John Saunders

John Saunders is an accomplished professional currently serving as Director of Strategy Enablement & Māori Partnership and Programme Director at the Ministry for Primary Industries since August 2021, where efforts include establishing a new service with the Te Uru Rākau team. Prior to this role, John acted as Head of Health, Safety, and Wellbeing at the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade and held the position of Independent HR Consultant at Oranga Tamariki—Ministry for Children. With extensive experience at IBM from 2004 to 2017, John held various roles including Employee Relations Manager for A/NZ, ASEAN, Japan, and Korea, and contributed significantly to talent management and diversity initiatives. John holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Victoria University of Wellington.