NZ Part Time
Power List
2026
AN INTRODUCTION FROM EMMA
This is the third year I have produced the NZ Part Time Power List, and I am so delighted to share the 2026 list with you.
When I started it in 2024, I wanted it to be a provocation to a system that shows a complete lack of imagination when it comes to job design. Three years on, it still is. And three years on, the evidence keeps growing: senior, career-building part time work can be designed to work for everyone. It works for the employer, it works for the employee, and it means people don’t have to off-ramp their careers to get the flexibility they need.
What struck me most this year is the range of reasons people need senior part time roles. Parents still make up the majority of the list, but this year we also have a grandparent. And one Power Lister has worked in reduced hours for some time following a brain injury, because that is what allowed them to keep progressing their career while carefully managing their ongoing cognitive fatigue. Every one of these stories is a reason to bring more imagination to how we design jobs.
Every one of these stories is a reason to bring more imagination to how we design jobs.
As in previous years, there is work still to do. Disappointingly, there are no job shares on this year’s list, and that is an area that needs real attention. The list also remains predominantly women and lacks ethnic diversity, which probably reflects who sits in senior leadership in New Zealand today. That doesn’t make it OK, and I’ll keep flagging it until it changes.
I don’t know of anyone else in the New Zealand market championing senior, career-building part time work, and I’m proud to keep doing it. To every Power Lister who so generously shared how they make it work, thank you. Your stories are gold dust for anyone getting ready to put this idea to their employer. Read them, share them, and take them into your next conversation about how work can work.
This is what’s possible. Onwards and upwards.
Emma McLean
FOUNDER, WORKS FOR EVERYONE
CREATOR OF THE NZ PART TIME POWER LIST
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Liz Fulford
DEVELOPMENT MANAGER, TRADE ME
4 days a week
Continuing to grow my professional experience and earning potential has always been important to me, but …
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Anne Molineux
DIRECTOR, DELOITTE
30 hours a week
I work part-time because it enables me to do my best work.
I sustained a brain injury more …
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Jen Southan
PEOPLE & CULTURE BUSINESS PARTNER, ORIX NEW ZEALAND
30 hours a week
Part-time work is important to me because work matters to …
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Miriam Mills
AUCKLAND REGIONAL MANAGER, TECHNICAL ENGINEERING GROUP
26 hours a week
Working 26 hours a week has allowed me to continue building a career I love while being …
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Lauren Shearer
PARTNER, HOBSON LEAVY
32 hours a week
Returning to paid work in 2026 after a year of maternity leave with my first daughter has been made so much easier by …
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Lucy Scanlon
DIRECTOR, DELOITTE
30 hours a week (6 hours across 5 days)
Working part-time has allowed me to build a fulfilling senior leadership career while also being present for my family. The difference it …
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Bethan Read
SPECIAL COUNSEL, MORRIS
32 hours a week
Working part-time has enabled me to continue progressing my legal career to a senior level, while still being fully present for my family...
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Jane Sweeney
EXECUTIVE CHAIR & CO-FOUNDER, ANTHEM GROUP
4 days a week
When my husband Mark and I were engaged, he asked whether he could raise our children. That was four years before …
Part time roles need a rethink
Particularly the part time roles that employees need when they become parents. The part time roles that enable them to fulfil the caregiving needs their family have alongside continuing to build their career, not sidestep or off-ramp it.
We need part time roles that are accurately scoped, that tap into our strengths, allow contribution at a senior level, and provide a meaningful challenge. I hear my clients say that it needs to “feel worth it” when they return to work after having children. And so often it does not feel worth it when they are side lined into roles that are not senior, that make them feel like they are on the “B” team, don’t play to their strengths and are not scoped for reduced hour outcomes.
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Michelle Fletcher
FINANCE MANAGER, SYNLAIT
32 hours a weekWe both started our careers at Deloitte, joining the Christchurch office as graduates on the same day. Everything …
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Sam Fletcher
DIRECTOR, DELOITTE
32 hours a weekSam’s story is shared with Michelle. Click Read More to view.
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Claire Le Grice
HEAD OF CAPABILITY, SKILLS GROUP
4 days a week
I’ve experienced the value of senior part-time work since before I had children. As Talent Director at a creative agency in London, I … -
Emily Hilton
HEAD OF HSEQ, HIRINGA ENERGY
4 days a week
Working part-time has allowed me to continue building a career that I find challenging and meaningful while also being the kind of …
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Sarah DeSourdy Hastings
PARTNER, RUSSELL McVEAGH
4 days a week
Working part time gives me more head space, which allows me to better show up for all of my roles. As my …
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Amelia Hooper
HEAD OF GROUP MARKETING, TAX TRADERS & TAXI
30 hours a week
Stepping into this role right before I went on leave meant one of my biggest questions, going into parental leave, was "what returning …
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Sheena Revington
CEO, BELLYFUL
30 hours a week
At Bellyful, we focus on clear priorities and outcomes rather than clock-watching. Being open about availability and trusting people to manage …
We need to measure the enablers
It is not enough to measure the outcomes when it comes to gender equity at the top of our organisations. We also need to measure the enablers of getting those outcomes and quality, meaningful part time work, is one of those enablers.
There it is a narrative that says it is a “choice” for parents, particularly women, to step out of the workforce. But the reality is, they have run out of choices. If they are the lead caregiver, they have run out of options to have a full time job. They need meaningful part time roles that enable them to stay in the leadership pipeline and not off-ramp themselves.