Appointment of Chief Executive, Department of Corrections

23 November 2010

The State Services Commissioner, Iain Rennie, today announced the appointment of Ray Smith to the position of Chief Executive, Department of Corrections.

Mr Smith has been in his current role of Deputy Chief Executive, Child, Youth and Family at the Ministry of Social Development since July 2006.

"Ray Smith currently leads an organisation of 3,000 staff and is responsible for a budget of $450 million. He has implemented a number of key Government initiatives, built a high performing senior leadership team and has improved the morale of the staff and lifted the organisation’s image.

"He has extensive experience in leading and successfully managing change, in large, complex service delivery organisations. He has demonstrated the ability to ensure that organisations achieve the Governments’ priorities while improving the delivery of services to their clients," Iain Rennie said.

From 2001 to 2006, Mr Smith was Deputy Chief Executive, Work and Income at the Ministry of Social Development where he led various initiatives to reduce the New Zealand’s unemployment figures. He was responsible for delivering employment and income support to approximately 900,000 New Zealanders, from 145 service centres, and led 4,500 staff across New Zealand.

Prior to that, Mr Smith held a number of senior management roles in Social Development, including National Commissioner of the Department of Work and Income, from 1998 to 2001, and National Service Delivery Manager, New Zealand Income Support Service.

Mr Smith has been appointed for a five year term and will take up the position when the current chief executive, Barry Matthews, retires at the end of this year.

ENDS

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