Southern Institute Of Technology Appoints New Chief Executive

The Southern Institute of Technology (SIT) is pleased to announce the appointment of Onno Mulder as its new Chief Executive.

Onno was Chief Executive at City Care Limited, one of New Zealand’s largest infrastructure companies, for 15 years. He grew City Care into a nationwide infrastructure and construction company with a $300M turnover and 1500 staff.

Onno has more than 30 years’ general management, executive level and governance experience in the infrastructure and construction sector. He has a master’s degree in Construction Management from the University of Canterbury and is a Fellow of Engineering New Zealand.

“We are delighted to appoint someone with Onno’s depth of experience as our new Chief Executive,” says SIT Chair Alison Broad. “Onno brings strong skills in leadership, strategy development and implementation, stakeholder engagement and business development.

“His experience in the construction and infrastructure sector, and as an industry client of the vocational training sector, will bring fresh perspectives and opportunities to SIT’s work. We look forward to using his experience to significantly increase our engagement with employers and to add value to their work,” Ms Broad says.

“I’ve always had a strong belief in the importance of education and I believe that through education we can support students to learn new skills that will help them to make their mark on the community. That’s why I’m excited about taking a career change into education,” Onno says.

“SIT has a strong record of innovation in education and this is an opportunity to play a role in its development as part of Te Pūkenga. I’m looking forward to working with all stakeholders as we continue growing the Southland economy,” he says.

“Onno’s commercial skills and leadership experience will complement the very significant depth of educational experience in SIT. We will be very well placed, with a highly experienced Chief Executive working alongside our long-serving management and staff, increased student numbers and a strong financial position,” says Ms Broad.

“We are enormously grateful to Acting Chief Executive Maree Howden for stepping up as acting Chief Executive over the last 10 months. Our thanks also go to the whole senior leadership team for stepping up. The knowledge and continuity Maree and the team provided to SIT during this period of change were immensely valuable to us.

“We are pleased that Maree’s commitment to SIT’s staff and students, and to the Southland community, will continue as she returns to her permanent role as Deputy Chief Executive and Head of Faculty, Health, Humanities and Computing,” says Ms Broad.

Maree Howden did not apply for the ongoing Chief Executive position.

“We were very pleased with the calibre of applicants we received for the Chief Executive’s position and we are delighted to welcome Onno to SIT and to the Southland community, “says Ms Broad.

Onno Mulder takes up his role at SIT on 24 May but will start meeting SIT’s people and learning more about their work from next week.

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