Chief Executive,
Otago Polytechnic
CANDIDATE INFORMATION PACK
Scroll down to access everything you need.
Executive Summary
THE OPPORTUNITY
Te Kura Matatini ki Otago/Otago Polytechnic, stands at a pivotal moment in its proud history. As it re-emerges as an independent Institute of Technology and Polytechnic (ITP) on 1 January 2026, it will reclaim local governance, decision-making, and regional leadership, restoring a direct line of accountability to the communities and industries it serves.
Located in Ōtepoti Dunedin, with a strong presence across the wider Otago region, the Polytechnic is recognised nationally and internationally for its applied learning, research innovation, and deep community connections. This is a unique opportunity for a visionary and collaborative Chief Executive to lead an organisation ready to reset, rebuild, and rise.
Otago is an entrepreneurial and creative region, home to bold partnerships between education, business, and community. The new Chief Executive will harness this spirit, building on Otago Polytechnic’s legacy of innovation to expand its international profile, strengthen regional industry engagement, and grow its contribution to the region’s economic and social wellbeing.
This is more than a leadership role; it is a chance to help shape the future of vocational education in one of Aotearoa’s most distinctive and dynamic regions.
THE ROLE
Reporting to the Otago Polytechnic Council, the Chief Executive will provide strategic leadership across all aspects of the organisation’s operations, performance, and culture. This includes ensuring robust academic governance, financial sustainability, and operational excellence, while leading the transition to independent status.
The role demands an experienced organisational leader who can guide Otago Polytechnic through a critical period of change, from stabilisation and cultural renewal through to growth and innovation. Rebuilding trust, confidence, and unity within the leadership team and across the organisation will be paramount, as will strengthening relationships with iwi, industry, local government, and education partners.
The Chief Executive will be instrumental in positioning Otago Polytechnic as a regional and national leader in applied education, one that is future-focused, community-connected, and internationally engaged. This will require courage, foresight, and a deep understanding of the Otago ecosystem, its industries, people, and potential.
THE CANDIDATE
The successful candidate will be an accomplished senior leader with a record of leading complex public or tertiary organisations through transformation and growth. They will demonstrate the ability to think strategically, act decisively, and lead authentically, balancing vision with operational discipline.
They will have proven success in building high-performing leadership teams, fostering organisational resilience, and embedding values-based culture. A natural collaborator and connector, they will be able to bring people together, across universities, government, iwi, and industry, to achieve shared outcomes and lift regional prosperity.
Above all, they will be a leader who inspires confidence, unites purpose, and ensures Otago Polytechnic continues to deliver life-changing education that strengthens individuals, industries, and communities.
We invite you to discuss this exceptional leadership opportunity with David Price from the HardyGroup
M. +64 (0)21 0239 2211 | E. dprice@hardygroupintl.com
Otago Polytechnic
Otago Polytechnic at a glance
- Headquarters:
Ōtepoti Dunedin, with campuses in Central Otago (Cromwell and Wānaka) and an Auckland International Campus - Students:
More than 8,000 learners annually, across on-campus, online, and work-based study - Staff:
Approximately 700 full-time equivalent (FTE) academic and professional staff - Scope of Delivery:
Comprehensive vocational and professional education from certificates and diplomas to degrees, micro-credentials, postgraduate qualifications, and a Doctorate in Professional Practice. - Regional Identity:
Deeply embedded in the Otago region’s economic, social, and cultural life, Otago Polytechnic partners closely with iwi, industry, and community to deliver education that drives regional prosperity. Its programmes reflect the character of the region (creative, industrious, and innovative) and its graduates are known for their practical skills, adaptability, and community-mindedness.
Campuses:
- Dunedin Campus – The main hub and cultural heart of the Polytechnic, located in the city’s student quarter. Offers a full suite of programmes including health, engineering, creative industries, design, IT, trades, and business. Home to the award-winning EPICentre for innovation and design, specialist trades training facilities, and Te Pā Tauira student village.
- Central Otago Campuses (Cromwell and Wānaka) – Centres of excellence in land-based and outdoor education, offering programmes in horticulture, viticulture, sustainable farming, cookery, snowsports, and outdoor adventure. These campuses embody the region’s entrepreneurial and outdoors-oriented identity, fostering close ties with local industries and communities.
- Auckland International Campus – A purpose-built campus delivering business, IT, and construction management programmes for international learners. Provides a strategic platform for global partnerships and international student growth.
About Otago Polytechnic
Build capability, realise potential
Otago Polytechnic, in Dunedin, New Zealand, is a respected institution offering a broad range of vocational education and training. Established in 1870, it provides hands-on learning across disciplines including art and design, engineering, healthcare, and business. With strong industry connections, its programs align with real-world needs, equipping students with skills for successful careers. The Polytechnic blends traditional and contemporary learning methods, including flexible and online study options, within a supportive and inclusive environment that fosters critical thinking and problem-solving.
Its curriculum emphasizes sustainability, creativity, and collaboration while addressing global challenges in environmental and social well-being. Strong ties with local industries provide students with work placements, internships, and collaborative projects, enhancing graduate employability both in New Zealand and internationally. Otago Polytechnic also offers comprehensive support services, career advice, academic counseling, and well-being resources, while welcoming students from diverse backgrounds. Its sustainable campus initiatives and forward-thinking approach make it an attractive choice for those seeking a meaningful and impactful learning experience.
Our mission
Build the capabilities of individuals, organisations and communities and help them to realise their potential.
Our vision
Our vision stems from what we see our people do - both our learners and our staff. They make a better world. Our people make a better world - Kia tū ki te tahi.
Manawanui
"We reach out and welcome in"
Manawanui embodies manaakitanga, humility, patience, respect, tolerance and compassion
Inspire and lift others up
Manawaroa
“We learn to achieve together”
This embodies power, resilience, fortitude, grit, collective goal, doing what needs to be done to achieve the collective goal
This includes values like “courage” and “responsibility”
Inspire and lift others up
Manawaroa
“We learn to achieve together”
This embodies power, resilience, fortitude, grit, collective goal, doing what needs to be done to achieve the collective goal
This includes values like “courage” and “responsibility”
Inspire and lift others up
Tō mātou tikaka - Our culture
Our learners are at the heart of everything we do. We trust each other to do what’s right for people and the environment. We have a strong sense of purpose and direction.
We work collaboratively and are well connected locally and globally, striving always for excellence. We are empowered to make decisions, helping each other excel and celebrating our successes together. We are future-focussed, not afraid to challenge the status quo, seeing change as opportunity.
We pursue ambitious goals and are willingly accountable for achieving results. We constantly improve ourselves and everything we do. Our people feel safe and supported in a caring, inclusive environment. We are proud to be making a better world together.
Tertiary Education Commission
The Tertiary Education Commission Te Amorangi Mātauranga Matua is a Crown agency that leads the government’s relationship with the tertiary education sector, invests government funding in tertiary education organisations and provides career services from education to employment.
The Tertiary Education Commission invests over $3 billion into tertiary education and supporting the tertiary and careers system. We ensure New Zealanders are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need for lifelong success. We fund over 700 tertiary education organisations (TEOs) to provide thousands of courses to hundreds of thousands of learners. We also monitor the performance of TEOs and provide information and advice to the Government about tertiary education.
For more information go to www.tec.govt.nz
Role Specification
The Chief Executive is accountable for the full leadership and management of the Otago Polytechnic, ensuring all operational, financial, academic, and public accountability functions are delivered effectively and sustainably from 1 January 2026.
The Chief Executive holds overarching responsibility, for establishing the new independent Otago Polytechnic to ensure that it meets all statutory requirements and community expectations. This includes ensuring the continued smooth transfer of staff, students, assets, systems, and governance processes while safeguarding education delivery and student wellbeing.
The role requires large-scale organisational leadership: setting strategic direction, overseeing academic governance, managing financial resources, leading multi-layered leadership teams, and building robust stakeholder relationships across industry, government, iwi/Māori partners, and the community as well as working collaboratively across all ITPs.
The Chief Executive must ensure that the Otago Polytechnic operates as a financially sustainable, academically credible, and socially responsive public institution. This includes managing risk, maintaining compliance with all legislative frameworks, and leading organisational culture and people development across a broad and diverse workforce.
The Chief Executive is fully accountable to the Te Kura Matatini ki Otago/ Otago Polytechnic Council for all aspects of organisational leadership, performance, and compliance, including delivery against strategic objectives, achievement of key performance indicators, financial sustainability, and academic quality.
This accountability covers statutory obligations, employment relations, asset and infrastructure management, risk management, and equity outcomes. The Chief Executive is responsible to the Council for maintaining robust organisational culture, upholding Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations, ensuring good employer practices, and providing free, frank, and timely advice that enables effective governance decision-making.
The Chief Executive carries full responsibility for establishing and leading the Otago Polytechnic as an independent statutory organisation. The Chief Executive must ensure robust academic governance processes are in place, maintaining programme quality and compliance with NZQA requirements across all delivery sites. This includes managing curriculum development, teaching and learning innovation, assessment, and moderation systems.
Alongside academic responsibilities, the Chief Executive is accountable for financial leadership at a level consistent with large public institutions. This involves overseeing public funding from TEC, managing commercial revenue streams, and maintaining capital asset portfolios, including facilities and infrastructure.
The Chief Executive must lead organisational design, workforce planning, employment relations, and staff wellbeing frameworks, ensuring alignment with the Employment Relations Act 2000 and Crown entity expectations for good employer conduct.
Public accountability is a core focus. The Chief Executive is responsible for transparent reporting to the Otago Polytechnic Council, TEC, Ministers, and other oversight agencies. This includes regular performance reporting on financial health, student outcomes, equity measures, and stakeholder satisfaction.
Community and stakeholder engagement forms a critical part of the role. The role involves direct engagement with industry representatives, regional industries, employers, and community organisations to ensure education delivery meets current and emerging workforce needs. The Chief Executive will foster strategic collaboration with regional education providers to enhance applied research, innovation, and workforce pathways across the Otago region.
The Chief Executive is fully accountable to the Council for the overall performance of the organisation, delivering against strategic priorities, operational requirements, and key performance indicators as formally set and reviewed by the Board. This includes ensuring that organisational objectives are met within approved financial parameters and that all statutory obligations are consistently upheld.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
This role requires an executive with extensive experience leading large public sector or tertiary education organisations, preferably at Chief Executive or equivalent level.
Candidates must demonstrate a thorough understanding of tertiary education delivery, academic governance, and public sector financial management frameworks in the New Zealand context. Experience managing multi-campus, multi-site operations with complex staffing structures are essential.
Candidates must also show experience in leading structural or organisational transitions, including managing asset transfers, workforce integration, and system establishment within a Crown entity or equivalent context.
Understanding and experience with New Zealand’s public accountability frameworks, including the Education and Training Act 2020, Crown Entities Act 2004, and Employment Relations Act 2000, is required.
Attributes and Approach:
The Chief Executive must operate with a high level of integrity, public sector discipline, and strategic foresight. A structured, outcome-focused, and evidence-based leadership approach is essential.
This role requires a leader who is equally comfortable with high-level governance engagement and day-to-day organisational management, ensuring that both strategic direction and operational performance meet the highest standards of public service, academic quality, and financial sustainability.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS
The Chief Executive must operate with integrity, impartiality, and accountability at all times. A structured, analytical, and outcome-focused approach is required, along with resilience in managing ambiguity and organisational change.
The Chief Executive moves fluently between public sector governance expectations and industry-led decision-making, ensuring both are balanced and reflected in all organisational activities.
The Chief Executive is required to undertake national travel and work outside regular office hours as necessary to meet the demands of the role and maintain stakeholder engagement.
- Must meet all legal eligibility requirements under the Crown Entities Act 2004 and Education and Training Act 2020.
- Subject to Police vetting and full declaration of any potential or actual conflicts of interest.
- Required to undertake regular national and regional travel, including attendance at all Otago Polytechnic campus sites.
- 1.Transformational and Strategic Leadership
- Demonstrated success in leading large, complex organisations through significant change, including cultural renewal and structural transition.
- Proven ability to develop and execute strategy that balances long-term vision with operational excellence.
- 2.Collaborative Relationship Building
- Exceptional skill in fostering productive partnerships with universities, iwi, government agencies, and regional industries.
- A demonstrated ability to build trust, influence diverse stakeholders, and secure community buy-in to shared goals.
- 3.Regional Insight and System Understanding
- Deep understanding of the Otago region’s economic, social, and cultural ecosystem.
- Ability to align the Polytechnic’s purpose with regional workforce, innovation, and international education opportunities.
- 4.Cultural and Organisational Renewal
- A leadership style that rebuilds confidence, empowers teams, and models integrity and respect.
- Experience developing and embedding organisational values that foster inclusion, wellbeing, and high performance.
- 5.Public Sector and Academic Governance Acumen
- Strong understanding of tertiary education frameworks, Crown entity governance, and financial accountability.
- Capacity to navigate political and operational complexity while maintaining focus on educational excellence, learner success, and sustainability.
Reports to: Chair, Establishment Advisory Group (until formal ITP Council is confirmed)
Delegations: Executive delegations granted by the Otago Polytechnic Council, including full operational, financial, academic, and strategic authority as governed by the Education and Training Act 2020, the Crown Entities Act 2004, and the Employment Relations Act 2000.
Attractive remuneration package, please discuss with HardyGroup Consultant
Service Location: Dunedin, New Zealand
The closing date for applications is Friday, 31st October 2025
The reference number to include in your application is H25_5284
Note: Please use the online platform to submit your application. It will not be accepted via email.
If you require assistance in submitting your application online, please get in touch with Executive Search Coordinator, Aldie Zuñiga: M: +61 (0)49 410 1082 / E: azuniga@hardygroupintl.com
Your application must include:
- 1.Cover letter addressed to the Principal Consultant, David Price;
- 2.A written response addressing the key selection criteria; and
- 3.An up to date copy of your Curriculum Vitae.
It Is standard practice for HardyGroup to acknowledge receipt of your application no later than the next business day. We request that if you do not receive the acknowledgement, you contact the search coordinator listed above as soon as possible after the 24-hour business period and arrange to resend your application if necessary.
For a confidential discussion, please contact:
David Price
National Manager, HardyGroup New Zealand
M. +64 (0)21 0239 2211
E. dprice@hardygroupintl.com
Living and working
in Dunedin
A Region of Opportunity and Connection
Few places in Aotearoa New Zealand offer the same balance of professional opportunity, community connection, and natural beauty as the Otago region. For leaders, it is a place where your influence is visible and your impact tangible, where decisions made in boardrooms shape communities, industries, and futures.
Otago's economy is diverse, its communities resilient, and its institutions interconnected. For the right Chief Executive, it offers both the challenge of leadership at scale and the privilege of belonging to a region that values authenticity, innovation, and progress.
Ōtepoti Dunedin – A City with Heart and Heritage
At the centre of the region lies Ōtepoti Dunedin, a city defined by creativity, heritage, and warmth. With a population of around 133,000, Dunedin combines the vibrancy of a university city with the friendliness of a smaller community. It is a place where people still greet one another in the street, yet where research, enterprise, and technology are thriving.
Dunedin consistently ranks among New Zealand’s most liveable cities, with over 80% of residents rating their quality of life as good or very good. Its distinctive architecture, strong arts and music scene, and lively café culture lend the city an international flair while maintaining a relaxed, human pace.
Commutes are short, housing is more affordable than in New Zealand’s largest centres, and nature is always close, from ocean beaches to forested hills. It’s a city where work, life, and family coexist comfortably, offering a lifestyle that supports both focus and wellbeing.
The Wider Otago Region – Innovation, Industry, and Lifestyle
Beyond Dunedin, the Otago region, home to around 245,000 people, stretches from the southern coastline to the alpine peaks and vineyards of Central Otago. The region’s economy is one of the strongest in New Zealand, consistently ranking near the top of the ASB Regional Economic Scoreboard for growth, employment, and business confidence.
Otago’s industries are diverse and dynamic: health, education, agriculture, construction, creative arts, tourism, and technology all contribute to a robust, forward-looking economy. Central Otago is world-renowned for its vineyards, outdoor recreation, and tourism, while Dunedin anchors the region with its education, research, and health sectors. Together they form an ecosystem built on innovation, collaboration, and community strength.
The region’s natural beauty is part of daily life, alpine lakes, ski fields, and national parks are within easy reach. Central Otago’s vineyards, orchards, and cycle trails make it one of the country’s most desirable lifestyle destinations. Leaders who relocate here quickly discover a balance that is both inspiring and sustainable.
A Place to Live Well and Lead Meaningfully
For the incoming Chief Executive of Otago Polytechnic, the region offers more than a beautiful place to live, it provides a stage for purposeful leadership. Otago’s people value integrity, authenticity, and results that make a visible difference. They respond to leaders who engage deeply with their communities and who lead with courage, clarity, and heart.
For top 10 things to do in Dunedin visit.
ABOUT US
HardyGroup’s (HG) mission is simple
Find and Grow Great Leaders - and we have been doing exactly that for more than 30 years in public and private health, primary, community and aged care as well as the broader public service.
Our synergistic business model of Executive Search and Recruitment integrated with Executive Leadership and Learning is our unique point of difference.
It ensures our clients can count on us for the lifecycle of their organisations leadership journey and why we are regarded as the leading trans-Tasman partner agency by clients.
When engaging HG you can be confident in a deeply personalised experience and service as nothing matters more to us than relationships and results.