21 Jan 2019

Job vacancies arise in the prime minister's office

2:58 pm on 21 January 2019

It's been just over a year since the Labour-NZ First government came to power and the prime minister's office is already undergoing a shake-up.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at the launch of the government's Women and Girls in Sport & Active Recreation Strategy at Eden Park, Auckland on Thursday 11 October 2018.

Photo: Photosport

Press secretaries have to reapply for their roles, and a new deputy position in the office is being created.

The prime minister's office has already seen a lot of movement in the last year, with a new chief press secretary appointed and two other senior staff members moving on.

As part of a complete restructure, the two remaining press secretaries working for Jacinda Ardern are having to reapply for their roles and a deputy position has been created to help ease some of the workload for the chief press secretary Andrew Campbell.

All of the roles have been advertised but no official appointments have been announced.

Mr Campbell took on the role in May - he replaced Mike Jaspers who moved into a more strategic position but subsequently resigned.

Mr Jaspers is understood to be doing some part-time work for Wellington public relations and communications agency, Silvereye.

Mr Campbell previously worked for the Green Party for a number of years on and off, including as the chief of staff and communications director.

He was also part of the Green Party's negotiating team going into Government.

The job vacancies in the prime minister's office are not the only ones. Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway is also on the hunt for a new press secretary.

Phil Reed finished up in Mr Lees-Galloway's office on Friday and has taken up a new role with the Ministry of Justice.

Mr Reed previously worked for former Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown and played a critical role in dealing with the fallout over the Czech drug smuggler Karel Scroubek being granted residency by Mr Lees-Galloway.