General Manager Corporate Services and CFO

Central South Island Water | Help shape what comes next Central South Island Water has been established to deliver drinking water and wastewater services across the Timaru and Mackenzie districts, alongside stormwater services for both councils. Preparing to commence operations on 1 July 2027, the organisation has a clear ambition: reliable services, decisions grounded in evidence and a genuine focus on customers and the communities it serves.

The new role of GM Corporate Services & CFO is an opportunity to help shape an organisation from its foundations – building the capability, culture and ways of working that will support its communities for years to come. Sound like you?

About the opportunity | Establish, Build, Shape Reporting to the Chief Executive, you will join three other new General Managers who will collectively build and lead Central South Island Water. Your contribution will extend across the organisation, helping the executive team make sound decisions, navigate competing priorities and deliver shared outcomes.

As CFO, you will lead financial strategy, funding and commercial advice, connecting infrastructure investment and service commitments with long-term sustainability and customer affordability. You will lead pricing analysis and financial and economic regulatory reporting, with pricing strategies and outcomes agreed collectively by the executive team.

Alongside this financial leadership, you will oversee specialist leaders across people, digital and data, governance, risk and assurance. You will build corporate services that enable effective delivery, developing your team and setting clear expectations for performance, accountability and responsive service.

Your priorities will include:

• Establishing dependable financial systems, controls and corporate capability for commencement.
• Providing clear, evidence-based advice to the Chief Executive, executive team and Board.
• Building leadership capability and a culture where people take ownership, improve processes and develop their careers.
• Bringing commercial discipline and a customer perspective to investment and organisational decisions.

About you | Fresh thinking, New ideas You are a strategic financial leader with the breadth to oversee a wider corporate portfolio and the practical judgement to operate effectively in a lean, developing organisation. Your background could be in utilities, infrastructure or another commercial environment. We welcome transferable capability and fresh thinking from beyond water and local government.

You bring:

• Senior financial leadership experience and a recognised accounting qualification such as CA, CPA or equivalent.
• Strong judgement across funding, investment, financial modelling and commercial performance.
• Confidence advising an executive team and Board, testing assumptions and explaining complex choices clearly.
• The ability to lead specialists, coach people and hold teams accountable for results.
• Experience in pricing, regulatory reporting or comparable work within a regulated or publicly accountable environment (would be useful but is not necessary).

You will be comfortable with ambiguity, willing to challenge established approaches and committed to working as one executive team. Above all, you will connect sound financial leadership with the people and services it supports.

Help establish an organisation, build its culture and shape its future.

How to apply For a copy of the position description and to apply, see below. To discover more about Central South Island Water and the partner Councils visit www.timaru.govt.nz and www.mckenzie.govt.nz   

To make a time for a confidential discussion about the role; contact Leanne Crozier at Decipher Group by txt to 021 245 2224 or email [email protected]

Applications close: Friday 6th November 2026