Associate architects engaged

Our work

Seventy-six associate architects engaged over three and a half years.

Public sector, banking, utilities and the primary industries, since 2023. Some clients we can name and some we cannot. The work is the same either way.

Trusted by

Financial services organisation, large enterprise

Scaling an established practice that could not fill one role

The situation

A mature architecture practice under sustained programme demand had been trying to hire a senior principal architect for nine months. The role had been advertised internally and externally, sourced directly, and run through multiple recruitment partners. More than 150 people had applied. Meanwhile architectural decisions slowed and the chapter lead was pulled into cover work.

What we did

We started with the role, not the market. Working directly with the architecture leader we reframed it around capability rather than title or technology. The organisation had conflated principal with deep technical specialist; what it actually needed was a strategic, delivery-credible Principal Digital Architect operating at programme level.

What happened

Suitable candidates within weeks and one appointed. The engagement continued into further permanent hires, with contract used selectively to prove capability first. The practice scaled from around twenty-five architects to thirty-five and reliance on third-party consultancies fell.

9 months

unfilled before we were engaged

150+

candidates had already applied

"The challenge was not supply. It was role definition and architectural nuance."

Associates, then Search

Large motoring organisation, New Zealand

Holding a practice together through three leadership changes

The situation

The organisation set out to rebuild its architecture practice after a leadership change. Maturity was low, delivery pressure was high, and repeated attempts at permanent hiring had failed because salary bands were misaligned with the market and the roles were poorly defined. Going to market and failing had damaged its credibility.

What we did

Rather than designing the perfect practice up front, we supplied a small cohort of senior contract architects across enterprise, data, security and solution architecture. They stayed between six months and three years and provided continuity through three architecture leadership changes.

What happened

Delivery held. As cost pressure grew we advised the move away from a contractor-heavy model, on role design and market-aligned salaries, and supported permanent hiring once expectations were realistic. The organisation began building its own capability.

leadership changes covered without a gap

6mo – 3yr

range of assignment lengths

Investment organisation, New Zealand, ~250 staff

A first architecture leader, with executives who had never worked with one

The situation

After a restructure and external review the organisation identified a gap in strategic architecture capability. It had built most of its technology in-house and was moving to a SaaS-first, buy-over-build strategy. There was no strategic architecture capability, leadership was changing, and the executive team had not worked alongside architects before. Hiring the wrong person would have set architecture back years.

What we did

We treated it as mandate design rather than recruitment. The role was reframed as an up-and-coming leader rather than an established Head, we mapped the Auckland architecture leadership market, and we assessed candidates against a capability matrix of ten weighted skills, applied identically to internal and external candidates so the trade-offs could be discussed openly.

What happened

Five candidates interviewed, one appointed. The team grew from one to three within ninety days, stakeholders began seeking architectural input, and the role moved from survival to influencing strategy.

5 → 1

interviewed, appointed

1 → 3

team size within 90 days

Associates

Utilities organisation, New Zealand

Restoring credibility after a failed appointment

The situation

A Head of Architecture had been appointed through a standard recruitment process with no specialist architectural input. The appointee interviewed strongly, delivered little, and exited after around nine months. Architecture credibility collapsed, programmes stalled, and trust between delivery teams and leadership deteriorated.

What we did

Working with the Head of Digital, we did not re-run the leadership search. We embedded a senior architecture contractor able to operate across both strategy and delivery, focused on unblocking work and demonstrating architectural value through outcomes rather than plans.

What happened

Delivery stabilised and architecture regained credibility. The organisation was later able to appoint a new Head of Architecture onto a reset foundation rather than into a discredited function.

9 months

the failed appointment lasted

——

weeks to stabilise delivery

Public sector organisation, anonymised

Hiring for a discipline that barely existed in New Zealand

The situation

The organisation wanted to create an enterprise design capability, a role well understood internationally and largely undefined in the local market. It was difficult to hire because it did not exist here and internal hiring capability had no architectural experience. Title-based recruitment was ineffective and carried real risk.

What we did

We decomposed the role into its underlying capabilities rather than relying on job titles, which allowed a realistic match against what the New Zealand market actually contains and reduced the risk of hiring confidence instead of delivery capability.

What happened

Three enterprise designers hired, along with an Enterprise Data Architect identified through the network, in a space where nothing off the shelf applied.

roles filled in an undefined discipline

off-the-shelf position descriptions used

Search and Advisory

Utilities organisation, New Zealand

A hybrid practice built well enough to promote from within

The situation

The organisation had relied heavily on contractors and had no durable internal architecture practice. A newly appointed Architecture Manager wanted to build a strong internal team and reduce long-term contractor dependency, including Enterprise Solution Architects, hybrid roles between enterprise strategy and solution delivery that are uncommon here and hard to define.

What we did

We acted as the Architecture Manager's sole architecture partner over eighteen months, supporting role definition, capability gap analysis and market-based hiring decisions, including in hard-to-fill operational technology domains.

What happened

A strong hybrid team was established. When leadership changed again, architecture capability was mature enough for the organisation to promote internally rather than replace from outside.

18 months

to build the practice

Sole

architecture partner throughout

References, on request

We will put you in touch with the person who hired us, and with the architect who did the work. Both conversations are more useful than a case study, and we would rather you had them.