Our team

E: carl.church@nicherecruitment.co.nz

Carl (Kāi Tahu) is the Kaiwhakahaere Matua and a co-owner of Niche. Carl is a natural connector and is committed to the building of diverse and inclusive organisations. He has a passion for looking at innovative ways of identifying and attracting talent, and recognises the benefits of skills developed locally, regionally, and internationally.

Carl has had a wide-ranging career covering financial and professional services, energy, recruitment, consulting, and technology. He has built out services practices for Deloitte in the UK and Asia Pacific, and has been focused on the governance, strategy and day-to-day operations of specialist and disruptive Australasian businesses. His time as a COO and CFO has given Carl considerable experience in running successful recruitment, finance, legal, IT and operational delivery teams. Carl is proud to serve as an elected member of his Rūnaka executive.

Carl is a Chartered Accountant and has been admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor in New Zealand. Of Kāi Tahu descent, his tīpuna whakapapa to Ōraka Aparima, and he has lived and worked in London, Hong Kong, and New Zealand.

E: jane.temel@nicherecruitment.co.nz

Jane (Ngāruahine, Ngāti Ruanui, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, Ngāti Porou and Pākehā) has been a co-owner of Niche since 2010 and she has led the diversification of the business from legal into other specialist fields. This included the development of our Public Sector and People Culture and Capability portfolios, as well as managing executive appointments, especially for some of Aotearoa’s leading charities and NGOs.

Jane has been involved in recruitment in the UK and New Zealand since 1996, with roles including NZ Manager for the IT and Executive division of a global recruitment firm and General Manager for a large NZ-owned business. She has led large-scale recruitment campaigns for public sector clients, including reorganisations at the senior management level.

Jane completed a Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours at Victoria University of Wellington and she maintains a strong interest in the arts. She has been a parent Trustee on primary and secondary school boards and has served on a church Board of Management and on the RCSA All-of-Government Working Group.

E: rebecca.berney@nicherecruitment.co.nz

Rebecca joined the recruitment profession in 1999 and has worked across both the Wellington and London markets. Since 2018 Rebecca has specialised in recruiting contract, fixed term and permanent roles in the Marketing and Communications space.

Rebecca’s experience spans the full spectrum of roles, from Advisor level to General Manager level appointments. Notably, Rebecca has spearheaded large-scale recruitment projects, showcasing her skill in executing meticulous search efforts.

Rebecca has an extensive network in the Wellington market, a testament to her reputation as a trusted and reliable recruitment partner.

E: lourdes.turconi@nicherecruitment.co.nz

Lourdes is a strategic-minded and people-centred consultant with broad international exposure (Latin America, Europe, Middle East & Asia-Pacific) and 15+ years of experience in research, policy, planning, and implementation within the education and sport sectors.

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the University of St Andrews (Argentina), a postgraduate in Project Cycle Management from the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Spain), a MSc in Sport Management from Loughborough University (England), and has recently completed a PhD at the University of Otago (New Zealand).

A cosmopolitan “big picture” thinker with exceptional attention to detail, Lourdes believes that positive change occurs through building relationships based on reciprocity, empathy, and collective thinking; she is also a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion and values-based practice.

E: maria.lyons@nicherecruitment.co.nz

Maria has over 10 years’ recruitment experience in New Zealand and the UK, working in temporary, contract and permanent recruitment. She has trained and led recruitment teams and run large scale international recruitment campaigns. Maria has also worked within organisational development as a Practice Manager and as an HR generalist within a large primary health organisation.

Maria has a particular passion for working in the People, Capability and Culture field. She provides consistently exceptional service, building strong client relationships, offering tailored recruitment solutions and enabling candidates to realise their potential throughout their career journey.

Maria has a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Education.

Meilin (吴美林) holds a conjoint Bachelor of Laws (LLB) and Bachelor of Commerce (Marketing/Management) from the University of Auckland and she is on track to be admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand in November 2024.

Meilin is drawn to legal recruitment as it allows her to combine her legal knowledge with her extensive sales experience and strong interpersonal skills. She brings nearly ten years of customer satisfaction experience across sales, retail, and hospitality, along with a unique background in acting for top television programmes and advertisements in Aotearoa.

As a consultant, Meilin is passionate about understanding clients’ needs, developing creative and innovative solutions to solve problems, and providing exceptional service to both clients and candidates.

E: amaia.muru@nicherecruitment.co.nz

Amaia Muru (Tainui) has completed a Bachelor of Business at Auckland University of Technology. She has worked in the digital marketing field for international brands and brings a strong set of business skills. Amaia recently desired a career change that involved building pathways for exceptional people. She is passionate about connecting with people and incorporating Māoritanga within her work to unlock a lens that is in her words ‘Unique and impactful’.

'He aha te mea nui te ao? He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata!'

'What is the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people!'

Nicholas (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Tamatea, Ngāi Tahu) is currently in his third year of a conjoint Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts majoring in criminology at Te Herenga Waka, Victoria University of Wellington.

As a part-time Talent Sourcing Consultant, Nicholas will gain valuable skills and insights into the legal and public sectors before he graduates in a couple of years. Nicholas has four years customer service experience, and he confidently interacts with people from all walks of life.

Nicholas is passionate about te ao Māori and incorporating it in his work.

“Whāia te iti kahurangi, ki te tūohu koe me he maunga teitei”

“Seek the treasure you value most dearly: if you bow your head, let it be to a lofty mountain”

E: alysha.hiha@nicherecruitment.co.nz

Alysha is a Ngāti Kahungunu ki te Whanganui a Orotu, Kai Tahu, Tuwharetoa wahine, proficient in te reo Māori and English. Alysha has extensive organisational administration and IT experience. Her previous role, managing the business administration of a national tertiary education provider, meant she dealt with a range of activities to maintain over 30 sites of commercial and community programme delivery in rural and urban settings. She has strong IT technical and software support, as well as marketing and promotion design capabilities.

Alysha’s relationship management skills, alongside her other abilities and qualities, make her the ideal person to keep our Auckland office running smoothly.

E: accounts@nicherecruitment.co.nz

Ann is a Chartered Accountant with over 30 years experience spanning a variety of roles and industries including private practice and Corporate work. Ann began her career with Ernst and Young before specialising in banking at Westpac, where she held several senior positions, predominantly in Treasury and Business Banking. Her banking career also took her to San Francisco to work for Bank of America in Foreign Exchange.

A stint in Melbourne saw her running her own CA practice and, upon returning to New Zealand, Ann spent many years as the General Manager of a creative agency specialising in film and visitor attraction production with clients in New Zealand, Australia and the US. In her spare time she worked with the New Zealand Basketball Academy on a pro bono basis.

Ann provides a diligent, professional approach across the full breadth of Niche’s strategic and operational finance functions.