- Broad commercial and operational leadership role
- Finance, property, administration and commercial oversight
- Upper Hutt based
St Patrick’s College, Silverstream is a state integrated Catholic, Marist boys’ day and boarding secondary school with a proud history stretching back more than 90 years. The College is committed to developing compassionate, just and successful young men and is underpinned by the Gospel and values of courage, faith, humility, support and unity.
This is a rare opportunity for an experienced senior leader to bring their commercial judgement, financial capability and leadership experience to an organisation with a strong sense of purpose, heritage and community.
The role is a broad, hands-on leadership position spanning finance, property, administration, human resources, IT, procurement and significant commercial contracts. Working closely with the Rector, Board of Proprietors and School Board you will help ensure the College is well positioned financially and operationally for the future.
As Commercial Director, you will provide leadership across a diverse portfolio of non-curriculum business critical functions:
- You will oversee the College’s financial performance and position, ensuring continued robust financial planning, budgeting, forecasting and reporting supports sound decision-making. You will lead the finance team while championing financial discipline, strong processes and rigorous compliance.
- Property will also be an important part of your mandate. Leading the Property team, you will contribute to the strategic planning of the College’s evolving property portfolio and help ensure key projects and capital priorities are effectively planned and delivered.
- Beyond finance and property, you will provide leadership and direction to the administration function, oversee procurement and significant commercial contracts, and identify opportunities to improve systems, processes and operational performance.
You will be a trusted adviser and executive to the Rector, Boards, SLT, Director of Boarding and relevant committees, delivering to their priorities, bringing sound commercial judgement, constructive challenge and an ability to turn complex information into clear, practical advice and timely outcomes.
We are looking for a broad commercial leader rather than a narrowly focused finance specialist, and as such, you will have operated with responsibility across several business functions. Whilst you do not need to be a Chartered Accountant, you do need to be financially astute and confident interpreting financial information, assessing risk and using data to support good decisions. Ideally, you will also have experience working with property or asset portfolios, including exposure to capital planning and significant projects.
Just as important is your ability to move comfortably between the strategic and the operational. You will know when to stand back and look at the bigger picture, but equally be prepared to get into the detail when required. Absolutely non-negotiable will be tangible evidence of a track record of delivery.
You will bring strong judgement, an improvement mindset and the confidence to engage with a diverse range of stakeholders. You will be able to influence, advise and appropriately challenge while building trusted relationships with the Rector, Boards, colleagues and the wider College community.
Experience within education or the not-for-profit sector would be useful, but it is not essential. Of greater importance is your ability to continue to bring commercial discipline and contemporary business thinking and delivery into a values-led environment, while respecting the culture, heritage and purpose of the College.
This is a great opportunity to apply your commercial and leadership experience somewhere where the outcomes extend well beyond the bottom line but where the bottom line is important too.
Apply now
Please email your CV to graeme@swr.nz or tony@swr.nz quoting reference 4075511.
For further information in strict confidence, please contact Graeme Sandri on 029 248 8502 or Tony Walsh on 029 271 1101.
Applications close 7 October 2026.
You must be a New Zealand citizen or hold full visa status to currently work in New Zealand.