Secretary for the Environment and Chief Executive
Vicky Robertson is the Secretary for the Environment, appointed in April 2015. Before her appointment, Robertson was a key member of the New Zealand Treasury’s senior leadership team, where she held Deputy Chief Executive, Chief Operating Officer and Acting Secretary and Chief Executive positions.
Vicky has extensive experience across a range of complex policy frameworks. She represented the Treasury in several capacities, including the steering group that established the programme to deliver the Mixed Ownership Model for State-Owned Enterprises.
Her leadership experience extends to strategic organisational initiatives, such as the Treasury’s programme to develop stronger relationships with Māori. Her professional accomplishments also include a year’s secondment to the United Nations Development Programme, where she led a strategic and structural review of the organisation.
Vicky is passionate about diversity as a critical factor in high performing organisations and speaks regularly at business and industry forums. She has worked extensively with iwi throughout her career and in recent years has attended Treaty of Waitangi events as a senior representative. She has been involved in significant interdepartmental strategic policy programmes, including the Social Housing Programme, the establishment of KiwiSaver, the New Zealand National Retirement Savings Scheme and leading the group involved in a cross-departmental review of New Zealand’s Climate Change policy.