delivery effectiveness and design improved service experiences
- Assist other business unit design high level framework to meet Ministry's strategic priorities
- Coach and mentor junior staff.
Senior Advisor, Pacific Team, Curriculum Pathways & Progress
Ministry of Education
07.2021 - 04.2022
- Managing relationship and established trust within the Pacific community to enable collaboration to better and grow Pacific community in the education space
- Engaging with Community to identify ways to support their learnings
- Providing timely, quality advice and support, as well as practical solutions in supporting core curriculum, teaching, and learning development and initiatives for Pacific whanau
- Research, implement activities, reporting, analysis of documents produced to support future curriculum, initiatives, and design activity
- Provide input to policy design, contribute to building products and services ensuring alignment to Pacific Action Plan and Pacific Language Strategy
- Providing timely update to the Minister on the deliverables ensuring priorities are on track
- Providing response to Parliamentary questions and media queries concerning Pacific Education.
Senior Adviser, Office of Deputy Secretary
Ministry of Education
11.2020 - 07.2021
- Review and quality check Ministerial correspondence, Official Information Act requests, Parliamentary Questions, and media responses
- Supporting the Estimates and Annual Review processes and providing administrative support across the wider Te Poutāhū team
- Advising Business Units on parliamentary processes and the Machinery of Government
- Develop new process to help grow the team capacity, capability, and timeliness
- Mentoring, coaching and development support to advisors
- Provides support and feedback to Manager in relation to advisor's development
- Responded proactively and positively to rapid change
- Cross-trained and backed up for manager
- Increased efficiency and performance by monitoring team member productivity and providing feedback.
Business Advisor, Border Visa Operation
Immigration New Zealand
05.2019 - 11.2020
- Managing visa services relationship with other Government and non-Government Agencies
- Providing support for the Minister and Associate Minister of Immigration through briefing notes and aide memoir's
- Providing policy advice and policy interpretation supporting visa service Offices when assessing visa applications
- Preparing responses and managing Official Information request, Parliamentary Questions and Ministerial Policy
- Providing student visa information for use in media enquiries.
Technical Advisor
Immigration New Zealand
01.2017 - 05.2019
- Providing student visa Immigration policy advice
- Providing technical Support to all Immigration Officers ensuring best practice service delivery to the clients
- Providing feedback and support on staff progress
- Assisting external stakeholders to ensure immigration standards are met
- Performing quality check on applications decided by Immigration Officers and Senior Immigration Officers conducting monthly checks per officer to ensure workstreams progress and identify areas requiring training
- Completing special directions allowing those are banned from entering New Zealand to apply for a visa
- Monitoring the immigration application process
- Assess all types of complex student visa cases
- Champion end-to-end customer engagement and experience culture.
Technical Advisor
Immigration New Zealand
01.2017
- Successfully changed branch process to ensure immigration officers assess immigration application in accordance with the policy intent
- This change is currently implemented to date
- Proven experience in Immigration processing and legislation interpretation.
Immigration Officer
Immigration New Zealand
02.2015 - 12.2016
- Processing Skill Migrant Residence Visa Applications – Processing Residence Applications for clients that have employment on New Zealand's skill shortage areas
- Conduct interviews with clients verifying skill employment to ensure applicants meet immigration requirements to be granted Residence as Skilled Migrant
- Providing quality customer service to both external and internal clients in responding to their email in accordance with business needs and dealing with applications in a professional manner
- Ensuring workflows are up to date so that every case has been actioned within the required timeframe
- Ensure that clients are kept up to date with the progress of their application.
Technical Advisor
Immigration New Zealand
01.2013 - 01.2015
- Responsible for visa quality assurance, ensuring immigration policy has been applied correctly
- Providing Immigration Policy advice to ensure clarity for customers during an application process
- Managing relationship with government departments
- Managing and responding to complaints regarding a visa decision
- Provide training for immigration officers and support officers
- Conduct verification on documents submitted with an application
- Interview clients with complex cases.
Immigration Officer
Immigration New Zealand
06.2011 - 12.2012
- Processing visitor, student, work, Recognized Seasonal Employee (RSE) Visas and Resident Visa Applications (Partnership Category, Dependent Child Category and Pacific Access Category)
- Conduct interviews with clients, gaining further information for application
- Answer visa queries for customers through face to face, on the phone and via email.
Support Officer
Immigration New Zealand
04.2010 - 09.2010
- Responding to client's general enquiry by phone, email and at reception
- Accept, lodge, and receipt all visa applications both temporary and residence application
- Performing data entry on all visa applications
- Assist Immigration Officers to locate files and further submissions
- Assist in filing and managing referrals to other branches.
Education
Diploma: Business Management and Marketing -
Tupou Tertiary Institute
Tonga09.2009
Skills
- Proven experience in leading and delivering strategic work program
- Proven experience in managing international relationship with Pacific
- Extensive Pacific cultural nuance
- Pacific based work experience and knowledge
- Proven experience in stakeholder engagement and relationship management
- Extensive Immigration knowledge
- Proven experience in leading, coaching, and mentoring others
- Extensive experience in community engagement
- Experience at managing expectation from both Senior leadership team and external and internal stakeholders
- Proven experience in tracking, anticipating and respond to emerging issues that pose potential risk
- Excellent communication skills and able to communicate complex scenarios and situation to diverse audience
- Coaching and mentoring
Languages
Tongan
Native or Bilingual
Accomplishments
Senior Advisor, Customer Experience Team, Te Whakatairanga Service Delivery (TWSD), 08/2022 - 12/2022,
Chosen from TWSD to lead Immigration Call Centre (ICC) and customer voice in the Incident Management Team stood up for Immigration New Zealand. Intent was to use data and insights from ICC to influence positive changes within INZ towards a more customer centric approach. Successfully identified gap to improve relationship between INZ and ICC allowing a joint up approach to better serve our people.
Pacific Staff Village, Immigration New Zealand, Wellington, 2018
Along with several members, successfully created a Pacific village forum in MBIE allowing a safe space for Pacific employees to come together and share their experience and seek career advice to build capability supporting career progression and aspirations. Mentor – I also became a mentor at the time to new Pacific employees, supporting their journey.
Technical Advisor, Immigration New Zealand, Palmerston North, 2017
Successfully changed branch process to ensure immigration officers assess immigration application in accordance with the policy intent. This change is currently implemented to date. Proven experience in Immigration processing and legislation interpretation.
Coursescompleted
IAP2 Certificate of Engagement, 03/2023, Essentials of Engagement, Design and Plan Engagement, Apply Engagement Methods.
The Engagement Essentials training module covers the key models of engagement and practice, and unpacks the: Drivers of contemporary engagement practice, Community Engagement Model to provide clarity in planning, Community and stakeholder engagement uses in the Australasian context, Five key design elements that underpin effective engagement, Characteristics of successful engagement, Introduction to new engagement practices.
Timeline
Senior Advisor, Leadership and Development Workstream
Public Service Fale, Public Service Commission
10.2023 - Current
Senior Advisor, Customer Experience Team
Te Whakatairanga Service Delivery, Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment
04.2022 - 10.2023
Senior Advisor, Pacific Team, Curriculum Pathways & Progress
Ministry of Education
07.2021 - 04.2022
Senior Adviser, Office of Deputy Secretary
Ministry of Education
11.2020 - 07.2021
Business Advisor, Border Visa Operation
Immigration New Zealand
05.2019 - 11.2020
Technical Advisor
Immigration New Zealand
01.2017 - 05.2019
Technical Advisor
Immigration New Zealand
01.2017
Immigration Officer
Immigration New Zealand
02.2015 - 12.2016
Technical Advisor
Immigration New Zealand
01.2013 - 01.2015
Immigration Officer
Immigration New Zealand
06.2011 - 12.2012
Support Officer
Immigration New Zealand
04.2010 - 09.2010
Diploma: Business Management and Marketing -
Tupou Tertiary Institute
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