Strategy and People, Working as One
Twenty years working in senior People & Culture roles, the last six as a Chief People Officer. I've sat where you sit, made the calls you're making, felt the gap between business strategy and what actually happens on the ground.
I work as a partner, not a service. I translate your business strategy into real people action. I keep your direction clear and your day-to-day on course. The result: your strategy doesn't stay on paper, and your people aren't left guessing what matters.
A Rare Combination, Transformative Results
1. Twenty Years Senior. Six at CPO
Not a stepping stone. The seat. I've spent two decades in senior People & Culture roles, the last six running the function from the Chief People Officer seat. I've made the strategic calls, owned the outcomes, and lived with the consequences. That experience is yours.
2. Boards and Executive Teams
Fluent in both rooms. Reports up, lands down. I speak the language of boards and C-suite strategy. I also know how to translate that into action that actually lands with your people. I move between both worlds without losing meaning.
4. Diagnosis Before Prescription
Reads the system. Then does the work. In that order. I don't arrive with a template or a playbook. I read your leadership, your culture, your strategy, your data. I understand what's actually happening before I suggest what needs to change. Diagnosis first. Then action.
3. Businesses from 10 to 1,000+
Enterprise craft, right-sized. Two decades inside large, complex organisations taught me what scales and what doesn't. I bring the senior thinking, not the enterprise overhead. The thinking matches your reality.
5. Honest, Kind, Commercial
Three at once. Not two. Not one. I'll tell you the truth even when it's uncomfortable, because that's what you need. I'll deliver that truth with kindness, not brutality. And every piece of advice connects back to what matters for your business. All three. Always.
What Sarah Brings
Over 20 years in senior People & Culture roles across HR partnering, workforce development, and organisational development.
She's led teams from small to large, guided organisations through transformation programmes, and built a reputation as a strategist and problem solver.
Her career has been shaped by genuine care for people and a clear focus on translating strategy into tangible outcomes.
Where She's Done It
Most recently, she's held Chief People Officer roles and led People & Capability functions in complex, large-scale organisations.
At Auckland DHB, she managed large teams responsible for people strategy and supporting a workforce of 13,000 employees.
At KiwiRail, she led People & Capability functions managing teams across an organisation of nearly 3,500 employees.
In both roles, she successfully implemented transformational change across culture, values, remuneration, and wellbeing.
What She Delivers
Her track record is in designing and executing organisational transformation at scale — redesigning operating models, rebuilding people functions, and delivering measurable improvements in efficiency, productivity, and employee experience while keeping leaders, teams, and unions on side through the change.
She leads from the front, sets the design herself, and creates the conditions for organisations and the people inside them to come out of transformation stronger.
“I’ll help you drive
your business forward”
Sarah McLeod - Founder SMP&C