About the Ministry

Senior leadership team

The Senior Leadership Team (SLT) is led by John Allen, who is the Ministry's Chief Executive and the Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade. SLT includes the Ministry’s six Deputy Secretaries, the Senior Adviser Strategy, the Director Human Resources Division and the Director Communications Division. The Ministry’s Principal Capability Adviser attends SLT meetings.

John Allen	Chief Executive
	John Allen has been Chief Executive and Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade since July 2009. He is the Government’s chief adviser on foreign and trade policy, official development assistance, international law, and diplomatic and consular issues. He is responsible to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Disarmament and Arms Control. With a rapidly changing global environment, John is leading the Ministry through an unprecedented period of change. He has focused on developing a strong vision and direction for the Ministry that is designed to underpin New Zealand’s security and economic prosperity. A major programme called Ministry 20/20 is underway to create a more flexible and efficient organisation that is well placed to meet future requirements. Prior to joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, John was Chief Executive of New Zealand Post, where he led a range of initiatives to drive growth in advance of declining mail volumes. He held a number of senior positions at New Zealand Post before his appointment as its Chief Executive in 2003. A former Partner of Rudd Watts & Stone, specialising in commercial and public policy issues, John has also been a visiting Lecturer in Law at Victoria University of Wellington. He is an experienced company director and was co-Chair of the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum until April 2011. John is Chair of the Employers’ Disability Network and a Trustee of the Be.Accessible Trust. He is also a member of the Territorial Forces Employer Support Council, and a Trustee of the New Zealand International Arts Festival, and New Zealand Book Council.
Chris Seed	Deputy Secretary Australia, Pacific, and Europe Group
	Chris Seed returned to the Ministry in September 2008 as Deputy Secretary Australia, Pacific, and Europe Group. From 2004 until his return, Chris was the Deputy Secretary (Policy and Planning) in New Zealand's Ministry of Defence. He worked closely with the Vice-Chief of Defence Force in supporting Defence’s Chief Executives in the strategic management of Defence's international, resourcing and capability business. Chris' earlier career with the foreign ministry included postings as High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea (2001-2003), as New Zealand's first senior national officer in the International Peace Monitoring Team in the Solomon Islands, as Deputy High Commissioner in London (1998-2000), Counsellor in Canberra (1994-1997) and Second Secretary in Tehran (1989-1991). In Wellington Chris' areas of work included Europe, South East Asia and overseas development, and was director of its organisational planning division. He was also seconded to Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 1987.
David Walker	Deputy Secretary Americas, Asia, Middle East and Africa Group
	David Walker returned to the Ministry in June 2011 from being New Zealand’s Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), based in Geneva. During his time with the WTO, David represented New Zealand at the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations, and in April 2009 was appointed Chair of the Doha Round negotiations on agriculture. Prior to his WTO role, David was Principal Economic Adviser at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He has twice served as New Zealand’s APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) Senior Official – in 2004 and 1999. From August 2000 through April 2004 he was Deputy Chief of Mission at the New Zealand Embassy to the United States in Washington DC. Prior to 1999, David spent a period as Strategic Issues Manager in Telecom’s New Zealand’s corporate strategy group. He has also served as head of the Ministry’s Trade and Economic Analysis Division and has had previous postings in London and Geneva.
Crawford Falconer	Deputy Secretary Trade and Economic Group
	Crawford Falconer is Deputy Secretary for the Trade and Economic Group. He was New Zealand Ambassador to the World Trade Organisation in Geneva and served as Chair of the WTO Agriculture negotiations from 2005 to 2009. His career has also included positions as MFAT Senior Official with responsibility for managing New Zealand's multilateral and bilateral trade negotiations (Free Trade Agreements and Closer Economic Partnerships) and WTO Negotiations, as Deputy Director of bilateral relations with the Americas Division, and as Director of the Trade Negotiations Division. He has also worked at the Ministries of Justice and Trade and Industry. Crawford has previously worked for the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, first as Trade Directorate Division Head and latterly as its Deputy Director. He has been a visiting fellow at the New Zealand Institute of Policy Studies and has taught at Wellington's Victoria University. He has served as a board member for the New Zealand Pacific Economic Cooperation Council, and as a Chair of the former GATT Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, as well as Chair of the OECD Trade Committee.
Gerard van Bohemen	Deputy Secretary Multilateral and Legal Affairs Group
	Gerard van Bohemen is Deputy Secretary for the Multilateral and Legal Group. He had previously been International Legal Adviser and Director of the Ministry’s Legal Division (since 2005). Gerard began his career with the Ministry in December 1982 working initially in the Legal Division and then at the New Zealand Mission to the United Nations in New York. After a period spent in private legal practice at Russell McVeagh, he returned to the Ministry as Deputy Permanent Representative at the New Zealand Mission in New York during New Zealand’s membership of the UN Security Council in 1993/94. On his return, Gerard resumed his career in private practice, joining Buddle Findlay in Auckland where he was a partner from 1996 to 2003. In 2004, he was a partner in Chen Palmer & Partners in Wellington. In his role as International Legal Advisor, Gerard was responsible for advising the Government on international legal issues. He also represented New Zealand at a variety of international negotiations, specialising in fisheries and oceans, whaling, and biosafety issues.
Amanda Ellis	Deputy Secretary International Development Group
	Amanda Ellis is Deputy Secretary for the International Development Group, managing New Zealand's international aid and development program and advising the Government on international development issues. Amanda is an economist specializing in international trade and development economics. Before returning to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in July 2010, she was Lead Specialist in the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Group of the World Bank. Amanda also managed the World Bank's Global Private Sector Leaders CEO Forum. Amanda’s previous roles with the Ministry in the 1990s included positions at the OECD in Paris, as Consul in the French Pacific Territories, and as manager of New Zealand's aid programmes in Viet Nam, Laos PDR and Cambodia.
Phil Goulin	Deputy Secretary Corporate Management Group
	Deputy Secretary for the Corporate Management Group, Phil Goulin, has oversight for the majority of the Ministry's corporate services units including Finance, Information and Communications Technology, Audit, Knowledge Services, Management Services, Property and Capital Asset Management, and Security. The Ministry’s corporate units provide the infrastructure and services that support the people, networks, systems, and assets that enable the Ministry to conduct its core business. Phil is a chartered accountant with 25 years public sector experience, which started with Audit New Zealand (1983). During his career with the Ministry he has held roles as Deputy Director of Finance Division (1988), and Director of Finance Division (2000). Phil has also been closely involved with a number of whole‑of‑Ministry reviews, including the 1998 Output Pricing Review, the 2003 Capability Review, and the 2008 Response to Foreign Policy and Trade Challenges, all of which have resulted in additional injections of resources for the Ministry.
David Skilling	Senior Adviser to the Secretary, Strategy
	David Skilling is Senior Adviser to the Secretary, Strategy with the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. David is an experienced economic analyst, with a focus on economic geography, and has a career spanning almost two decades, with a range of public and private sector organisations. Between 2003 and 2008 he was Chief Executive of independent think tank the New Zealand Institute, authoring a series of reports on New Zealand's economic future and international engagement. Prior to joining the Ministry, David was Senior Fellow with the McKinsey Global Institute in Singapore, as well as working with McKinsey's Public Sector Practice. He has also worked for the New Zealand Treasury, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and Harvard University. Educated at Auckland and Harvard Universities, David holds a Master of Commerce in Economics and a PHD in Public Policy. Elected as a member of the World Economic Forum's Young Global Leaders Network in 2008, he is a regular participant in Forum meetings and an active speaker on issues relating to a changing global economy.
Julie Townley	Director Human Resources Division
	Prior to being appointed Director Human Resources, Julie has held roles in the Ministry as Deputy Director, Human Resource Policy, and Director, Organisational Development NZAID. She commenced her career in Human Resources in the private sector after graduating with a Bachelor of Arts, Victoria University, and gained strategic and change management experience in the health sector before joining the Ministry. Julie and her team are responsible for assisting in ensuring that the Ministry has the required capability to deliver on its strategic objectives both now and in the future.
John McArthur	Principal Capability Adviser
	John McArthur was appointed Principal Capability Adviser to the CEO of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in July 2010. A Wellingtonian, educated at Victoria University and with a PhD from the University of Toulouse Le Mirail in France, Dr McArthur is a career diplomat with a long association with Asia. His career includes serving as New Zealand Ambassador to Japan, New Zealand Consul-General in Shanghai and a secondment to the New Zealand Commerce and Industry Office in Taipei. His first posting with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade was to Beijing (1986). At the Ministry's head office in Wellington, Dr McArthur served from 2007 as Deputy Secretary in charge of Asia, the Americas and APEC then Deputy Secretary in charge of North Asia. Earlier on he headed the Security Policy Division (1998-2003). He is a fluent speaker of French, Mandarin, Japanese, Spanish and Italian.
Viv Beck	Director Communications Division
	Viv Beck joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in February 2011 as Director of Communications. Viv was Chief Executive of design and print agency Communication Arts for five years and prior to that, General Manager Communications and a member of New Zealand Post’s leadership team. She concurrently held the role of General Manager Stamps, responsible for the design and production of New Zealand Post's postage stamps and their subsequent marketing to collectors in more than 100 countries worldwide. Viv worked in her own business after co-writing and launching a leadership book for women starting out in their careers. She was Chair of the Wellington Museums Trust, which operates the largest grouping of arts and cultural visitor attractions in Wellington; and a Director of economic development agency Grow Wellington prior to joining the Ministry. She holds a degree in economics from Victoria University and a diploma in journalism.