Mitchell Greenwood
[FYI request #30355 email]
14 April
Dear Mitchell,
OIA 24-25-50: Request for Clarification on Digital and Data Team Structure and Salaries
Thank you for your email of 10 March 2025 to New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE),
making a request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act). You requested the following
information:
Thank you for your response to my previous Official Information Act (OIA) request regarding
NZTE’s Digital and Data structure (28 October). As a citizen with an interest in ensuring
efficient use of public resources, I have a few fol ow-up questions to better understand the
rationale behind the current team structure and associated expenditures.
*General Manager (GM) Role Clarification*
. -- Could you please provide a copy or summary of the digital strategy developed or overseen
by the General Manager (GM)? This would help in understanding the scope and strategic
direction of this role.
*Leadership Team Compensation and Structure* According to information provided (Salary
Band request dated 14 January 2025 by Luke John, OIA), four senior leadership positions (GM,
CTO, Chief Data and Analytics Officer, and Director Digital Products) collectively earn
approximately $1,200,000 annual y, overseeing a team of around 58 FTE staff.
-- Over the past three months, could you confirm how frequently these senior leaders have
held team meetings and agendas and summaries of meeting purposes and outcomes.
-- Given NZTE's primary role as a facilitator of connections rather than a provider of complex
digital products, could you clarify what specific complex digital services or products justify this
level of senior leadership compensation?
* Clarification on CTO Direct Reports*
There appears to be a discrepancy between the CTO job description (10-13 direct reports,
team of up to 55) and the current organisational chart (3 direct reports, team of approximately
40, with some noted duplicates).
-- Please provide the job descriptions for the Chief Data and Analytics Officer and the Director
Digital Products.
* Impact of Invest NZ Separation*: Given the anticipated separation of Invest NZ from NZTE,
reductions in the digital team would seem likely.
-- Please provide details of the work NZTE has been doing for the Investment Team. A high
level summary is sufficient.
-- With regards to your current (and future?!) manager to employee ratio numbers, are you
referencing industry best practice and if so please share the guide1. lines or benchmarks that
were followed.
T: +64 4 816 8100
W: nzte.govt.nz
W: newzealand.com/business
Level 15, The Majestic Centre, 100 Wil is Street, Wel ington 6011, New Zealand, PO Box 2878, Wel ington 6140, New Zealand
*Multiple Leadership Positions Justification*: Many comparable government agencies manage
larger and more complex digital operations with fewer senior leadership positions.
-- Could you explain why NZTE requires multiple senior leadership roles to manage its digital
operations, rather than a single Chief Information or Digital Officer overseeing these functions?
Answers to your questions are as follows.
1. NZTE’s approach to its Digital and Data activity is outlined in the current NZTE four year
strategy. The strategy focuses on enhancing productivity and decision-making through
digital advancements and data insights, aligning with NZTE's Focus strategy. As per your
request, we provide a summary that highlights the key aspects of the digital strategy that
are directly relevant to understanding the General Manager’s role for the Digital, Product,
and Data team:
• Investment and Structure
o Significant investment through, NZTE’s strategy to scale and create more impact
for our customers, creating a unified Digital and Data team.
o Restructuring to enhance efficiency, including reducing 15 FTEs and
consolidating teams.
• Strategic Phases
o Get Data/Get Smarter: Extending data capabilities for better decision-making
and productive use of technology.
o Get Augmented: Embedding AI and new technologies to assist daily operations.
• Data-Driven Decision Making
o Standardising and cataloguing data to enhance its accessibility.
o Building data governance capabilities and improving data literacy.
o Using AI for data analysis and insights, including customer feedback
categorization and market research.
• AI Integration
o Developing an AI roadmap.
o Implementing AI use cases.
o Establishing AI governance.
• Optimising Digital Experience
o Enhancing the use of core tools like Teams, Power BI, and CRM through better
training and change management.
o Maintaining digital products like myNZTE and Investment products to ensure
value for customers.
• Cybersecurity
o Proactively enhancing security capabilities, including awareness campaigns,
monitoring tools, and incident response support.
o Exploring managed services.
2. The Digital and Data leadership team meets regularly. Each of those leaders has a similar
cadence with their teams for optimal work management. As you would expect, ad-hoc
meetings occur frequently to support the work getting done. The information you request
cannot be made available without substantial research and col ation. Gathering the
requested details would be administratively challenging and time-consuming, a level of
effort that out-weights the public interest, we are therefore refusing this part of your request
under section 18(f) substantial collation and research.
3. NZTE’s digital and data activities include:
• Expanding Exporter and Investor Support: Digital tools enable NZTE to efficiently reach
and assist more exporters; investees and investors, providing essential resources and
connections for international growth.
• Boosting Market Access: Leveraging digital platforms enhances access to market
intel igence helping exporters compete global y.
• Increasing Efficiency: Streamlining operations through digital solutions improves service
delivery, performance tracking, and responsiveness to NZTE customer needs, fostering
economic growth. The team is also working with AI and new technology to improve
productivity.
• Data Governance: The use of frameworks, policies, and best practices to empower data
and information users.
• Business Intelligence: This involves data analysis, data science, and dashboarding that
underpin NZTE's performance.
• Data Engineering: Moving, extracting, transforming, and automating data and
associated pipelines.
• Data Architecture: This includes data models, integration patterns, and the big picture of
how NZTE's data landscape fits together.
• Supporting the delivery of digital tools and services requires: Infrastructure and Security,
support desk and internal systems
These initiatives require senior leadership to ensure effective implementation and maximise
the value of data and new technologies, including AI. The specific skill set required of this
group includes:
• Strategic thinking and planning
• Proficiency in digital tools and platforms
• Relationship management and networking
• Market intelligence and research skil s
• Understanding of global market trends
• Knowledge of AI and emerging technologies
• Data analysis and interpretation
• Data governance frameworks and policies
• IT infrastructure management
Note: al roles are benchmarked using independent market data sourced from Korn Ferry.
4. Regarding the differences between the position description and the organisation chart, the
organisation chart previously accurately reflected the Chief Technology Officer’s direct
reports and team following the restructure in 2024. The position description was written
prior to the restructure and has not been updated. The Chief Technology Officer position
itself (it’s responsibilities and scope) did not material y change through the restructure,
however, the team reporting to that position did. Please find the advertised job descriptions
for Chief Data and Analytics Officer as at June 2022 and Director Digital Products as at
February 2022 attached as Appendix One.
5. No decisions have yet been made about the delivery of digital and data functions as a
result of the establishment of Invest New Zealand. The Digital and Data team supports all
functions within NZTE as required. This includes investment teams and support ranges
from data analysis, development of code, to IT service support. Specifically, the team
supports InvestEd; Live Deals; Active Investor Plus applications; the Investment teams’
use of databases; data and analytics and core IT infrastructure.
6. NZTE uses a range of factors to determine structure and resourcing needs. This includes
looking at how many people a manager oversees and also considers the technical skills
needed for some supervisory roles, aligning with our strategy, and making sure roles are
clear and accountable. These principles guide our decisions on structure and help us
compare with similar organisations. As mentioned previously, NZTE uses Korn Ferry data
to compare positions against similar positions in the market.
7. Under NZTE’s General Manager Digital and Data, we have one Product Director
responsible for Product; one Chief Technology Officer responsible for Digital; and one
Chief Data and Analytics Officer responsible for the data team. The Digital and Data
business unit comprises of three distinct functions: Digital Product, Digital Technology and
Data. Each of these functions requires specialist knowledge and skill to operate most
effectively. The benefits of this model include the fol owing.
• Specialisation: Each leader can focus on their specific area of expertise, ensuring
deeper knowledge and more effective strategies. Efficiency: With dedicated leaders,
decision-making can be faster and more efficient. Each leader can address issues and
opportunities within their domain without being stretched too thin
• Innovation: Separate leaders can drive innovation within their areas, fostering a culture
of creativity and continuous improvement. This can lead to more innovative products
and services
• Accountability: Clear delineation of responsibilities helps in holding each leader
accountable for their domain's performance. This can lead to better management and
oversight. This leadership model is very common in business.
You have the right under section 28(3) of the Act to seek an investigation and review by the
Ombudsman. Information about how to make a complaint is available at:
www.ombudsman.parliament.govt.nz or freephone: 0800 802 602.
Yours sincerely
Melissa Trochon
Director – Board & Ministerial
