COTTONSOFT - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Business Development Manager
Bianca joined Cottonsoft in early 2022 and brings 20 years' experience in sales. Bianca's role at Cottonsoft is an Account/ Business Development Manager within our Away From Home (AFH) business-to-business team. In this role, Bianca has built trusted partnerships with her amazing customers in her Upper North Island territory. Additionally, she develops and executes the sales strategy for her accounts, extends ranging, secures new business opportunities, and develops Cottonsoft's profile in the B2B market.
Bianca relocated with her family to New Zealand from South Africa five years ago and outside of Cottonsoft she enjoys travelling around the country, being in nature, and is passionate about photography.
Job Titles:
- Head of Finance & IT
- in 2022 As Our Head of Finance & IT
Gini joined Cottonsoft in 2022 as our Head of Finance & IT. In her role, Gini is responsible for effectively leading our Finance, Accounts, and IT functions.
With extensive experience working in Finance; Gini has worked across manufacturing, FMCG and retail industries within national and multinational organisations.
Gini holds a Bachelors in Business Administration majoring in Accounting, an MBA from Open Polytechnic, and is a member of CAANZ (Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand).
Outside of work, Gini enjoys cooking, gardening, and exercising.
Job Titles:
- Engineer
- Operations Manager
- in 2017 As Our Operations Manager
Hamish joined Cottonsoft in 2017 as our Operations Manager. He has responsibility for Manufacturing, Engineering, Safety, Supply Chain, Procurement and Quality; leading his Operations Team of more than 150 people across three sites.
Hamish and his team are always moving forward and growing. They have a ‘can do approach' and are always finding a way to get our products to customers in the best way; with approaches to solutions that may seem impossible to others.
Hamish is a degree qualified Engineer with 15 years' experience in production, engineering and supply chain roles in the packaging, food, and dairy industries across Australia and New Zealand.
Hardi joined Cottonsoft in 2010 and has held various roles within our Finance Team including Financial Controller and now, Finance Manager. In Hardi's current role he is responsible for financial risk assessments, financial reporting, budgeting, and forecasting.
Hardi has over 30 years' experience working in the finance field, holds a Bachelor of Economics majoring in Accountancy, and is a member of CAANZ (Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand).
Outside of Cottonsoft, Hardi enjoys walking and tramping anywhere that he can explore the beauty that our nature has to offer.
Job Titles:
- Human Resources Manager
- in 2016 As Our Human Resources Manager
Helen joined Cottonsoft in 2016 as our Human Resources Manager and heads up the People and Culture function. With her team, Helen focuses on employee engagement, recruitment and retention, learning and development, and compensation and benefits.
Helen holds a Batchelor Honours degree and has over 20 years' experience working in Human Resources across FMCG and Telecoms industries in the UK and here in New Zealand.
Outside of Cottonsoft Helen enjoys spending time with her husband, two teenage daughters, and three dogs.
Job Titles:
- Head of Sales & Marketing
- in 2022 As Our Head of Sales & Marketing
James joined Cottonsoft in 2022 as our Head of Sales & Marketing. With his team, James focusses on creating brands that consumers know and love and works closely with our customer partners to ensure that our products are always available whenever and wherever people need them.
James has extensive experience in the New Zealand and UK FMCG industry, having spent 17 years across a variety of sales, category and marketing roles.
After a period of rapid growth, James is focussed on helping the business to transition for the future and is tasked with ensuring that the business continues to deliver long term sustainable growth.
James has a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Marketing Management and Management from the University of Otago and has recently completed an MBA from the University of Auckland.
Outside of Cottonsoft, James is passionate about photography, travelling and any activity that involves being on/below the water.
Job Titles:
- Country Manager
- Trustee for ShopCare
Kim joined Cottonsoft in 2011 to recruit and develop a Sales and Marketing team for the future. In 2012 he was appointed in to the Country Manager role. Kim leads the Exec Team and works closely with our global ownership; with a focus on sustainable growth in the New Zealand market.
Kim has 35 years' experience in the FMCG sector. Prior to Cottonsoft, Kim has held roles with Woolworths, George Weston Foods, Colgate Palmolive, and Villa Maria Estate.
Outside of Cottonsoft, Kim is a trustee for ShopCare, an industry safety group. Kim also proudly contributes to the community through his support for Bowel Cancer New Zealand, a charity close to his heart. Additionally, Kim plays competitive badminton, loves getting out on the boat to go fishing, and is known to have a number of projects on the go at home.
Job Titles:
- National Capacity & Supply Planning Manager
Nicoleta joined Cottonsoft in 2017 and in 2022 she was appointed to the newly created role as National Capacity & Supply Planning Manager. Nicoleta's role is the link which brings the manufacturing and sales plan together, as well as maintaining inventory at optimum levels while meeting customer demand.
Nicoleta holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance and has 19 years' experience in Supply Chain roles. Prior to Cottonsoft she worked for Fonterra and Rakon with a focus on export, customer service, logistics, and planning.
Outside of work, Nicoleta enjoys spending time with her husband and two children. She also keeps very active in a local female running group, attending group fitness classes, and going on hikes.
Job Titles:
- Strategic Operations Project Manager
Following a career in the UK and New Zealand as a Dispensing Optician; in 2015 Rivka made a career change and joined Cottonsoft. During this time Rivka has worked in various roles including Office Manager, National Logistics Manager, Supply Chain Manager, and in 2021 she was appointed to a newly created role as Strategic Operations Project Manager. In this role, Rivka leads a team responsible for business transformation projects and improvements for operations.
Rivka holds a Bachelor of Business and has Prince2 Agile Project Management qualifications.
Outside of Cottonsoft, Rivka is an active relaxer and enjoys getting out geocaching and exploring/ discovering new places.
Job Titles:
- Technical Support Engineer
Salvin joined Cottonsoft in early 2022 as our Technical Support Engineer in our IT Team. In his role, he supports our people with the systems and network as well as ensuring that our IT capabilities are ready for the business needs of tomorrow. Salvin really enjoys the challenge with no two days ever being the same in his role.
In Salvin's own words "it's a privilege to work for Cottonsoft with an amazing team of people and friendly culture".