Interim Executive Director, Fixed-Term Contract

NZ Food Waste Champions 12.3 Trust; New Zealand; Remote; NZD 125,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

A national food sustainability organization is seeking an Interim Executive Director to guide its mission from February 2025 to December 2026. The role requires strong leadership, the ability to drive organizational change, and an understanding of New Zealand’s food system. Manage a high-performing team while ensuring existing commitments are met. Ideal candidates will have experience in not-for-profit organizations and strategic partnerships. This is a full-time role with flexibility on location across New Zealand.

Qualifications

• Proven ability to drive organisational change and deliver greater impact through strategic partnerships.
• Strong capability to create clarity and focus during times of evolution and ambiguity.
• A collaborative leadership style that inspires and supports a small, high-performing team.

Responsibilities

• Maintain organisational momentum and ensure existing commitments are completed on time.
• Oversee advocacy efforts and drive impactful change within the food system.
• Manage staff across different parts of New Zealand and conduct domestic travel.

Skills

Organisational change leadership

Strategic partnerships

Collaborative leadership

Commercial acumen

Understanding of New Zealand food system

Job description

Overview

NZ Food Waste Champions 12.3 Trust (Food Waste Champions) and Kai Commitment is a charitable trust with a clear vision; He taonga te kai, a future where food is valued, and not wasted. Through advocacy, education, and partnership, we work to drive environmental, economic, and social change that ensures food in Aotearoa New Zealand is respected as the precious resource it is.

As our Executive Director, Kaitlin Dawson, prepares to head away on extended leave, we are seeking expressions of interest for an experienced, values-aligned leader to guide the organisation from 1 February 2025 to 24 December 2026. Kaitlin will provide a full handover period at the beginning of this term, with an expected handover at the end of the term, to ensure a smooth transition.

This is an exciting and pivotal time for Food Waste Champions / Kai Commitment. We are in the midst of a strategic evolution, continuing our core mission of advocacy and enabling impactful change, while building stronger collaborations across the food system. Our future success will be shaped by partnership, shaped with government, business, community, and other change-makers, where together, we can amplify our impact.

During this period, the Interim Executive Director will be responsible for maintaining organisational momentum and ensuring that existing commitments linked to grants, government support, research projects and partner deliverables, are completed in full and on time.

Essential skills and experience

• Proven ability to drive organisational change and deliver greater impact through strategic partnerships
• Strong capability to create clarity and focus during times of evolution and ambiguity
• A collaborative leadership style with the ability to inspire and support a small, high-performing team
• Demonstrated mana and credibility that enhances the advocacy voice of the organisation
• Strong commercial acumen to support financial planning and sustainable revenue models
• Understanding of New Zealand’s food system and the key players driving food waste reduction
• Ability to work collaboratively with our board of Trustees, through scheduled board forums, sub-committees, projects

Preferred skills and experience

• Experience working with charitable trusts or not-for-profit organisations
• Strong connectivity into government organisations to support advocacy and funding discussions
• Established relationships within grant funding and philanthropic networks
• Established relationships and experience within the food sector, regional councils, or economic development agencies

Role details

• For the right person, this role can be located anywhere in New Zealand, working from home
• The role is full time, managing staff in different parts of New Zealand
• Domestic travel will be required to meet with the team, clients, partners, with estimated 1-2 trips per month
• Board meetings are scheduled every 2-3 months, with 2 per year in person

This is a unique opportunity to lead a respected national movement at a defining moment in its journey, to strengthen partnerships, deliver on commitments, and help shape the future of food system sustainability in Aotearoa. If you’re passionate about driving impact where food, people, and planet intersect, we’d love to hear from you.