Nigel Philpott will join Primary ITO in October, incumbent Linda Sissons to stay on as strategic adviser.
Experienced education leader Nigel Philpott will join Primary ITO as chief executive in October, ready to lead the organisation through the period of change in vocational education.
Following a three-year term, current chief executive Linda Sissons will stay on as a strategic adviser and will have a five-week transition to Philpott. She will also focus on her additional new roles outside Primary ITO with the Skills Leaders Working Group and the establishment board for the New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology.
Primary ITO board chair Mark Darrow said Philpott has an impressive background of strong leadership and work with government ministries, currently as a national programme director with the Ministry of Education.
Philpott holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Leicester and a Master of Arts from King’s College London. He has served in senior roles with both the British and New Zealand Defence Forces, including as Commandant for the New Zealand Staff College and as chief of staff and chief people officer.
More recently he was appointed national lead of a ministerial cross-agency task force for the provision of emergency housing and is currently leading the New Zealand education sector in a strategic review of the education workforce.
