Our leadership team

Introducing our directors

Steffi is a trained economist and has worked in the private and public sector, ranging from start-ups to multinational entities in different countries.

Steffi leads the Data, Statistics and Analytics team, which plays an important role in meeting the data needs of our policy and oversight functions and those of its external stakeholders. The team produces official statistics and leads the uplift in data capability across the organisation in close partnership with Digital Solutions and data users.

Prior to this appointment, Steffi was Head of Data and Statistics, acting Head of Macro-Financial department, and previously Manager Statistics.

Before joining us in 2014, Steffi worked for Statistics New Zealand and the Office for National Statistics in the UK. She has also worked as a technical expert for the International Monetary Fund.

Steffi has a postgraduate qualification in Economics (Diplom-Volkswirt) from Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany.

Paul Conway became the Reserve Bank’s Director of Economics and Chief Economist in May 2022. He joined the Reserve Bank from BNZ where he had been Chief Economist since January 2021.

Before joining BNZ Paul spent seven years as the Director of Economics and Research at the New Zealand Productivity Commission. Much of Paul’s work at the Commission was focused on firm-level productivity and understanding the obstacles New Zealand businesses face in using technology to improve performance.

Paul has extensive international experience and has previously worked at the OECD and with the World Bank. Paul initially started his career at the Reserve Bank as an economist after studying at Victoria of University of Wellington and Otago University.

Vanessa Rayner is Director of the Financial Markets team, which is responsible for managing our balance sheet to meet our monetary policy and financial stability objectives.

The Financial Markets team also monitors domestic and global financial conditions to inform policy decisions made by the Monetary Policy Committee.

Prior to this Vanessa was Manager of the Industry Insights and Thematics team in the Financial Stability Group, where she led the review into conduct and culture in the New Zealand banking sector.

Vanessa has had a diverse career in central banking in New Zealand and Australia, including management roles in economics, financial markets, financial stability and prudential supervision. During that time, she has also been on secondments to the Australian Treasury and New Zealand Superannuation Fund.

Vanessa holds a Bachelor of Economics (Honours) and Bachelor of Science (Mathematics) from the University of Queensland, and a Masters in Economics from the London School of Economics.

Steve Gordon leads the Payment Services team, which is responsible for the leadership of the commercially-focused NZ Central Securities Depository Limited as well as New Zealand’s Exchange Settlement Account System

Prior to this, he led the currency function for our overseeing transformative, future-focused currency projects, and before this he led the Enterprise Risk Management, Internal Audit and Legal Counsel functions. Te Pūtea Matua received both national and international awards for Enterprise Risk Management as part of the risk transformation he oversaw.

Steve has previously served in commercial banking roles at Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) and was both Head of Audit and Head of Risk for Business Support at BNZ. He has a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration from Victoria University and is a chartered accountant.

Naomi Mitchell is Director of Communications and Stakeholder Engagement, one of four departments within the Strategy, Governance and Sustainability Group.

Previously our Head of Communications, Naomi has worked in a variety of roles across the organisation since joining in 2012. These include leadership positions, advisory roles and leading communications for many of our major projects and strategies.

Prior to joining us, Naomi had extensive experience in print and broadcast journalism.

Naomi holds an Honours degree in Communications and a post-graduate Diploma in Journalism from the University of Canterbury.

Nick Jeffs joined us in August 2019 and currently leads the Strategy and Business Performance team, which helps set our strategic priorities through business planning, prioritisation frameworks and performance measurement methodologies.

The directorate helps identify, formulate, prioritise and implement performance targets and measures consistent with our purpose, vision and legislation.

Before joining us, Nick worked for the United Kingdom’s financial services regulator (FCA) in a range of roles, including advising the Executive Director for Communications and International, managing a strategic communications team, and then running Brexit communications and engagement. Prior to that, Nick spent five years working for Te Puni Kōkiri on law reform and governance issues.

Nick holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons), Bachelor of Commerce and Master of Communications.

Fezeela’s career has focused on developing expertise in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) across many sectors including government, community, research, third sector and business.

A strong component of her career has focused on developing evidence-based approaches to DEI, leading strategic change and implementing innovative approaches to DEI and wellbeing.

Prior to joining us, Fezeela led a whole of organisation DEI change programme as a Principal Adviser for Auckland Council and as a specialist in DEI for Diversity Works NZ.

As a second-generation New Zealand Indian, she also has a deep personal commitment to creating a more inclusive and equitable society.

She holds a Master of Arts (Psychology) with first class honours from the University of Auckland.

Ian Woolford has worked in a variety of roles with us over the past 30 years. Ian started his career in the Economics department and has had leadership roles in the Financial Markets, Financial Stability and Prudential areas of Te Pūtea Matua (Reserve Bank of New Zealand). 

As Director of Money and Cash, Ian is responsible for money and cash operational functions such as banknote and coin procurement, vaulting and distribution, as well as leading the work here on central bank digital currency, private innovation in money (such as cryptocurrency), and cash system redesign.

Kerry Beaumont (she/her) is Director of Enforcement and Resolution, one of five departments in the Financial Stability Group.

She joined Te Pūtea Matua in 2019 as Senior Legal Counsel to work on the Review of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 1989, and subsequently led the drafting instructions for the Exposure Draft of the Deposit Takers Bill.

Before this, Kerry spent more than 19 years in private practice as a banking and finance lawyer in both New Zealand and Australia. She specialised in financial services regulation, structured finance and debt capital markets.

Kerry holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) / Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Canterbury (Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha).

Kate is the Director of Prudential Policy, responsible for prudential policy advice and research, as well as advice on specific financial stability policy settings across banks, non-bank deposit takers, insurers and financial market infrastructures.

Kate joined the Reserve Bank in 2020 leading the Portfolio Management team in the Financial Markets Department.

Before joining the Reserve Bank, Kate worked in institutional banking in Australia, New Zealand and London, as well as a range of leadership roles at the New Zealand Treasury.

Kate holds a Bachelor of Actuarial Studies and a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) from the Australian National University in Canberra.

Scott is the Director of Prudential Supervision. In this role, he is responsible for leading and overseeing the supervision of licensed financial institutions as well as monitoring and advising on their governance, risk management and regulatory compliance.

Scott joined Te Pūtea Matua in 2012. Prior to his appointment as Director of Prudential Supervision, Scott was the Senior Manager, Supervision, and held a number of other management roles in the Reserve Bank.

Before joining the Reserve Bank Scott worked as an in-house lawyer for one of New Zealand’s major retail banks, and also in private practice, with a focus on banking and commercial law.

Scott also served as an officer in the New Zealand army for a number of years, initially as an infantry officer, and then for the Judge Advocate General.

Scott lives in Auckland with his wife and two children.

Angus McGregor leads our Specialist Supervision department within the Financial Stability Group.

The department is responsible for 4 core areas:

• licensing and authorising of our regulated entities (banks, insurers and non-bank deposit takers)
• providing expert advice to frontline supervisors through our Risk Specialists team (including operational risk/resilience and actuarial advice)
• the modernisation of our supervisory frameworks and systems, and
• anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing supervision.

Each of these teams supports our stated aim of more intensive supervision.

Angus brings 2 decades of senior leadership and regulatory experience to the role. Before joining us, he was Global Director of Legal and Risk at international law firm Linklaters LLP in London, heading up the in-house legal, regulatory compliance and risk management teams. In that role he held a number of regulatory positions, including Compliance Officer for Legal Practice and Money Laundering Compliance Officer.

Angus started his career at Russell McVeagh in Wellington. He has an LLB (Hons) and BA from Victoria University of Wellington - Te Herenga Waka.

Nick McBride graduated in law from Canterbury University and also has a Masters in Business Studies from Massey University. He joined us in 2004 to establish the corporate counsel function and became General Counsel in 2013.

Prior to joining us, Nick worked at the Ministry of Economic Development and started his career with the Christchurch Community Law Centre.

Paul Macpherson leads the Information Security team for Te Pūtea Matua, with responsibility for managing information and cyber security risks across the organisation.

The Information Security team plays a critical role in ensuring the security and privacy of information entrusted to Te Pūtea Matua as kaitiaki of New Zealand’s financial system.

Paul has over 30 years’ experience in information security administration, consulting and management roles across the public and private sector. Previously he held information security management roles at Westpac NZ and Xero, and spent 10 years with KPMG where he provided information security consulting and audit services to clients globally. He is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP).

Kerry Watt is Director of Financial Stability Assessment and Strategy in the Financial Stability directorate.

This department plays a central role in monitoring the financial systems to identify and assess stability risks and determine how the RBNZ should respond. Key activities include delivery of the six monthly Financial Stability Report, delivery of an ongoing programme of stress testing of financial institutions and major issue-specific thematic reviews.

Kerry moved to RBNZ from the role of Acting Director of Strategy and Stakeholder Relations at the Financial Markets Authority, and has previously held a range of roles at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and its predecessor the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in the United Kingdom. He has deep knowledge of regulatory best practice, and comes to RBNZ with a wealth of experience leading the process of translating an assessment of system-wide risks into a strategy of actions and priorities.

Michelle Burke (she/her) is the Director of the Knowledge and Information Management directorate.

The directorate is responsible for promoting and enabling knowledge management best practices within the Reserve Bank as well as information and data governance. Michelle leads on the Reserve Bank’s data and information architecture to meet strategic direction and business requirements. She also oversees the provision of effective data governance frameworks, and leads the continuous improvement and delivery of high quality records management services.

Since joining Te Pūtea Matua in 2006, Michelle has worked in a variety of roles, delivering high quality data and information solutions to the organisation.

Michelle has nearly 30 years of experience in technology, information and data management. She is passionate about data quality, data security, appropriate use of information, solving business problems, and building welcoming and diverse teams.

Terry Newman is the Director of Physical and Personnel Security, one of three directorates within the Digital Solutions and Security Group.

His role is to oversee protective security practice at Te Pūtea Matua ensuring we meet the government’s Protective Security Requirements. The directorate is responsible for identifying threats, vulnerabilities and risks, and implementing fit for purpose mitigation measures. This includes planning for and response to security incidents and heightened threats.

Terry has been with Te Pūtea Matua since 2021, continuing a long career in security roles in New Zealand and overseas.

Vanessa Balshaw leads the Finance directorate, which is responsible for ensuring the integrity of RBNZ’s financial operations, systems, controls and reporting. This includes providing strategic financial advice to enable RBNZ to meet its objectives.

Before joining RBNZ, Vanessa worked for global active investment manager Man Group in London for over 8 years, most recently as the Group Financial Controller. Prior to that Vanessa was with PwC in Luxembourg and Wellington.

Vanessa is a Chartered Accountant, a member of the Institute of Directors in New Zealand, and has a Bachelor of Commerce (with Honours) from the University of Otago. Vanessa is also a Trustee of Laura Fergusson Trust Wellington.

Dr Greta Gordon is Strategic Adviser, responsible for thought leadership, strategy development, building capability, operational effectiveness, managing change and accountability in the Digital Solutions and Security group.

Greta joined Te Pūtea Matua in 2021. Prior to joining the Reserve Bank, Greta was a public service contractor, delivering advice and support to government agencies on project and programme management, service design and implementation, strategy, planning and accountability, and research and evaluation.

Greta has a Doctorate of Government and Masters in Public Management from Victoria University Te Herenga Waka and a Bachelor of Computing and Mathematical Sciences from Waikato University.

Susan Livengood is Director of Sustainability and Financial Inclusion, sitting within the Strategy, Governance and Sustainability group.

Her role incorporates our work across climate change and sustainability, Te Ao Māori, financial inclusion and the South Pacific.

Susan has been with the Reserve Bank since 2019 and has been leading our climate change work in that time. Prior to joining RBNZ she was a Senior Adviser at the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, and was previously the Director of Partnerships at the Deep South Science Challenge. Susan is well connected in domestic and global sustainability networks and will continue to lead our engagement in these areas.

Susan has a deep climate and environmental policy background and holds an MSc in Environmental Planning, Policy and Regulation from the London School of Economics.

John Baddiley joined the Reserve Bank as Director of Digital Solutions/Chief Technology Officer in May 2022, sitting within the Digital Solutions and Security directorate, providing technology services across the Bank.

He joined Te Pūtea Matua from BNZ, where he held senior technology leadership roles as the Head of Technology Strategy and Architecture and the Head of Strategic Relationships.

John has over 30 years’ experience in the technology industry, including 16 years at BNZ, 9 years consulting across the public and private sector in New Zealand, and 2 years consulting in London. John’s recent focus has been on technology strategy and the acceleration of organisational transformation through new technologies such as cloud.

Sarah Enslin was appointed as Director of Governance and Internal Audit in May 2022.

The directorate provides independent, objective and forward-looking assurance that the Bank’s activities are strategic, risk-aligned and well targeted. It also supports the Board and governance committees to ensure they perform their functions effectively.

Sarah has been with the Reserve Bank since October 2019 and brings with her a wealth of risk, assurance and management experience across risk, governance and regulatory compliance in the public and private sector, both here and overseas. Prior to joining the Reserve Bank she worked at WorkSafe New Zealand and Deloitte, having previously held senior roles in various financial institutions in London, including Morgan Stanley, Grant Thornton and Mitsubishi.

Sarah is a Certified Financial Services Auditor, Chartered Certified Accountant and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from the University of Pretoria, South Africa.

Nicola Cheeseman is Director of Commercial Operations within the Finance and Commercial Operations directorate. Commercial Operations provides strategic input into the future procurement and property strategies of RBNZ to ensure it receives fit-for-purpose goods and services.

Nicola is an experienced senior commercial leader with a strong background in procurement and property. She joins Te Pūtea Matua from New Zealand Health Group where she was Group Commercial Manager, leading teams responsible for property, procurement, fleet, and insurance since 2019. Prior to that Nicola had a long period in commercial and finance roles with Tower New Zealand. Nicola is also the Chairperson of Empowerment Trust, a not for profit charity helping individuals better manage and navigate potential conflict situations and build healthy relationships.

A Chartered Member of the Institute of Directors, Nicola is part of the inaugural Tuakana Teina NFP Chair Mentoring Programme co-facilitated by the Institute of Directors and Community Governance NZ. She holds a BSc and Post Graduate Diploma in Science and a Master of Business Administration from The University of Auckland.

Gavin Pearce joined Te Pūtea Matua as Director of Risk and Compliance in August 2022. The directorate is responsible for leading the development and embedding of a broad Risk, Compliance and Resilience strategy and function for Te Pūtea Matua, as well as leading the implementation of a fit-for purpose Enterprise Risk and Compliance Framework and ensure there are effective practices of continuous improvement across Te Pūtea Matua.

Gavin’s career in risk management, management consulting and actuarial roles spans nearly 30 years, having worked in New Zealand and Australia for large general insurance companies, government entities and consulting firms. 

Gavin has a Master’s degree in Statistics from The University of Waikato and an MBA from Henley Business School. He is also a qualified actuary and a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Vikki Forster is Director of People and Capability (CPO), within the Transformation, Innovation, People and Culture Group. 

She joined Te Pūtea Matua in March 2021 as a Senior Change Manager to support the organisation-wide Transformation programme, and stepped up into this leadership role in late 2021. 

As our CPO, she is responsible for leading the People and Capability function in delivering the Matangirua (Enabling our Great Team) strands of our Transformation programme, Huarewa, as well as leading the core People functions across the organisation.

She has held Senior HR Generalist roles both within the public service and private sector, with particular experience in coaching people leaders to lead their people through change sustainably. 

Vikki holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons) degree from University of Hertfordshire, and is a certified Change Management Practitioner (PROSCI and APMG International), with extensive experience in Change Management and HR at both the strategic and operational level. 

Kylie leads the Transformation and Innovation Directorate providing both strategic and operational leadership to the bank-wide transformational direction, directing model change practices and frameworks.
 
In a world of accelerating change, the challenges and opportunities for central banking are unprecedented. The directorate supports our internal capabilities, equipping us to meet the diverse needs of current and future generations of New Zealanders as a modern, agile and effective central bank.
 
Kylie first joined Te Pūtea Matua in August 2021, and has extensive experience in private, public sector and local government organisations directing, facilitating and designing system change, strategy, cross-government initiatives, national programmes, and mobilising communities into collective action. 

She is one of the inaugural Design Thinking practitioners in Wellington and was part of the initial Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) set up of Design across Government. 

Jennie Mandeno joined Te Pūtea Matua in 2022 as a Strategic Adviser (Kaitohu Rautaki) working across the Transformation, Innovation, People and Culture Group.

Jennie has over 20 years’ banking and financial services experience working in both legal and business roles. Before joining the Reserve Bank, Jennie was an Associate General Counsel at ANZ New Zealand, where she also held a role within the Institutional banking business.  Prior to that, Jennie worked in London as a banking and finance lawyer at an international law firm and with a major UK bank.  

Jennie started her career at Bell Gully in Auckland and holds a Bachelor of Laws / Bachelor of Arts from the University of Canterbury (Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha) and is qualified as a Barrister and Solicitor of the New Zealand High Court.