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 (Ngāti Ruanui) 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 currently serves on the Board of Management at the Rock church and on the RCSA All-of-Government Working Group. Of Ngāti Ruanui and European descent, Jane is proud of her bi-cultural heritage in the Taranaki region.

E: jenny.groom@nicherecruitment.co.nz

Jenny has more than 13 years recruitment experience in New Zealand and London, most recently having built a market-leading risk and compliance team. She has identified talent for many sectors including government, financial services, healthcare, and industrial businesses. She is passionate about finding the right people to help organisations thrive and about helping individuals further their careers.

Jenny moved to New Zealand in 2015, having spent a period in Kenya consulting to conservation organisations and impact investors on innovative ways to sustain conservation funding. A head-hunter in London before that move, she started her career at JPMorgan in London and New York, working across mergers and acquisitions and healthcare advisory.

Jenny completed a Master of Biochemistry at the University of Oxford and has long been involved with various not-for-profit organisations including as a mentor at the Prince’s Trust and more recently running a corporate social responsibility programme in partnership with the Graeme Dingle Foundation.

E: priti.saboo@nicherecruitment.co.nz

Priti has extensive Public Sector and Executive Recruitment experience. She leads the Policy career vertical at Niche recruiting contract and permanent positions across Policy, Analytics, Economics, Research and Evaluation, Projects, and Programme Management.

Priti previously led an Executive Search division with a large recruitment firm in and has recruited for senior leadership roles with multinationals such as IBM, Accenture, DELL and Aricent Technologies.

Priti believes that successful recruitment is about creating a win-win situation for everyone. It is important to understand the needs of the client and the motivation of the candidate to get the best match, and Priti works really hard to achieve great outcomes for both.

Priti has a bachelor's degree in Physics and Mathematics.

E: chris.hooper@nicherecruitment.co.nz

Chris has a substantial non-profit sector background, having successfully led the development of national charities and voluntary organisations in both NZ and the UK. He headed up The SCOUT Association of NZ for 5 years and Special Olympics for more than 10 years (first in NZ, then in the UK). Prior to joining Niche, Chris was CEO of New Zealand Riding for the Disabled.

Additionally, he has worked in the professional sport and education sectors at a senior level and is experienced across all facets of management and leadership. Chris offers clients significant direct experience coupled with great appreciation and insight.

While working in recruitment, Chris has placed many quality candidates into high profile roles across the non-profit, NGO and public space. He specialises in Executive Leadership, Stakeholder Engagement, Communications and Marketing.

E: helen.walsh@nicherecruitment.co.nz

Helen is a qualified Irish solicitor with experience working in the corporate and NGO sectors. She specialises in Legal Support recruitment and is passionate about finding solutions for her clients while helping candidates find the right organisation within which to build a rewarding career.

Helen completed a Bachelor of Arts and a postgraduate Bachelor of Laws at National University Ireland, Galway, and a Master of Laws at Trinity College Dublin.

E: catherine.wang@nicherecruitment.co.nz

Catherine is from mainland China and moved to Auckland in 2018 to obtain her Master of Management degree. Prior to joining Niche, Catherine had worked in leading IT and consulting companies for more than 10 years, including time with Gartner.

Catherine is bilingual in English and Chinese Mandarin. Her management and account executive experience allows her to develop strong relationships, ensuring her ability to understand the needs of her Asian clients and candidates, guaranteeing both the perfect match.

E: tuawhiorangi.elliott@nicherecruitment.co.nz

Tuāwhiorangi is Ngāti Awa and Te Whānau-ā-Apanui. She shares a passion for supporting Māori and Pasifika emerging leaders and driving culture, diversity, and inclusion throughout her professional career.

After completing a Bachelor of Business in Management and International Business, Tuāwhiorangi held HR and business consultant roles in the insurance sector. She then spent two years in Europe, where she gained experience in internal recruitment within the tech start-up space.

As a Consultant for Niche, Tuāwhiorangi’s focus is the People Culture and Capability portfolio, as well as roles requiring specialist knowledge of te Ao Māori.

E: eva.ashmore@nicherecruitment.co.nz

Eva’s passion for people led her to establish her career in recruitment. Eva’s whānau connection to the law, and her academic history with Jurisprudence is what drew her to legal recruitment and made her a natural fit for the Niche team.

This background allows Eva to reach, and build relationships with a wide range of candidates for every role.

Eva holds a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Philosophy from the University of Auckland.

E: jazz.kane@nicherecruitment.co.nz

Jazz has had a rich and varied career over the past half decade, working in insurance and various radio and sales roles whilst completing his law degree at Victoria University. He is now completing the last of his practicing certificate at the College of Law while working to develop Niche Freelance.

Jazz has a strong entrepreneurial drive and is the only member of the Niche team to have established his own record label.

E: sushmita.morajkar@nicherecruitment.co.nz

After growing up in the Middle East and completing her undergraduate degree in India, Sushmita came to New Zealand to complete her master's degree in Industrial and Organisational Psychology. Sushmita’s thesis explored the relationship between diversity and crucial organisational outcomes. She remains passionate about the benefits of a diverse and inclusive workforce and she applies this lens to her sourcing role, delivering a broader range of talent for our clients.

Prior to joining Niche, Sushmita was working in the undergraduate recruitment field to fulfil her passion of helping international candidates with their job search journey in New Zealand.

E: katherine.kooistra@nicherecruitment.co.nz

As a Talent Sourcer, Katherine enjoys connecting great people to great jobs. She has worked in tourism and logistics roles in New Zealand and Europe and has recruitment experience in the voluntary sector.

Katherine graduated from Victoria University with a BA in International Relations and German and a Graduate Certificate in Commerce specialising in Marketing.

Originally from Australia, Megan was a legal secretary for over 10 years with a prominent law firm in Queensland. She moved to New Zealand in 2017 and completed assignments with Niche clients before joining us on staff.

Megan enjoys assisting the Auckland team with recruitment of temporary and permanent Business Support roles as well as undertaking administrative duties around the office. Her legal experience is a real asset, enabling her to understand the needs of law firms and their employees.