Te Pūkenga leadership structure confirmed

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Te Pūkenga leadership structure confirmed

October 6, 2022 | 4 min read

Acting Chief Executive, Peter Winder has today released the confirmed executive level structure for Te Pūkenga, New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology.

“The confirmed executive level structure sets in place the leadership positions needed to shape a new applied and vocational education provider that genuinely provides on-the-job, on campus and online training that meets the needs of ākonga, with their whānau, employers, industry and unions,” Mr Winder says.

“This confirmed structure is a result of listening to the feedback shared through a three-week engagement that gathered nearly 3,000 pieces of feedback, held 20 official engagements across the rōpū and several equity-focussed sessions.

“The whakaaro shared has shaped my thinking, and the final structure has been shared with the Network today.”

Summary of exec level design 

The confirmed design organises Te Pūkenga around nine vocational pathways (Ako Delivery Networks) and empowers four regions to respond to local need, working with employers, industry, unions, and communities as per the proposed structure. 

Regions will be responsible for giving effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and our Charter obligations at management, operational and delivery levels, reflecting Tiriti partnerships between Te Pūkenga Council and iwi and hapū.

“This is one of the many milestones on our pathway. The next step for our structure is to complete the design and transition into the confirmed Business Groups and bring together the expertise that exists in our Network,” he says.

The key changes made to the proposal are:

  • The Learner, Employer and Customer Experience Business Group has been renamed Learner and Employer Experience and Attraction to better reflect the key parts and purpose of this group.
  • Equity-specific functions have been separated from the Tiriti Outcomes Business Group and moved to the Learner and Employer Experience and Attraction Business Group. In the confirmed executive structure, the Learner and Employer Experience and Attraction Business Group will design and roll out the pathways and services that will make practical progress towards equity.
  • The Legal and Risk functional sub-grouping has been moved to the Office of the Chief Executive, where it will sit alongside other key assurance functions.

“The feedback received on the proposed regions was generally supportive of establishing four regions, however it is clear that more work is needed on the make-up and names of our regions. We will move ahead with four regions and work with the senior Māori expertise within our Network alongside mana whenua on a process and outcome to finalise boundaries and names.”

Representation in our structure

“Through this mahi we are organising the roles required to shape an organisation that delivers for Māori, Pacific, disabled, sexual and gender diverse people and women. The structure is functional and specific roles dedicated to these groups are not present at the top table. However, responsibility to ensure we deliver for historically underserved ākonga and kaimahi is a shared responsibility for which Te Pūkenga Council and I have ultimate responsibility.

“To ensure we deliver for these populations we are committed to equity, Tiriti partnership and diversity embedded in our hiring practices, job descriptions and ways of working. Some role descriptions, such as for the regional co-leaders, will be explicit about the lived experience we require from successful applicants.”

Summary of tranches

“This transition is large and complex. Moving forward, design and transition will occur in a number of tranches. These will take place concurrently with varied timelines.”

The steps for each tranche will include:

  • Discovery and design – to understand current expertise and resource and develop team structures
  • Consult and appoint – to test the proposed team structure with those kaimahi who currently work in those functions and appoint people into key roles
  • Transition plan and implement – the development and implementation of planning to support the transition of our people into new teams.

Kaimahi affected by the changes will be included in the process as will those with key subject matter expertise as we move through this next phase.

More information is available here: Engagement