15 Influential Human Resources Leaders in New Zealand

Last updated: August 2026

New Zealand's influential human resources leaders are shaping culture, capability, safety, inclusion and new ways of working across some of the country's most complex organisations. This guide introduces 15 current practitioners whose roles and visible work offer useful ideas for executives, people leaders and anyone building a stronger workplace.

As of August 2026, the group spans banking, telecommunications, aviation, dairy, energy, transport, professional services, healthcare, hospitality, sport and infrastructure. That range matters. A people strategy that works in a national rail network will not look identical to one designed for a bank or a hotel group, yet the recurring leadership questions are surprisingly consistent: how to build capability, retain trust, support change and help people do good work.

The names are presented alphabetically by surname for easy navigation. This is not a claim that one leader is better than another. It is a practical field guide to people doing current, visible work in Aotearoa, with a focus on role clarity and one useful contribution or area of practice for each person.

The profiles also give leadership teams a cross-sector lens. A practice that feels ordinary in telecommunications may be novel in healthcare, while an approach developed for field operations may expose a blind spot in professional services. Looking across sectors helps readers notice the principle underneath the programme.

Use the list to broaden your professional network, find examples for an internal people project or notice patterns that apply in your own organisation. The strongest value will come from following the source links, reading the leaders' own work and translating the ideas thoughtfully rather than copying a programme without its context.

Why human resources leadership matters in New Zealand

Human resources leadership matters in New Zealand because organisations are navigating capability shortages, cost pressure, changing technology, workforce expectations and the need for culturally credible leadership at the same time. The people function sits where these pressures meet everyday work, so its choices affect whether strategy becomes a lived reality or stays on paper.

The leaders in this guide show that strong HR work is broader than hiring and policy. It can involve redesigning operating models, developing technical career paths, improving safety, strengthening employee networks, supporting sustainable commuting, building leadership capability and helping a workforce adapt to artificial intelligence. These are organisational questions with commercial, social and human consequences.

Aotearoa also brings a distinct context. Te ao Māori, local communities, national infrastructure, globally connected businesses and a relatively small talent market shape what good people leadership looks like here. Useful practice therefore needs both global awareness and local judgement.

For executives, the central lesson is simple: involve people leaders early in the real business problem. For HR practitioners, the challenge is equally clear: understand operations deeply enough to connect employee experience with customer, community, safety and performance outcomes. The profiles below make those connections visible in different settings and sectors.

1. Evan Bateup

Partner and Chief People and Inclusion Officer, KPMG New Zealand

At KPMG New Zealand, Evan Bateup is Partner and Chief People and Inclusion Officer. KPMG's current profile describes experience across culture change, attraction and retention, employee experience, inclusion and diversity. That breadth connects workforce strategy with the practical conditions people encounter throughout their working life.

One useful feature of Bateup's work is the deliberate reach beyond a traditional HR lane. The same profile records experience in marketing, sales, programme management, change and operations. That cross-functional background is worth noticing because people decisions usually work best when they are tied to how an organisation serves clients and delivers results.

2. Jessica Bartlett

Chief People Officer, 2degrees

Jessica Bartlett is Chief People Officer at 2degrees, where the executive profile says Bartlett shapes the company's people and culture strategy. The role spans organisational culture, staff wellbeing, leadership training and remote work integration, making Bartlett a clear fit for a New Zealand HR leadership list.

The profile also credits Bartlett's remit with New Zealand's first fully remote call centre. That is a useful example of HR leadership moving beyond policy into operating-model design. It shows how decisions about flexibility, systems, performance and inclusion can be treated as one connected workplace challenge rather than as separate projects.

3. Kate Daly

Managing Director, People and Culture, Fonterra

Kate Daly is Managing Director, People and Culture at Fonterra. Fonterra's management profile places culture and wellbeing, employment relations, leadership development, talent, future capabilities, rewards and global mobility within Daly's oversight. The scope shows how a people function can support a large, complex and globally connected New Zealand organisation.

A standout example is Fonterra's Engineering++ initiative, which received the 2025 HRNZ Future of Work Award. HRNZ describes a joint Engineering and People and Culture effort that created clearer attraction and career pathways. The lesson is practical: hard workforce shortages can be treated as design problems shared by operations and HR.

4. Kate Dear

Chief People and Capability Officer, Medenterprises

Kate Dear is Chief People and Capability Officer at Medenterprises. The company's current team page describes more than 15 years of HR experience across local government and privately owned organisations, alongside chartered HR membership and immigration-advice qualifications. Dear's role brings people leadership into a healthcare recruitment and workforce setting with a strong New Zealand base.

Medenterprises' company record lists Dear on the 2025 HR Hot List and records the business as a 2025 five-star employer of choice. That pairing is worth noting because individual credibility and employer practice reinforce each other. It gives readers a useful prompt to examine how professional expertise becomes a consistent employee experience.

5. Nikki Dines

Chief People Officer, Air New Zealand

Nikki Dines is Chief People Officer at Air New Zealand. Air New Zealand's appointment record describes a career spanning people, airport and pilot leadership inside the airline, following earlier legal practice. That blend of operational and people experience is especially relevant in an organisation where safety, service, technical skill and employee experience meet every day.

Air New Zealand's official company update records its third consecutive win as New Zealand's most attractive employer in the 2025 Randstad research. The useful point is not the badge alone. Sustained employer appeal depends on everyday leadership, career experience and a culture employees are willing to recommend.

6. Toni Grimshaw

Chief People, Safety and Wellbeing Officer, New Zealand Rugby

Toni Grimshaw is Chief People, Safety and Wellbeing Officer at New Zealand Rugby. The executive remit brings culture, workforce leadership, safety and wellbeing together in one role across a nationally significant sporting system. That combination makes Grimshaw relevant to leaders working in any organisation where performance and personal wellbeing cannot be separated.

New Zealand Rugby's Mind Set Engage series offers a concrete example of that connection. The series was designed to encourage conversations about mental wellbeing across rugby communities. It matters because effective workplace wellbeing often starts by making difficult subjects easier to discuss, then backing those conversations with visible leadership and practical support.

7. Tim Horgan

General Manager Talent and Culture, New Zealand and Pacific, ANZ

Tim Horgan is General Manager Talent and Culture, New Zealand and Pacific at ANZ. ANZ's current management page places Horgan in the senior team responsible for the bank's New Zealand operations. The role connects people strategy with a regulated, customer-facing organisation spread across diverse communities and specialist workforces.

In a 2025 appointment update, Horgan described joining ANZ Aotearoa nearly 19 years earlier as a learning and development consultant. That internal journey is useful evidence of long-term capability building. It shows how development pathways can retain organisational knowledge while preparing leaders for broader responsibility.

8. Heather Langton

People and Culture Director, Spark New Zealand

Heather Langton is People and Culture Director at Spark New Zealand. Spark's FY25 annual report places Langton on the Leadership Squad and notes an appointment to the role in 2019 after joining Spark in 2013. The position sits close to the strategic choices shaping a large technology and telecommunications workforce.

The same report highlights Langton's expertise in leadership development, culture and workforce transformation. Those three areas belong together: new technology changes roles, leaders shape how change is experienced, and culture determines whether people can learn quickly. Langton's remit is a useful reminder that transformation is as much a human system as a technical one.

9. Mark Lewis

Head of People and Culture, Connetics

Mark Lewis is Head of People and Culture at Connetics, an electricity distribution contractor working across Aotearoa. The role brings workforce planning, capability and culture into an industry managing technical skills, field operations and the energy transition. That setting makes Lewis especially relevant to leaders facing scarce capability and changing work requirements.

Connetics' enhanced parental leave update shows one practical people setting around that remit. The 2026 policy strengthens support at a major life transition. It is a useful example because retention is influenced not only by career programmes, but also by whether workplace systems recognise the real lives and responsibilities of employees.

10. Suzie Lewisham

Chief People and Culture Officer, KiwiRail

Suzie Lewisham is Chief People and Culture Officer at KiwiRail, joining the executive team in October 2025. KiwiRail's profile highlights experience in talent, employee relations, union engagement, succession and cultural transformation. The mix suits a large national transport organisation with operational, technical and corporate workforces.

The profile also records Lewisham's earlier responsibility for people and culture across 9,000 employees in Fonterra operations. That scale matters because workforce decisions must work across sites, shifts, disciplines and employment relationships. Readers can learn from the emphasis on growing leaders and building succession, two practices that create resilience before a vacancy or disruption arrives.

11. Michal Pawlowicz

Head of Learning and Organisational Development, Hind Management and Sudima Hotels

Michal Pawlowicz is Head of Learning and Organisational Development at Hind Management and Sudima Hotels. HRNZ's current award profile connects the role with leadership capability, employee engagement and organisational culture. The focus is especially relevant in hospitality, where a consistent guest experience depends on learning across many roles and locations.

Pawlowicz received the 2026 HRNZ HR Professional of the Year award. HRNZ highlights programmes including Puāwai Tahi, The Leadership Essential Series and The Explorers Club, with improved engagement and lower staff turnover. The transferable lesson is to create development routes for employees at different levels, then connect learning to ideas, careers and day-to-day performance.

12. Shaun Philp

Chief People and Culture Officer, SkyCity Entertainment Group

Shaun Philp is Chief People and Culture Officer at SkyCity Entertainment Group. The executive role supports a complex hospitality, entertainment and tourism workforce across multiple sites and operating environments. Philp's HR background and current enterprise remit make the work relevant to leaders balancing service standards, culture, compliance and inclusion.

Philp's current professional profile highlights 2026 national recognition for SkyCity's Pride employee resource group. The useful point is the employee-led structure behind the recognition. Resource groups can strengthen belonging and give leaders direct insight, but their impact grows when executive support turns voluntary energy into a durable part of workplace culture.

13. Nicola Richardson

Executive General Manager People, ASB Bank

Nicola Richardson is Executive General Manager People at ASB Bank. The senior role connects people strategy with the capability, culture and employee experience of a major New Zealand bank. Richardson's current profile also shows active attention to inclusion, graduate development and the human skills needed as technology changes work.

A recent example is ASB's Pride Pledge certification, shared by Richardson with credit to the Unity employee network. The milestone is useful because it links formal commitment with employee participation. Inclusion becomes more credible when the people most affected have a voice in shaping everyday practice, learning and accountability.

14. Claire Walker

Chief People Officer, Genesis Energy

Claire Walker is Chief People Officer at Genesis Energy. Genesis' FY25 report places Walker on the executive team, and current company reporting connects the remit with culture, safety, wellness and talent. That combination positions the people function inside the organisation's long-term energy transition and business strategy.

Genesis received the inaugural 2026 HRNZ Business Impact Award. HRNZ credits the team with co-creating purpose and values, supporting new ways of working and strengthening leadership capability around the Gen35 strategy. It is a strong example of HR contributing to strategic execution rather than operating as a separate support service.

15. Di Walsh

Chief People and Safety Officer, Ryman Healthcare

Di Walsh is Chief People and Safety Officer at Ryman Healthcare. Ryman's current executive profile says Walsh joined in 2023 and brings experience across large, operationally complex organisations in Australia and New Zealand. The combined people and safety remit is particularly relevant in retirement living and care.

The profile highlights enterprise-wide workforce transformation that aligns capability, leadership and safety with organisational change and long-term performance. That is a useful model for readers because safety cannot sit outside culture or leadership. When the systems are connected, workforce decisions can support employee wellbeing, service quality and disciplined execution at the same time.

What these leaders show us about human resources in New Zealand

Across these 15 leaders, four patterns stand out. First, people leadership is moving closer to core strategy. Genesis links purpose and values to a long-term business plan, while Fonterra's engineering initiative joins operational and people expertise around a hard capability problem. The strongest examples begin with an organisational need and design the workforce response alongside it.

Second, capability is becoming a system rather than a training calendar. KiwiRail highlights succession and leader growth, Hind Management connects development programmes with careers and ideas, and Spark frames leadership development alongside workforce transformation. Learning is most useful when employees can see where it leads and managers can see how it supports delivery.

Third, inclusion is becoming more practical. Employee networks at ASB and SkyCity create channels for participation, while KPMG places inclusion within a senior people remit. The common thread is visible support backed by everyday mechanisms, not a statement that sits apart from work.

Fourth, wellbeing and safety are being designed into leadership. New Zealand Rugby brings people, safety and wellbeing together. Ryman links safety with workforce transformation. Connetics' parental leave setting recognises life beyond the job. These examples suggest that care and performance are not competing goals. Well-designed work makes it easier for people to contribute over time.

No single programme transfers perfectly between organisations. The useful move is to identify the principle underneath it, understand the local constraint and then test a version that fits your workforce. A small pilot can reveal whether that principle survives contact with local reality.

How to use this list

Start with one real workforce problem, not a general ambition to improve culture. Choose the profile closest to that problem, open the linked source and write down the specific mechanism that caught your attention. It might be a career pathway, an employee network, a leadership series, an operating-model change or a benefit that removes friction at a key life stage.

Next, compare the idea with one profile from a different sector. Ask what remains useful when the industry, workforce size and operating conditions change. That comparison helps separate a portable principle from a programme that only makes sense in its original setting.

If you want to connect with someone, read recent work before sending a request. A short message that names the specific idea you found useful is more respectful than a broad request for time. Keep the exchange written and easy to answer.

Inside your own organisation, turn the insight into one small test with a clear owner and visible measure. A four-week pilot, a single-team conversation or a mapped employee journey can reveal more than a large launch built on assumptions. Share what happened, including what did not work, and use that evidence to decide the next move.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does a human resources leader do in New Zealand?

A human resources leader connects workforce decisions with organisational strategy. The role may cover culture, capability, employment relations, safety, wellbeing, inclusion, talent and organisational design. The exact mix depends on the sector, workforce and operating model, but the common aim is to help people and the organisation perform sustainably.

Which sectors are represented in this guide?

The guide includes leaders from banking, telecommunications, aviation, dairy, energy, rail, professional services, healthcare, hospitality, sport and electricity infrastructure. This mix gives readers several operating contexts to compare, from customer-facing and regulated work to technical, distributed and shift-based workforces.

How can I learn from these HR leaders?

Begin with the linked source beside the practice that interests you. Identify the problem, the mechanism and the organisational context. Then compare it with your own workforce before trying a small test. Following a leader's current LinkedIn work can also reveal how the idea develops over time.

Should I copy an HR programme from another organisation?

No, copy the principle only after understanding the context. Workforce size, culture, risk, systems, leadership support and employee needs can change the result. Use the example as a hypothesis, involve the people affected and test a modest version before committing to a wider rollout.

What themes are shaping HR leadership in New Zealand?

Current themes include workforce capability, leadership development, artificial intelligence, inclusion, safety, wellbeing, flexible work, sustainable commuting and closer alignment between people strategy and business delivery. The best response is rarely a stand-alone programme. It is usually a connected change across leadership, systems and daily work.

Conclusion

These 15 human resources leaders show the breadth of people work happening across New Zealand. Their settings differ, but the strongest examples share a practical quality: they connect a human need with an organisational outcome and create a mechanism that people can experience in everyday work.

For one organisation, that mechanism is a clearer technical career pathway. For another, it is a leadership series, an employee network, an operating-model redesign or a stronger support setting at a major life transition. The visible programme matters, but the deeper leadership choice is to treat people as part of strategy from the beginning.

Use this guide as a starting point rather than a finish line. Open the source beside the issue closest to your own work. Compare it with a leader in another sector. Then choose one small, written next step that can be tested without a large launch.

The most useful insight may be simple: strong people leadership is not an abstract promise about culture. It is the repeated design of roles, systems, learning, safety, inclusion and decisions that help people contribute. Pick one friction point in your organisation today, name the principle you want to test and write the first version of the change.

Related Reading

For a wider regional view, read Human Resources Thought Leaders in Australia and New Zealand.

For a sector comparison, explore HR Leaders in Engineering Across Australia and New Zealand.

For another people-intensive setting, see HR Leaders in Education Across Australia and New Zealand.

Want help turning these patterns into a practical leadership session for your team? Jonno can shape a written keynote, workshop or facilitated session brief around your context. Email jonno@consultclarity.org with the outcome you want to create.

About the Author

Jonno White is a Brisbane-based leadership consultant, keynote speaker and Certified Working Genius Facilitator, and the author of Step Up or Step Out. He works with schools, corporates and nonprofits around the world. To enquire about a keynote, workshop or facilitated leadership session, email jonno@consultclarity.org.