Auckland, New Zealand, August 2026 — Public Trust has appointed Janice Smith as its Chief People Officer, confirming her permanent appointment after serving in the executive role in an acting capacity since November 2025.
The appointment reflects Public Trust’s commitment to putting people at the heart of its organisation. As Chief People Officer, Janice will lead the organisation’s end-to-end people strategy, focusing on building a high-performing culture, strengthening organisational capability, enhancing employee experience, and fostering a safe, inclusive workplace that enables people to thrive while supporting the organisation’s purpose of serving New Zealand communities.
Janice joined Public Trust in 2021 as Head of People, where she led the People & Culture function through a period of organisational transformation. In her leadership role, she oversaw People Operations, business partnering, employee relations, talent management, employee experience, health, safety, and wellbeing, while helping shape the organisation’s long-term people strategy. Her successful leadership led to her appointment as Acting Chief People Officer before being confirmed permanently in the role.
Before joining Public Trust, Janice served as a Transformation Consultant at Counties Manukau Health, supporting major organisational change during New Zealand’s Health and Disability Reform programme. Earlier, she was Director of People & Culture at Tātaki Auckland Unlimited, where she led the people function during the merger of Regional Facilities Auckland (RFA) and ATEED and successfully guided the organisation through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Her earlier leadership experience includes serving as New Zealand HR Lead at Restaurant Brands Ltd, General Manager – People & Culture at Auckland UniServices Ltd, where she led significant cultural transformation, international expansion, health and safety initiatives, and enterprise-wide people technology programmes, as well as earlier HR leadership roles within UniServices.
Janice holds a Bachelor of Technology (Honours) in Chemical Technology from Massey University, graduating with First Class Honours, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Human Resource Management from the University of Auckland.
About Public Trust
Public Trust is an autonomous Crown entity and New Zealand’s largest provider of estate planning and estate management services. Established in 1873 as the world’s first public trustee organisation, Public Trust has helped more than 2.3 million New Zealanders protect their legacies through wills, enduring powers of attorney (EPAs), estate administration, and trust management.
Beyond estate services, Public Trust is one of New Zealand’s largest charitable trust administrators, supporting more than 420 charitable trusts. Its Investments team manages approximately NZ$1.2 billion in funds on behalf of charities, estate beneficiaries, and students, while its Corporate Trustee Services supervise New Zealand businesses to help maintain consumer and investor confidence across the country’s financial system.
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