Who we are 

We are the Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation. We are proud of our purpose: sustainable investment delivering strong returns for all New Zealanders. We invest government contributions to the New Zealand Super Fund, a global investment fund helping to ensure the country can pay for the growing cost of universal superannuation (New Zealand Superannuation) in the future. We also oversee the Elevate Fund, which invests in small, fast-growing New Zealand companies. 

At the Guardians there’s an energy, passion and a shared commitment to excellence: in 2024 the New Zealand Super Fund was named the world’s best-performing sovereign wealth fund. The work is complex, innovative and intellectually stimulating.  

In keeping with its long-term investment horizon and inter-generational nature, the Fund is growth-oriented and takes a sustainable finance approach. This includes a commitment to being net zero by 2050. The Fund is invested globally in a wide range of investment strategies across public and private markets. 

The Opportunity 

The Chief Risk Officer role is an executive leadership position responsible for second line investment risk and enterprise risk across the organisation. It leads a high performing team of 20 FTE comprising teams in portfolio and investment risk, operational due diligence, enterprise risk, model risk, operational compliance, data services and knowledge management. The risk function at the Guardians is unique in its breadth and plays a critical role in delivering the Guardians’ commercial mandate. The CRO is a member of the internal Risk Committee and is an attendee or member of other internal committees and working groups. The CRO currently sits on internal steering committees as required.   

Key Responsibilities 

The CRO is responsible for measuring, monitoring and reporting key investment and portfolio-level risk outcomes, enterprise and compliance risk areas for the Guardians. This includes providing second line risk reporting on the funds and the organisation to the Board and management committees, as well as identifying, measuring, reporting and communicating across the key areas of risk in a consistent way. This is a position focused on enterprise leadership that connects teams across the organisation and develops other leaders while running an already well-performing function. In essence the CRO must lead as the “voice of risk” for the organisation and work with other members of the leadership team to model and embed risk as a core part of the culture.   

Your Background 

This role requires proven leadership experience at the executive level and a track record of influencing and contributing across an enterprise. Investment risk expertise is required, which might come from prior experience leading this function or can be proxied through portfolio management experience. Fundamentally, this is a leadership role first and relies on an ability to lead highly skilled teams, create an environment of ongoing improvement and develop leadership capability. Substantial experience in financial services is required.   

How to Apply:  

Kerridge & Partners is managing the appointment process for this role. To apply or express interest, please contact Sam Webster at sam.webster@kerridgepartners.com or call +64 (0)9 969 9900.   

The Guardians encourages and welcomes applications from people with diverse experience, including applicants with specific disability needs. As a proudly committed equal opportunity employer, we challenge discrimination and actively work to eliminate bias in our hiring practices. Diversity of experience and diversity of background help us to solve complex problems and deliver on our purpose.