Jean Archer

Experience

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  Horizons Regional Council

  Nov 2009 - Jun 2011

  Communications Advisor

  I started at Horizons Regional Council as a Communications and Promotions Officer out of university and then moved into a Communications Advisor role on a graduate scheme. I handled communications and marketing communications for the Transport, Biodiversity, Road Safety, Sustainable Land Use Initiative, Environmental Education and Biosecurity portfolios.The role was a good introduction to corporate and public sector communications.

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  Department of Corrections

  Jun 2011 - Mar 2013

  Communications Advisor (media)

  Communications Adviser, media team, fixed term contracts. In this role my duties included responding to media queries, deciding on spokespeople and briefing for interviews, communications planning, sourcing and facilitating promotion of good news, facilitating media visits to prisons/community work sites etc., speech writing, managing events, and more. A key accomplishment in this role was managing the Minister of Corrections’ opening of new ‘mothers and babies’ prison units at Christchurch and Auckland Prisons. This involved coordinating the event and facilitating media, Minister and spokespeople, resulting in positive local and national media coverage: http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/85882/prison-mother-and-baby-units-open-this-week. I also managed communications around a new uniform for Corrections Officers, and coordinated the Minister’s launch of new Mobility Dog placement at Spring Hill Corrections Facility in partnership with Mobility Assistance Dogs Trust: http://www.newshub.co.nz/nznews/prisoners-and-puppies-an-unlikely-pairing-2012031417. I was involved in the communications activity around the implementation of the new Smokefree Prisons policy, (the project itself was awarded the Talent2 Award for Excellence in Public Sector Communications category at the 2012 IPANZ Gen-i Public Sector Excellence Awards.) I was also involved with managing media in relation to many high profile offenders, and organising a number of events such as the Whanganui Prison Cornerstone Accreditation ceremony. After returning from a stint overseas I was responsible for championing proactive media liaison for the Department. Examples include: media management of the launch of a joint 'Get Ahead' programme between Corrections and the Open Polytechnic to increase prisoner education; and coordinating the opening of the Kapiti Probation Service Centre. Show less

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  UCOL - Universal College of Learning

  Mar 2013 - Oct 2017

  Senior Communications Advisor

  - Communications planning aligned to UCOL's key strategic direction- External stakeholder and public relations planning- Media liaison - Internal communications - staff and students- Digital media/online channels - Brand champion in conjunction with the Marketing team- Emergency responseA key accomplishment in this role was the coordination of UCOL's new website at www.ucol.ac.nz completed in May 2016. My role as Product Owner involved:- expressing how each user story would add value to stakeholders and the User - providing feedback and input with design, interface and usability decisions- answering questions and providing feedback in the context of the UCOL business and Users- Working with the development team to prioritise user stories in the backlog before each sprint in order of what delivers the most business value and represents collective agreement of stakeholders- Providing guidance to the development team to enable them to achieve the user stories in the current sprint- Demonstrating the product to the UCOL team and stakeholders at each showcase and owning development decisions.I also managed the completion of brand new content for the site. The project was a success and UCOL now has a mobile responsive website with improved searchability and refreshed content including a Media Hub allowing for self-publishing (something I am passionate about). See below just a few examples of my work in this role. Show less

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  Oranga Tamariki–Ministry for Children

  Oct 2017 - Aug 2020

  Communications and Engagement Advisor (Lower North)
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  Oranga Tamariki—Ministry for Children

  Aug 2020 - Jan 2022

  Senior Advisor - Regional, Communications and Engagement
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  Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency

  Jan 2022 - now

  • Principal Advisor, Communications and Engagement

    Jan 2023 - now

  • Senior Advisor - Communications and Engagement

    Jan 2022 - Jan 2023