North Sydney Council in October unanimously resolved to appoint Ms Therese Manns as its new General Manager.
Ms Manns is a respected leader with extensive experience in local government, having worked at an executive level in both rural and metropolitan councils, most recently as General Manager at Randwick City Council.
Ms Manns has formal qualifications in finance and governance and is known for her authentic approach to leading high performing teams. Her strong community focus was fostered growing up in regional New South Wales.
Twice recognised in the Minister’s Awards for Women in Local Government, her achievements are wide ranging including financial management and recovery, strong leadership through the pandemic, organisation cultural change and the recent award winning introduction of FOGO (Food Organics, Green Organics) at Randwick.
Mayor Zoe Baker said Ms Manns combined strong financial, governance and leadership skills with a community focus and team culture.
“This is a challenging time for Council with major State Government and Council projects stretching our resources. We were impressed with Ms Manns’ track record in improving business processes and keeping councils on track financially.
“We were equally impressed by her understanding of the importance of organisational culture and her achievements in building a strong team to support business transformation. I look forward to working with her and am confident that staff and residents will value her leadership and commitment to our community.”
Ms Manns said she was thrilled to be joining the team at North Sydney Council. “I am looking forward to experiencing first hand the sense of community and active participation that makes this iconic harbourside local government area so special,” she said.
Ms Manns replaces Ken Gouldthorp who resigned from Council in June after four years at the helm. Ms Manns will begin work with Council on 21 November 2022.