Chris Barker Email & Phone Number

Wellington, New Zealand

Part time secondment to this Agile Product Owner role for an enterprise wide SaaS product design and implementation (planned launch December 2024).

Wellington, New Zealand

I co-lead a team responsible for a portfolio of diverse investment programmes to enable wellbeing and economic outcomes for and with whānau, hapū, iwi. This includes staff line management (7 direct and 25 indirect FTE), managing cross-functional teams, stakeholder engagement, developing investment strategy, designing operational policy, fund management, contract monitoring, fund evaluation, risk management, ministerial servicing, budget bids, and cross-agency work. I have also been acting Director, Investments at various times.

New Zealand

In this paid role, the board sets the strategic direction and monitors this NGO’s performance to achieve nature conservation outcomes across Aotearoa / New Zealand. Our achievements include the development of a long term strategy to reposition the organisation for the next 100 years, and the creation of a roadmap to truly partner with mana whenua. In 2020 I was also on the panel to recruit a new CE.

Wellington, New Zealand

I built stronger reach with an indirect nationwide business advisory channel and led a programme of change to better support regional economic development. Within this complex operating environment I led the thinking across central and local government to land on structured outcomes (steps, sequencing, and prioritisation). In a process of co-design I led the systematic redesign of the brand promise and online customer journey to drive subsequent decisions around process improvement and platform design.

Wanganui-Manawatu, New Zealand

With a commercial lens, I helped businesses identify opportunities to internationalise by giving them a fresh perspective and where appropriate connecting them with people and services who could help deliver a competitive strategy. This was an advisory role working with local government (LTA’s), central government, and industry across sectors and communities in the central North Island of Aotearoa/NZ.

The board developed the strategic direction, set policy, built key relationships, and monitored progress & risks. During my tenure I was Chair and oversaw significant growth of the company, both organic and through acquisition, and grew the business from a start-up to a sustainable business that was investment ready. Jumprope was a professional services business working across NZ that was sold in 2015.

Wanganui-Manawatu, New Zealand

I took this professional services agency from start-up to investment ready. We collaborated on transformational initiatives across industries. I also built our annual plan & budget to support the strategies developed by the board, nurtured a collaborative culture, recruited & managed personnel, created scalable processes & systems and reported to the board. We also acquired and integrated a digital agency. Throughout my tenure I also worked on some key client projects to help solve business challenges. These included Fonterra Innovation, Massey University, AgResearch, Lincoln Agritech, Palmerston North City Council, Crest Hospital, UCOL, Public Trust, and Seafood ITO.

I led the team responsible for creating value with Fonterra’s corporate and ingredient product brands and trademarks globally. Specifically:• I co-led the project to rebrand Fonterra to “Dairy for Life”,• I worked on the RFP to rationalise the marketing agencies for our FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) business globally ($300M annual media spend), and• I led my team to develop innovative ways to market and communicate the science behind Fonterra’s value add ingredient products to a range of stakeholders in NZ, Australia, Asia, China, Europe, and North & South America. Fonterra, the world’s largest exporter of dairy ingredients to 140 countries and territories. At this time they had a $14.9B turnover and 16K staff.

Wellington, New Zealand

As a fixed term consultant for this Crown Entity I worked for two of the SMT, tasked with engaging a range of stakeholders including iwi, local government and NGO’s as to how the central government’s social housing programmes would work region-by-region. I then designed communications to ensure all stakeholders including staff and the Minister understood the agreed approach.

Auckland, New Zealand

I co-designed a programme to enhance the working relationship between marketing and sales to transform the customer experience and business growth.

Wellington, New Zealand

Launched 12 months earlier, Kiwibank now wanted to grow the number and profitabilty of customers. I led the marketing team tasked with designing new products as well as using data to plan innovative marketing campaigns to acquire, activate and retain customers. I also sat on the pricing committee, regularly attended Executive Team meetings to present new initiatives and insights, and attended board meetings to report results. My team launched a range of new products including credit cards and insurance, found smarter ways to deliver marketing campaigns, grew customer numbers and improved profitability both above target.

Wellington, New Zealand

Australian company NRMA acquired State Insurance, NZI and the underwriting of BNZ’s general insurance as part of their entry into NZ, bringing them together under the new IAG brand. In this fixed term role I led a team to work with the CIO and Head of Marketing, managing complex stakeholder relationships to develop an e-business strategy enabling the transformation of the customer experience across all of the brands.

EDS was a US IT services company with 135K staff in 60 countries. As part of the Asian-Pacific Region I had a consultative sales role working on bid teams responding to RFI’s & RFP’s, as well as undertaking client engagements under both the EDS and A.T. Kearney brands. This included time working in Australia, Singapore and the USA with range of organisations.

Wellington, New Zealand

AMP is an insurer, investment manager and lender; and at the time was a mutual society looking to demutualise while in parallel transform from a tied agent sales force to accredited financial planners. As part of the channel management team we introduced and ran the biggest change management programme the business had seen in 140 years. This included tiered professional development for agents to become advisors, the introduction of additional channels including brokers, online and direct, the ability to sell non AMP products, the migration of our direct mortgage channel Ergo into a retail bank, and the launch of an online brokerage called Liquid. I regularly attended Executive Team meetings to present new initiatives and insights.

Auckland, New Zealand

Secondment: Developed product strategies for the launch of new retail bank in NZ.

Wellington & Wairarapa, New Zealand

Senior product manager.

Wellington, New Zealand

Secondment: Part of the Trust Bank / Westpac merger New Bank Project Team.

Wellington, New Zealand

Graduate programme and then product development and product management roles.

Bbs, Management

Activities and Societies: AIESEC

Certificate In Sustainable Practice, Level 5

Education record

Certificate In Banking