18 August 2016
Ministry for Vulnerable Children, Oranga Tamariki Chief Executive appointed
State Services Commissioner Peter Hughes has today announced the appointment of Gráinne Moss as establishment Chief
Executive of the new Ministry for Vulnerable Children, Oranga Tamariki.
“I am very pleased to appoint Mrs Moss to this newly established role and welcome her to the Public Service,” Mr Hughes
said.
Mrs Moss’s career spans more than 25 years in both the public and private sectors across the UK, Switzerland and New
Zealand. For the last nine years Mrs Moss worked at Bupa Care Services NZ, one of New Zealand’s largest providers of
care services to elderly people. Her most recent role was Managing Director, and before this she spent five years as the
General Manager for their aged care and rehabilitation services. She has also spent the early part of her career in the
UK and New Zealand public health systems.
“Too many of our children and young people are being abused and neglected,” said Mr Hughes.
“The Ministry for Vulnerable Children, Oranga Tamariki will take a new approach to government services that support and
protect vulnerable children, teenagers and their families,” he said.
“Mrs Moss is a transformational leader with a proven track record of leading and managing change across multiple
industries and a variety of countries,” he said. “She will bring new ideas and fresh perspectives to help the new agency
make a real difference in the lives of New Zealand children”.
“Her experience at Bupa providing care services to elderly New Zealanders means she understands how to run a large
organisation focused on caring for people who can be vulnerable and need help and support,” he said.
The Chief Executive of the Ministry for Vulnerable Children, Oranga Tamariki will be the Government’s lead provider of
policy advice and services for vulnerable children and young people, within the context of wider social sector policy
and Government priorities.
Mrs Moss will become the acting Chief Executive of the Ministry for Vulnerable Children, Oranga Tamariki from 5
September 2016, initially part-time then full-time from 10 October 2016. She will then become Chief Executive for a five
year term once the Ministry is formally established on 1 April 2017.
Mrs Moss holds a Masters of Business Administration (with honours) from the prestigious IMD Business School in Lausanne,
Switzerland.
Biography
Gráinne Moss’s career spans over 25 years in the public and private sectors across three countries, the UK, Switzerland
and New Zealand. Most recently Gráinne worked at Bupa Care Services NZ for nine years. Her most recent role was Managing
Director, and before this she spent five years as General Manager Rehabilitation and Care Services.
Bupa Care Services NZ is the largest aged care provider in NZ. It has 4,500 staff, an asset base of $1.1billion, manages
60 care homes, 33 retirement villages, and seven rehabilitation centres, providing care and support to over 20,000 New
Zealanders.
Gráinne was awarded an MBA (Hons) in 2003 from IMD Switzerland where she was recognized as one of the top five students
and presented with the prestigious Gillian Welshe Award for the outstanding female graduate.
Prior to studying for her MBA she worked at Carter Holt Harvey Forests as the Human Resources Manager and then moved to
the Central North Island as the Regional Operations Manager for Forests.
Gráinne holds a BSc (Hons) in Human Anatomy and Biology from the University of Liverpool and spent the early years of
her career in the UK National Health Service prior to emigrating to New Zealand at the end of the 90s.
Originally from Ireland, Gráinne is an accomplished long-distance swimmer. She is the first Irish woman to swim the
English Channel and Cook Strait.
ENDS