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Leadership Teams

Executive Leadership Team

Nigel is the Chief Executive of Nelson City Council. He is very focused on defining how we work together to deliver value to our customers, ratepayers, and community in an efficient and adaptable way. He is leading a transformation programme across the Council, with the goal of ensuring we can deliver the best possible service to our community. Since joining in April 2023, he has set a narrative that Nelson and its region are ‘open for business’. The culture of the council he leads supports a pragmatic and ‘can-do’ approach, but he acknowledges that we will not always get it right!

Nigel has an extensive background in central government and working with ministers, including 23 years with the Royal Navy and 10 years with the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF). His last military role was as Chief People Officer for the NZDF, where he led functions focused on developing people as a key strategic resource across the Navy, Army and Air Force.

In addition to his previous role as Chief Executive of the Primary Industries Training Organisation, working with 20,000 learners across New Zealand, Nigel has also held senior roles within the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Social Development. He has a strong background in leadership and the strategic development of people’s capability. In his spare time, he and his family enjoy outdoor adventures, and making the most of living and working in the finest region on the planet.

Alec is the Deputy Chief Executive/Executive Director Delivery at the Nelson City Council, bringing a strong background and over 30 years of experience in local government, infrastructure management, and the delivery of capital projects. He leads a dedicated team responsible for the delivery of the capital programme across disciplines within Council, and the overall strategic activity management and renewal/operational delivery of water, sewerage, stormwater, flood management, roading, public transport, solid waste, and subdivisions.

Alec plays a key role in leading major initiatives, fostering innovation and ensuring all works are delivered on time, within budget, and to the highest quality.

His group is responsible for operational matters (roading, public transport, subdivisions, water, sewerage, stormwater, parks, facilities and solid waste), as well as landfill, the harbour, and emergency management. The group also implements capital programmes from across various disciplines within Council. Alec is also an experienced and long-serving Civil Defence Group Controller for the Nelson/Tasman Civil Defence Management Group.

Bridget is the Executive Director People & Customer Experience at Nelson City Council. Before joining Council, she worked at Ernst & Young (EY) for 16 years, including a role as Office Managing Partner / Business Consulting Partner, overseeing a range of responsibilities including managing the office, delivering to clients, building relationships, and building the team’s capability.

At Council, Bridget manages a diverse portfolio of functions that enable organisational transformation and integration of customer experience across Council, delivering a unified, customer-centred approach to service and culture.

Her teams shape and enable the future-focused customer strategy, support Council to embed organisational transformation, and ensure the capability and engagement of our people directly enhance the experiences of our communities.

She also brings together a variety of functions ensuring regulatory obligations are met and service delivery is achieved to meet the broad needs of the community.

K-J oversees a diverse portfolio of functions that shape the long-term interests, sustainability, and strategic planning of Nelson City Council.

Her teams provide cohesive planning, robust policy advice, effective management of physical and environmental assets in alignment with the Council’s strategic vision and statutory responsibilities, while collaborating and working closely with the Delivery Directorate to ensure alignment.

Image of Group Manager Corporate Services, Nikki Harrison

Nikki is the Executive Director Corporate Services at Nelson City Council, bringing 15 years of experience in local government following a career in banking finance and operations.

Nikki oversees teams across finance, property services, legal & governance, contract & programme management, audit & risk, and digital services.

Senior Leadership Team

Gareth leads the day-to-day operations of the Chief Executive’s Office, ensure things run smoothly at the top level of Council, support sound decision-making, and help keep our leadership team focused on the big picture.

Gareth previously led the City Development team. Before that, he was Manager Regional Strategy & Investmentat the Nelson Regional Development Agency, having earlier been Nelson City Council’s Economic and Policy Advisor. He also has extensive experience, including with Ministerial and Parliamentary Services.

The role of the Kaihautū is to provide strategic leadership in building a culturally responsive local government organisation; support the development of enduring partnerships with eight local iwi; and to enable positive engagement and outcomes for iwi, Māori and the wider community.

Ka rewa Aotea ki Te Tai Hauāuru

Paraninihi kei raro, Taipake kei runga

Taranaki titohea

Here atu ki Ngāti Haua

te wahi e whakamana i te Kingitanga

Piki atu ra ki Ngawha,

Te wāhi i hainatia te Tiriti o Waitangi

Heke iho ra ki te waka ā Maui,

Kai Tahu, Koukourarata e

Tau ana ki Te Tau Ihu.

Andrea King is the Manager of People and Capability at Nelson City Council, bringing 25 years of experience in human resources in both private and public sectors in New Zealand, Australia and the UK. With a generalist human resources background, Andrea brings to the table a wealth of experience across the full scope of Human Resources functions, including learning and development, recruitment, performance, industrial relations, remuneration and culture.

Andrea oversees the People and Capability team and the Health, Safety and Wellness team at Council, driving the delivery of an effective and high-performing workforce and culture where people are safe, thrive, and deliver the best service to our community.

Carla is responsible for legal and governance matters across Council, and oversees the information management, corporate logistics and privacy teams.

David is responsible for strategic asset and activity management across the parks, facilities, utilities, transport and solid waste teams.

Eddie oversees the operations delivery across the parks, facilities, utilities, transport and solid waste teams.

James is the Communications Manager at Nelson City Council, bringing 20 years of experience in the field of journalism, communications and IT training.

Combining a love for fun and creative communications, empathetic and genuine engagement, James and the communications team play a key role in making sure the Nelson community understands the work Council are doing.

Jane provides leadership and governance of the Information Technology and GIS Teams, and for the Customer Service Centre, fostering a culture that supports them to achieve their highest potential and deliver excellent service for Nelson City Council and the community.

Mandy is the Head of Regulatory Services Manager of Nelson City Council, having over 20 years of local government experience in the planning and regulatory fields, mainly at Tasman District and Nelson City Councils.

Mandy has been leading teams at NCC for over 16 years and keenly supports innovative ways to improve what we do for our people and environment while meeting our regulatory responsibilities. She has fabulous people in the Building, Consents and Compliance teams who undertake regional and district operational functions to manage the impacts of activities and improve our environment.

Matt brings significant experience from his time spent in customer experience-focused leadership roles. He worked as Head of Talent at Marks & Spencer, where he helped lead a major customer-orientated transformation, and later as Global Head of Experience at Freshfields.

With a background in psychology, Matt has always been drawn to understanding people and their behaviour. Matt is clear that customer experience is a responsibility for all of Council

Michael helps ensure that all programmes and projects are aligned with Council's strategic priorities and community wellbeing goals as laid out in our Long Term Plan. He brings a wealth of experience from senior roles in central government across both New Zealand and Australia, having worked in the Departments of Internal Affairs, Justice, Education, and Health.

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