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The senior management group is led by career diplomat Simon Murdoch. He is the Ministry's chief executive and is the Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The Ministry has four deputy secretaries and director of NZAID who are also career diplomats.

Education MA (Hons), Canterbury, 1972
- 1980 various positions in the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs,
1980 – 1982 Seconded to Prime Minister’s Department (Policy Advisory Group) as foreign affairs adviser, 1982 – 1983 Asia Division Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
1983 – 1987 Political Counsellor and Intelligence Liaison Office New Zealand Embassy Washington,
1987 – 1989 Head, Australia Division Ministry of External Relations and Trade, 1989 Seconded to the Prime Minister’s Office as Deputy Director, 1989– 1991 Director, Policy Advisory Group, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet,
1991– 1998 Chief Executive, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet,
1998 – 1999 Visiting Professor of Public Policy and Management, Victoria University, Wellington,
1999 - 2002 New Zealand’s High Commissioner to Australia, 9 September 2002 Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Education BA (Hons), Victoria University, Wellington (1978) PhD (University of Toulouse Le Mirail), Toulouse, France (1982) 1983 - 1985 Policy Officer, External Aid Division Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wellington 1985 - 1986 Chinese language training London and Hong Kong 1986 - 1989 Second Secretary, New Zealand Embassy, Beijing 1990 - 1991 Policy Officer, Economic Division 1991 - 1995 Deputy Director, NZ Commerce and Industry Office, Taipei 1995 - 1998 New Zealand Consul-General, Shanghai 1998 - 2003 Special ASEAN Regional Forum Representative 1999 - 2001 Head, Regional Security Unit, International Security and Arms Control Division 2001 - 2003 Director, Regional Security Division renamed as Security Policy Division 2003 - 2004 Japanese language training, Tokyo 2005 - 2006 Ambassador, Tokyo 2007 Deputy Secretary, Programme 1, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Education BA (Hons), Bristol University, England.
1969-1972 Various positions within MFAT. 1972-1974 Second Secretary, NZ Embassy, Saigon. 1974-1975 Prime Minister's Department, Wellington. 1976-1980 First Secretary, NZ Embassy, Tokyo. 1980-1981 Deputy Director, Asian Division, Wellington. 1981-1983 Deputy Director Pacific Division, Wellington. 1983-1984 Counsellor, New Zealand High Commission, Canberra. 1984-1986 Director, Australia Division, Wellington. 1986-1989 Deputy Permanent Representative, New York. 1989-1991 Deputy High Commissioner, Canberra. 1991-1994 Director Economic Division, Wellington and NZ Senior Official for APEC. 1994-1998 Permanent Representative, Geneva. 1998-2000 Director, Trade Negotiations Division, Wellington. 2000-2003 NZ High Commissioner to Ottawa. 2003-2007 Permanent Representative to the European Union, Brussels. July 2007 to date: Principal adviser Trade Policy MFAT, Wellington. March 2008 to date: Acting Deputy Secretary Programme 2,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Education BA University of Canterbury - MA University of Auckland,
1972 Joined Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Economic, Asia Affairs Division,
1973-1977 Second Secretary Paris,
1978 Middle East and Africa Division,
1978-1980 External Aid Division,
1980-1981 Central Planning and Liaison Group,
1981-1982 Head, Central Planning
and Liaison Group,
1982 Americas Division, 1983-1986 First
Secretary Mexico,
1986-1988 Assistant Head, South
Pacific Division,
1988-1989 Deputy Director Development
Assistance Division,
1990-1993 High Commissioner,
Port Vila,
1993 Head, Human Rights Unit,
1994- April 1997 Director, International
Security and Arms Control Division,
1997 Director, Americas Division,
1998-2001 Ambassador, Buenos
Aires,
2002-2003 On sabbatical,
June 2003-2005 Director Europe
Division, June 2005 Deputy Secretary, Programme 3,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Education 1964-1968 Hamilton Boys' High School , 1974 Auckland University MA (Hons), 1973 Dip Tchg, Auckland, 1975-76 DAAD Scholarship, University of Wuerzburg, Germany. 1969 VSA Volunteer, Tonga. 1977 Joined Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Defence Division. 1977-1979 Policy Officer Asian, Europe and Pacific Divisions. 1980-82 Second Secretary, Suva. 1983-84 Policy Officer, Economic Division. 1985 Prime Minister's Department, 1985-89 Second, later First Secretary, Ottawa. 1989-90 Snr Policy Officer, Multilateral Trade Division. 1991-94 Deputy Permanent Representative, Geneva. 1995-96 Deputy Director, South/South East Asian Division. 1996-99 High Commissioner, Samoa. 1999-2002 Director, Trade and Economic Analysis Division. 2003-06 Ambassador, Germany and concurrently to Poland (to 2004), Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Switzerland and Slovakia. December 2006, Deputy Secretary, Programme 4, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Michael Green has been a career diplomat for more
than 30 years. He has served in New Zealand posts
in Thailand, at the United Nations in New York,
in China, in Indonesia, where he was Ambassador
from 1997- 2001, and in Fiji where he was
High Commissioner (accredited also to Nauru and
Tuvalu) from 2004 - 2007, when he was declared
persona non grata.
In Wellington he has worked in a number of divisions
in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and
was for six years (1988-94) Director of the External
Assessments Bureau in the Department of Prime Minister
and Cabinet. Between October 2001
- November 2004 he was Deputy Secretary of Foreign Affairs
and Trade responsible for Political and Security
Affairs. He is currently Deputy Secretary supervising
divisions responsible for information and public
affairs and the Maori Policy Unit and for relations
with Australia and the Pacific, Acting Deputy Secretary,
Programme 5, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Education 1974-1978 St John's College, Hamilton, 1983 Waikato University BMS, 1983-1985 Audit New Zealand, Wellington, 1986-87 "OE", 1988 Audit Manager, New Zealand, 1988 Joined Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Finance Division, 2000-2008 Director, Finance Division, July 2008, Deputy Secretary, Programme 6, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Education University of Canterbury1966-1970, MA (Hons 1st) Rhodes Scholarship 1971 University of Oxford 1971-1974, D Phil History, Publications Fatal Necessity - British Intervention in New Zealand 1830-1947 (Auckland University Press, 1978), 1965 Volunteer Service Abroad; Solomon Islands - teaching High School in remote area, 1971 Joined MFAT, African and Middle East Division, 1971-1974 Study Leave, Oxford, 1974-1976 South Pacific Division , 1976-1979 New Zealand Mission to the United Nations, New York First Secretary (Fourth Committee), 1979-1982 European Division, Deputy Head (EC Affairs), 1982-1985 South Pacific Bureau for Economic Cooperation, Suva, Fiji. Deputy Director, 1985-1987 South Pacific Division, Director, 1987-1991 New Zealand Embassy, Washington, Deputy Head of Mission, 1991-1994 International Security and Arms Control Division, Director, 1994-1997 Economic Division/APEC Division, Director NZ APEC Senior Official, 1998-2001 New Zealand Ambassador to the People's Republic of China and Mongolia, February 2001 Director, Development Cooperation Division, July 2002 Executive Director, NZAID.