Sporting Lead

MotorSport New Zealand | Full-time, Permanent

• Help make motorsport happen across New Zealand
• Turn rules, safety and detail into great motorsport events
• A hands-on role where accuracy, judgement and great service really matter

Every motorsport event starts long before the first car takes to the start line, and behind every great event is a lot of careful planning, documentation and decision-making.

That’s where you come in.

MotorSport New Zealand is looking for a Sporting Lead to join our Safety and Sporting team and help make motorsport events across New Zealand safer, simpler and easier to organise.

This is a hands-on operational role. A significant part of your day will involve reviewing applications, checking documents, processing event permits, working through safety plans and supplementary regulations, and making sure the detail is right.

But it’s not paperwork for paperwork’s sake. The work you process and the decisions you make help clubs and organisers turn an idea into a safe, well-run motorsport event.

You’ll become a trusted point of contact for event organisers, officials and volunteers around the country, helping people navigate our requirements while maintaining the standards that keep the sport safe and fair.

You’ll also have the opportunity to improve the systems behind the sport, contribute to our Safety Improvement Programme and support incident, inquiry and judicial processes.

If you like getting the details right, solving problems, improving processes and knowing that your work has a very real outcome, this could be the role for you.

About the role

Reporting to the Safety and Sporting Manager, you’ll take ownership of a number of the processes that sit behind motorsport events throughout New Zealand.

At the heart of the role is event permitting and pre-event documentation. You’ll review applications and supporting information, identify gaps or issues, work with organisers to resolve them and help ensure events are ready to go.

You’ll need to be comfortable working within rules and regulations, but just as importantly, you’ll know how to apply good judgement and work constructively with people to find practical solutions.

Alongside the day-to-day permitting work, you’ll coordinate parts of our Safety Improvement Programme, manage Inquiry and Judicial processes, support serious incident analysis and help us continually improve the systems, documentation and processes used across the sport.

Crucially, this role is an enablement role - not a compliance and enforcement role.

Ultimately, your job is about making it easier for good motorsport events to happen while ensuring the standards that protect competitors, officials, volunteers and the sport are maintained.

What you’ll be doing

You’ll be:

• Working closely with clubs, event organisers, officials, Permit Issuing Stewards and other stakeholders to help them get events across the line.
• Managing event permitting for Championships, special permit events and other forms of motorsport.
• Reviewing and processing Safety Plans, Supplementary Regulations and other pre-event documentation accurately and within agreed service timeframes.
• Identifying missing or incomplete information and working with organisers to resolve issues quickly and practically.
• Helping improve the quality and consistency of event documentation across the sport.
• Managing Inquiry and Judicial processes with fairness, discretion and strong processes.
• Supporting serious incident analysis and helping turn lessons learned into practical improvements.
• Coordinating agreed initiatives within our Safety Improvement Programme.
• Pitching in with the wider Safety and Sporting team when needed.

What we’re looking for

This role will suit someone who genuinely enjoys bringing order to complexity.

You don’t mind working through detailed documentation because you understand why getting it right matters. You’re comfortable making decisions, asking questions when something doesn’t stack up and following an issue through to resolution.

You’ll also:

• Have excellent attention to detail and take pride in producing accurate work.
• Bring sound judgement and the confidence to make balanced, evidence-based decisions.
• Understand safety and risk principles and how they apply in practical environments.
• Be comfortable dealing with formal or sensitive matters with integrity, fairness and discretion.
• Be highly organised and able to keep multiple events and workstreams moving at once.
• Communicate clearly and enjoy helping people navigate processes and requirements.
• Have a strong service mindset while remaining confident about maintaining standards.
• Look for opportunities to simplify processes and improve the way things are done.
• Be comfortable coordinating stakeholders and taking ownership from start to finish.

Experience that will help you succeed

Whilst experience in motorsport is highly desirable, it isn’t the only way to be successful in this role.

We’d particularly value experience in one or more of the following:

• Motorsport administration, event delivery or event permitting.
• Safety, risk, incident analysis, assurance or compliance.
• Working in a regulated environment where documentation and decisions matter.
• Formal investigation, inquiry or decision-making processes.
• Improving operational processes, systems or ways of working.
• Experience working with dedicated, passionate volunteers and event organisers.

Why join us?

You’ll be able to see the result of your work.

The permit you process, the issue you help an organiser resolve or the improvement you make to a process can directly contribute to a motorsport event happening somewhere in New Zealand.

MotorSport New Zealand is a small organisation with big ambitions. We are changing how we work to make motorsport safer, simpler and easier to organise, and this role will be right in the middle of that work.

You’ll have the opportunity to improve systems rather than simply administer them, work closely with passionate people throughout the motorsport community and make a genuine contribution to the future of the sport.

About MotorSport New Zealand

MotorSport New Zealand is the national sporting authority appointed by the FIA for four-wheeled motorsport in New Zealand.

We are a small team, which means every role has an impact. We work collaboratively, challenge ourselves to improve and focus on making motorsport safer, fairer and easier for the people who make the sport happen.

Apply now

If you’re someone who enjoys getting the detail right, helping people get things done and knowing that your work makes a tangible difference, we’d like to hear from you.

Send your CV and cover letter to mike@motorsport.org.nz

A full position description is available on request.

Applications close 5.00 pm, 8 November 2026

Employer questions

Your application will include the following questions:

• Which of the following statements best describes your right to work in New Zealand?