The child in front of you, and the family around them.
General paediatric breadth, child health that reaches well beyond the hospital, and one of the quicker registration routes. The title here is senior medical officer, or SMO, not consultant.
A broad job, and one of the quicker routes in.
A large part of child health sits in community and well-child services. Developmental clinics and outreach to smaller towns come with the SMO role, and they are often the part of the job people come to value most.
General paediatrics is also one of nine areas of medicine on the Medical Council’s quicker vocational pathway. Sub-specialties and dual specialties are assessed on the longer route, and a FRACP needs no comparability assessment.
How registration works →
The size of the service decides the shape of your week.
A tertiary centre gives you sub-specialty services beside you, RACP trainees to teach, and a larger roster to share the out-of-hours between. A regional hospital gives you a broad general list, and the people making decisions are a short walk away.
Posts come up in the main centres and the regions alike, so there is more choice of place here than in most specialties. It is worth knowing which of the two sizes you want before you start looking at towns.
Explore the destination guides →
The whole of child health, in one job.
The medicine will feel familiar within a fortnight. What changes is how broad your list is, and how much child health happens away from the ward.
General paediatrics is the job itself
Outside the tertiary centres you carry acute paediatrics, neonatal cover, clinics and community work in the same week. Paediatricians who enjoy the whole of child health thrive; those who came to sub-specialise can find it a bigger change than expected.
Small departments, and you are at the cot side
Departments are small enough to know the registrars, nurses and community team by name. SMOs are expected on the floor, and most describe the hierarchy as flatter than the one they left.
Child health here is measured on equity
Services are measured on outcomes for tamariki Māori and Pacific children, which shapes clinics, outreach and service design. That work sits in the SMO role.
The Council’s published time for a complete application on the fast-track pathway. How it works
An approved Australasian qualification — no comparability assessment, and no college advice to wait on.
Sub-specialty, dual specialty or training elsewhere takes the longer route, assessed with the RACP advising.
The essentials, in five minutes
Seven questions people ask before they decide. Open the ones that matter to you.
Can I work there?Yes, if it’s general paediatrics
You register with the Medical Council of New Zealand in the vocational scope of paediatrics. The fast-track list names general paediatrics: a UK Fellowship or Membership with a CCT or CCST, an Irish equivalent with a CSCST, or a FRACP. Sub-specialists, dual specialties and other training take the longer route.
How registration works →What could I earn?A published national scale
Senior medical officer pay rises with years since specialist registration and is the same nationwide. The ASMS MECA runs from about NZ$198,000 to NZ$282,000.
How pay is set →Where are the jobs?Every hospital with children’s inpatients
General paediatrics recruits in almost every hospital with an inpatient children’s service, so you have more choice than in most specialties. Neonatal cover is often part of the post; confirm it before you accept.
Where the posts are →What will the work be like?A broad, generalist role
A broad week: acute paediatrics, neonatal cover, clinics and community work. Departments are small and you are at the cot side. Ideal if you enjoy the whole of child health; a bigger change if you came to sub-specialise.
The work itself →Can I bring my family?Yes, most people do
Partners and children can usually join you on linked visas, and partners can usually work. Schools, childcare and the logistics are covered in the family guide.
Family moves, explained →What will moving cost?Verification costs the most
Council fees, primary-source verification of your degree and specialist qualification, good-standing certificates from every regulator you’ve held, visas for the family, flights and shipping. Some employers contribute to relocation; we get any offer in writing.
The move, costed →How long could this take?Depends which list you’re on
On the fast track, twenty published working days for a complete application. Sub-specialties take the RACP-advised route and considerably longer, so start the college paperwork early.
The journey, sequenced →Current opportunities
Roles we’re recruiting for now. If none fits, register your interest and we’ll be in touch.
Neonatal cover is the thing to check first.
Most general paediatric posts include neonatal cover, and the level of the unit decides what you’ll be doing at three in the morning. It’s the detail people most often find out after accepting, so we get the job description and roster before you fall for a town.
Sub-specialty practice sits on a different pathway. The quicker route covers general paediatrics only. Other paediatric specialties, including dual specialties, are assessed individually with the RACP advising, which takes considerably longer. If you mainly practise in a sub-specialty, plan for that from the start.
Sub-specialty services such as oncology, cardiology, complex neurology and intensive care sit in a handful of tertiary centres. Elsewhere you carry a broad general list and build a special interest inside it. That suits some people exactly and frustrates others, so be clear with yourself early.
The detail, when you want it
Registration, pay and life outside work, one section at a time.
Getting registeredYour specialty is one of the quicker ones
Reviewed August 2026 · checked against the Medical Council of New Zealand’s current published guidance
You register with the Medical Council of New Zealand in the vocational scope of paediatrics. The route is the same for every specialist; three details are specific to you.
General paediatrics is on the fast-track list. A UK Fellowship or Membership of the relevant Royal College, with a CCT from the GMC or PMETB or a CCST from the STA, is on the Council’s approved list, as is an Irish Membership or Fellowship with a CSCST. The Council publishes twenty working days for a complete application.
A FRACP needs no assessment. If you trained through the RACP’s Paediatrics & Child Health Division, your fellowship is an approved Australasian qualification. No comparability exercise, no college advice to wait for.
Sub-specialists, dual specialties and other training take the longer route. Anything other than general paediatrics is assessed individually, with the RACP advising the Council against the FRACP standard. The same applies if you trained outside the approved countries. Allow considerably longer, and start the college paperwork early.
What the Council will want to see, whichever route you are on:
- A consultant-level job offer — a listed prerequisite on the fast-track pathway
- Primary-source verification of your medical degree and specialist qualification
- Evidence of at least 24 months’ recent practice in the specialty
- A certificate of good standing from every authority you have registered with
- Identity, criminal-history and English-language evidence where required
Order matters more than speed. Verification through EPIC or MyIntealth is usually the slowest step, so it starts first. The job offer comes next, because the fast track requires one. The Council application is built around both, with the visa running alongside.
Which vocational pathway fits you
Almost every paediatrician we move arrives by one of four MCNZ vocational pathways. They reflect what you already hold, not how good a doctor you are, and yours decides your timeline more than anything else.
A UK or Irish award, with a CCT, CCST or CSCST
General paediatrics is one of nine areas on the Council’s fast-track list. A UK Fellowship or Membership with a CCT or CCST, or an Irish award with a CSCST, qualifies. A FRACP is already an approved Australasian qualification, so it goes to VOC1 or VOC2 instead.
FRACP, and already registered here
An approved Australasian postgraduate qualification plus general registration in New Zealand. Nothing is assessed for comparability; your fellowship is the standard.
FRACP, but no NZ general registration
The same qualification, without New Zealand general registration yet. Most RACP fellows moving from Australia come this way.
A sub-specialty, a dual specialty, or training elsewhere
Paediatric specialties other than general paediatrics sit here, alongside anyone trained outside the approved countries. Your training is assessed individually, with the RACP advising. Early college paperwork saves the most time on this route.
What the fast track asks of you
VOC4 has prerequisites the other routes don’t, and one surprises people: a consultant-level job offer in Aotearoa New Zealand is required, so the role comes first. You also need 24 months’ practice in paediatrics at 0.5 FTE or more in the past five years (12 of them in the 18 months before you apply) in a comparable health system, three verified references, and your qualifications already moving through EPIC / MyIntealth. Verification is usually the slowest step, which is why we start it first.
And what follows approval
VOC3 and VOC4 both lead to provisional vocational registration. You practise under a named supervisor in an approved position; that is a condition of the scope, not a judgement on you. If your job, location or supervisor changes, apply to vary your scope at least 20 days ahead.
Two dates to plan for. Your registration meeting takes place in New Zealand within two weeks of your start date, and you can’t practise until it’s done and your practising certificate is issued, which takes about three days. Moving to the full vocational scope is an application you make once the Council’s requirements are met; it doesn’t happen automatically.
Where this comes from. Pathways, prerequisites, processing times and approved areas above are from the Medical Council of New Zealand’s published guidance, read in August 2026 against its approved-qualifications list dated 13 August 2026. Times are for complete applications; an incomplete one restarts the clock. Check your own case with the Council before deciding.
PayA published scale, the same wherever you work
A published scale, set by years since specialist registration and the same wherever in the country you work. On-call and allowances sit on top. We will tell you which step you would land on.
A stepped national scale by years since specialist registration, the same wherever in the country you work. Which agreement sets this
Penal rates and an availability allowance for on-call, plus a funded CME allowance and dedicated CME leave.
Outpatient private practice exists in the larger centres, but it is a smaller market in paediatrics than in some specialties. It can sit alongside a public post as long as it doesn’t clash with your contracted commitments.
A work visa first, then the residence pathways. Which one applies depends on the role and your circumstances, and we sequence it with you. How visas work
How we verify pay. Every figure we print comes from the collective agreement covering the role, named and dated. Where a scale is published in a form we cannot check, we say so and print no band rather than estimate one.
Relocation support varies by employer and role. Where it is available, we confirm exactly what is included before you make any decisions.
Life in New ZealandA short commute, and the coast or the hills at the end of it.
Paediatricians tend to arrive with the family decision already made, and it is usually what settles the move. School is close, the commute is short, and the outdoors is on your doorstep.
What people mention next is time. Rosters are built to last a career, and departments are small enough that leave is a conversation, not a contest. For families, that combination usually decides it.
Paediatrics is the specialty where the job title and the actual job most often differ, and almost always around neonates. I ask for the roster and the unit level before anyone gets excited about a hospital.
The other thing I would say early is the sub-specialty question. If you hold a paediatric sub-specialty, your pathway is the longer one, and it is far kinder to know that in month one than in month four.
SophieFounder, Ethicare Resourcing
What we can’t promise
Three things we won’t guarantee, and what we do instead.
Timelines that aren’t ours to give
Registration sits with the Medical Council and visas with Immigration New Zealand. We give you the likely range, keep your file moving and chase what can be chased, but we won’t quote a faster number to win you over.
A specific job in a specific city
General paediatrics recruits widely, but your exact combination of interest, hospital and town may not be open this year. If your heart is set on one place, we’ll tell you how long the wait could be before you resign anything.
That the move is right for you
Some moves shouldn’t happen. If the scope, the pay or the family logistics don’t add up, we’ll say so.
Frequently asked
I’m a paediatric sub-specialist. Does the fast track apply to me?
No. The Council’s approved list names general paediatrics only. Other paediatric specialties, including dual specialties, take the longer route with the college advising.
That affects your timeline, not how you’re judged. It’s better to know before you apply, because it changes when you can realistically start.
How much neonatal work comes with a general paediatric post?
More than most consultants expect, and it varies by hospital. Some posts carry a defined neonatal commitment; others share cover across a small SMO group.
We get the job description and roster in writing, because this is the detail people most often discover late.
Would I be expected to cover adult medicine?
No. Paediatrics is its own vocational scope. Where a small hospital runs a combined out-of-hours arrangement, the paediatric commitment is defined, and we read it before you commit.
What is on-call like?
Main centre: a larger roster with registrar cover in front of you. Regional: a thinner rota, called more often, and you are the one who drives in.
Paid at penalty rates plus an availability allowance, and we show you the actual rota before you decide.
What do you want your paediatric week to look like?
Moving country can feel overwhelming, and you won’t be doing it alone. Find your registration pathway in two minutes, then send us your CV and we’ll take it from there.