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Wellington, April 21, 2021
The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) has announced the appointment of Jen Baird to the post of Chief Executive.
She will take charge of the post in July 2021.
Wide experience
Ms Baird has been General Manager (City Growth) at the Hamilton City Council for the past three years. She was responsible for planning the long-term future of a metropolitan scale city including growth funding and delivery of new growth cells, leading the Council’s regulatory responsibilities for land use, resource and building consents, economic development, customer experience and city safety. This role has also included considerable stakeholder engagement and risk management. She led the Council’s civil defence and crisis management during last year’s Alert Level 4 lockdown period.
She was earlier Manager for Communications and Marketing at the Hamilton City Council and Chief Marketing Officer at Barfoot & Thompson for nearly 10 years. She also spent two years as Manager Communications and Brand at Radius Health Group.
Feeling at home
Ms Baird said that she had spent nearly ten years working in the real estate profession, and like many Kiwis loves property.
“Therefore, getting the role at REINZ is like coming home. I am really excited to join the Institute at a time when the industry is rapidly changing and where the importance of data and digital transformation will be so important in the profession’s future. Additionally, there are significant changes from a regulatory perspective which will require real leadership from the industry body; so, I am very much looking forward to the opportunity of being involved in everything that lies ahead,” she said.
Exceptional capabilities
REINZ Chairman Bridget Coates described Ms Baird as a strong, strategic thinker with exceptional people management capabilities.
“She is used to leading teams through challenging transformative environments. Her experience across diverse teams and dealing with a multitude of stakeholders will be an asset to REINZ and we look forward to welcoming her to the team later in the year. Our Acting Chief Executive Wendy Alexander will continue on in her caretaker capacity until Jen joins the team,” she said.
Source: Real Estate Institute of New Zealand, Wellington. The above story has been sponsored by
