Cash-strapped provider wants eight $200k execs

Te Pūkenga is advertising for eight new executive directors – who will each earn in excess of $200,000 a year – while also looking to slash its budget by $35 million and not ruling out redundancies.

The Crown entity that now runs the country’s polytechs is searching for two new managers for each of its four divisions, despite the specific regional boundaries still being undecided.

It is already run by a chief executive, four deputy chief executives and a 12-member council that is accountable to the Ministry of Education. Te Pūkenga has proposed four regional divisions – north, east, south and west – but concerns have been raised that the governance structure does not align with Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the regional boundaries do not conform to settlement legislation.

The new executive roles are advertised on job website Seek and the successful candidate will have ‘‘joint accountability for regional delivery’’. ‘‘[We] are seeking leaders for the newly created regional director co-lead position who will have responsibilities that stretch across teams, functions and sites, providing operational and strategic leadership,’’ the advertisements say.

‘‘There are four regions, each spread across multiple cities and towns, with diverse stakeholders throughout to engage with and enable through collaboration, partnership, or representation.

‘‘The specific regional boundaries are still to be confirmed.’’

Penny Simmonds, National’s tertiary spokesperson, said it was ‘‘strange’’ the regional leadership roles ‘‘were being advertised before the regions have been finalised’’. According to the position description, ‘‘the responsibilities taken on by each regional director will differ per region’’.

They will ‘‘reflect the relationship each pairing wish to develop’’ and ‘‘reflect the way the co-leaders [wish] to manage responsibilities and accountabilities to deliver most effectively for their directorate’’. The salary is not stated in the listings, but it appears if the search is set to ‘‘paying 200k-350k’’.

Several polytechs and training organisations have already legally become part of Te Pūkenga. It will become one national organisation on January 1, 2023, comprising 260,000 students and 13,000 staff.

Te Pūkenga is forecasting a $63m deficit for 2022 and is looking to make savings of about $10m across work-based learning, $25m across former polytechnics, and ‘‘prudent savings at national office’’. Acting chief executive Peter Winder previously said the process may include ‘‘proposals that result in redundancies, however we don’t want to pre-empt those processes’’.

Applications close on Friday.

‘‘It was strange the roles were being advertised before the regions have been finalised.’’

Penny Simmonds National MP