Senior Northland Regional Council manager Jonathan Gibbard has been appointed as the organisation’s new CEO - Tumuaki.

His appointment for a five-year term comes as the current CEO Malcolm Nicolson prepares to retire at the end of September, with Mr Gibbard’s official start date October 01.

Announcing the appointment today (subs: Weds 13 April) council Chair Penny Smart says Mr Gibbard, 42, the council’s current Group Manager - Environmental Services, had been chosen from a shortlist of four applicants after a year-long exhaustive search.

The new CEO - Tumuaki, who lives at Tutukaka with his partner and son, will replace outgoing head Mr Nicolson, who will retire later this year to his 152-hectare farm near Kawakawa where he plans to develop an ecotourism venture. Mr Nicolson has helmed the council since early 2012.

Mr Gibbard has worked for the NRC in three stints, the first as a Coastal Policy Analyst from 2002 to 2005, returning in 2007 as a Senior Coastal Policy Analyst. He rejoined the council in 2015 as its Group Manager - Strategy, Governance and Engagement and assumed his current role as Group Manager - Environmental Services in July 2020.

"We were very pleased with the calibre of applicants for the CEO - Tumuaki role and Mr Gibbard stood out in terms of his in-depth knowledge of regional council work and his proven ability to lead in transformational change," Chair Smart says.

"My fellow councillors and I would also like to acknowledge the tremendous legacy Mr Nicolson will leave as a result of his tenure."

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