Hard work put into climbing the ladder

IT was not always apparent Sandy Graham was destined for the top job at the Dunedin City Council.

She dropped out of university and worked in a city roading crew, shovelling gravel, operating a stop/go sign and doing kerb and channel work.

But she went back to the University of Otago and completed a law degree, then did a master’s in library and information science at Victoria University of Wellington.

Ms Graham obtained work at the University of Otago library, then found employment at the Dunedin City Council in 2007 as a webmaster and her ascent in the organisation began.

She became governance manager in 2009 and was corporate services group manager for three years from 2013, before joining the executive leadership team as strategy and governance general manager.

Her responsibilities included civic governance, legal matters, managing risk, marketing, community development and civil defence.

When she was appointed city services general manager in 2018, her portfolio ranged from parks and recreation to property and planning policy.

The departure of chief executive Sue Bidrose led to Ms Graham being appointed acting chief executive last July, and she declared she would seek ‘‘the permanent gig as I am totally committed to what we have created as an organisation and what we are delivering for our community’’.