Critical governance role impacting the future of water infrastructure in the Wellington region
- Play a key role in establishing metropolitan Wellington’s new water entity
- Dynamic reform environment with significant impact
- Chair and two members required
Prompted by the Government’s Local Water Done Well policy, a new council-owned organisation is to be established to deliver water services for the Wellington metropolitan area. The new organisation, with the interim name Metro Water, will own and operate public drinking water, wastewater and stormwater assets and networks for a population of around 430,000 people. The goal is to ensure the delivery of safe, reliable, environmentally and financially sustainable water services so the region can be resilient, restore Te Mana o te Wai and enable new homes and the wellbeing of communities.
The establishment of Metro Water is underway with the appointment of an Establishment Board one of the early critical elements. Comprising a Chair and two members, the Establishment Board will be responsible for standing up the new water organisation and providing governance leadership, ensuring that the new entity is appropriately structured, skilled and resourced. As a matter of priority the Board will be tasked with the recruitment of an Interim Chief Executive and the legal incorporation of the new organisation, as well as governing the set up of key legal and financial instruments.
We are seeking expressions of interest from those who have significant governance and/or leadership experience in an asset management, infrastructure or commercial organisation of scale. Appointees will demonstrate leadership in large-scale sector and/or organisation reform, change and establishment, while an understanding of te ao Māori and the ability to work closely with mana whenua will also be essential.
The Board will comprise a range of complementary skills, therefore we require at least one Director to have experience in leading or governing asset management planning and engineering in an infrastructure or utility environment or consulting to the water sector, another will be highly skilled in finance and risk, with another demonstrating strong commercial experience in inspiring a customer focused culture and integrating the customer experience into broader business strategies.
For more information or to apply, please contact Grace Barclay at Hobson Leavy Executive Search: grace@hobsonleavy.com.
Applications close at 9.00am Monday 14th July 2025
