Chief executive role up for grabs at city council
If you fancy leading a team of 3000 employees and are happy for your every move to be the subject of intense public scrutiny, the Christchurch City Council has the job for you.
The organisation is advertising for a new chief executive, ahead of current boss Karleen Edwards’ fiveyear fixed-term contract coming to an end in June.
Edwards, who joined the council in 2014, has not yet indicated whether she will reapply for the job.
The role, being advertised in today’s Press newspaper and on online job portals, is one of the most important in Christchurch.
‘‘This is a high-profile leadership position, having oversight of a large operational organisation that is both far-reaching and complex,’’ the advertisement reads.
‘‘In addition to enhancing organisational culture to ensure a ‘can-do’ approach, the CE will be a visible leader who will engage effectively with the city’s community and business groups, strategic partners (including mana whenua), while showing empathy for a strong community focus.’’
Candidates should be able to show ‘‘commercial acumen, riskawareness, and the ability to be strategic, visionary, innovative and creative – he or she will be a person who inspires confidence’’.
Those skills are reflected in the salary – in the year to June 2018 Edwards earned $414,987 – a touch less than Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s $471,049 and more than double Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel’s $190,245. Edwards has been thrust into the public eye repeatedly over the past year as the council struggled to deal with several highprofile issues.
Dalziel laid the blame firmly at her chief executive’s door for the fiasco over secrecy regarding the cost of an electronic touchscreen at the central library Tu¯ ranga, while staff were roundly criticised after it emerged in October that councillors had been kept in the dark for seven months over the extent of problems with the city’s drinking water infrastructure. Edwards, a psychiatrist turned administrator, had a career in the health industry – including a stint as deputy chief executive of Canterbury District Health Board from 2001 to 2007 – before joining the city council five years ago. Council chief executives are appointed by the mayor and elected councillors, and that person then employs their own executive leadership team.