Were you one of the 75 people who applied for this job and wondered who got it?
Job title: Chief financial officer, Juken Nissho
Graham Maples, 47, says the business culture of his new Japanese bosses suits him right down to the ground.
"They are very interested in the detail of the results,
in wanting to be very deliberate in making decisions, and having a lot of analysis," he says. "They would prefer more information rather than less information - and that suits my personality."
He says that his Japanese colleagues are obviously thrilled with the success of their company, which has grown since its 1990 establishment in New Zealand to an enterprise running four mills around the country adjacent to owned or leased forests, employing 1200 people and turning over $240 million every year: "They're very proud people."
Maples, whose now-retired father Geoff ran sawmills for a good span of his working life, was attracted to the job "because forestry is one of the larger industries in New Zealand, and it is expanding as the so-called 'wall of wood' is about to hit us".
Based in the company's Auckland head office and reporting to the managing director, Maples manages information-gathering and reporting by financial teams at the company's mills at Kaitaia (two), Gisborne and Masterton.
Maples has a manufacturing background, some of it spent working in the processing and export of wool and leather. He was last with Fletcher Building, leaving after five years as finance manager of Fletcher's Plyco Doors for two years in the same role with Fletcher company Stresscrete.
Canterbury born and raised, Maples has a masters degree in commerce from Canterbury and spent his first two years after qualifying in chartered accountancy.
Recruiter Barbara Troy says that 75 people applied for the position.
