Chief Executive

The Whangārei Art Trust is entering an exciting new chapter, bringing together arts, culture, heritage, tourism and community impact under a unified strategic vision. We are seeking an exceptional Chief Executive to lead the next phase of organisational development, cultural integration and long-term sustainability. The successful candidate will lead the integration of the Hundertwasser Art Centre and Whangārei Art Museum into a single, high-performing organisation, bringing together people, culture, operations and strategy to deliver the Trust’s vision for a sustainable and thriving future.

This is a high-profile leadership position requiring a strategic thinker, a strong people leader and a commercially astute executive who can successfully navigate complexity, stakeholder relationships and community expectations.

About the Role

Reporting to the Trust, the Chief Executive will:

·         Lead the integration of teams, systems and operations across the organisation

·         Deliver the Trust's strategic vision and long-term objectives

·         Build a high-performing, collaborative and engaged culture

·         Strengthen organisational sustainability through sound commercial and financial leadership

·         Maintain and develop critical stakeholder relationships, including local government, the Hundertwasser Foundation in Vienna, local iwi, community partners, and funding bodies

·         Act as the public face of the organisation and confidently engage with media and external audiences

·         Drive continuous improvement and lead organisational change initiatives

·         Identify opportunities to strengthen Whangārei's position as a destination for arts, culture and tourism

·         Ensure the ongoing care, maintenance and enhancement of the Whangārei Art Museum collection and the City’s wider art collection

·         Ensure the organisation remains a vibrant, financially sustainable and community-focused cultural destination for future generations

About You

We are looking for an experienced executive who can demonstrate:

·         Experience in a Chief Executive, General Manager, Executive Director or equivalent senior leadership position

·         Strong commercial and financial acumen

·         Proven success leading organisational transformation and change

·         Demonstrated ability to build and maintain trusted and enduring relationships with external stakeholders, funding partners, Boards, iwi and Māori organisations

·         Strong people leadership capability with experience building engaged high-performing teams

·         Strategic thinking combined with practical execution

·         Demonstrated resilience, sound judgement and the ability to operate confidently in complex and highly visible environments

·         Confidence engaging with media and managing public scrutiny

·         Excellent communication, influencing and relationship-building skills

·         Experience within the arts, cultural, tourism, museum, visitor economy or not-for-profit sectors is desirable but not essential

·         An understanding of community-led and purpose-driven organisations