College leadership team

Toby has extensive executive and governance experience having held the role of Chief Executive with NZ Oil Services Ltd, Connexis (the infrastructure training organisation), the Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation (BCITO), and the Work Based Learning subsidiary of Te Pūkenga.  

He is on the Boards of Construction Health & Safety NZ and the Business Leaders Health & Safety Forum.

In his most recent position as Chief Executive of Work Based Learning at Te Pūkenga, Toby successfully led the migration of the leaders, systems, cultures, and training activities of nine individual Industry Training Organisations (ITOs), into a single subsidiary, while focusing on the seamless continuity of education and support by the 1,500 kaimahi (staff members) for the 130,000 akonga (learners) within these ITOs.

He trained in Southampton in the UK and moved to New Zealand in 2008. Initially working in emergency medicine, Dr Bradford left the hospital system and travelled via urgent care to Hauora medicine, a Māori philosophy of health, where he worked at Ngati Kahu Hauora in Tauranga and was the GP for Matakana Island.

A desire to help shape service delivery for patients and work with partners to better inform them of the value and excellence of general practice led Dr Bradford into governance roles and representative groups.

The team work across the College and the sector to establish the systems and relationships our trainees need for success.

My entire working life has been spent in health care. The commitment I made as a junior nurse to keep the patient at the centre of my care is still reflected in my leadership values today. I, and my team, are committed to providing the best learning solutions to college trainees, in order to ensure future New Zealanders receive the highest standards of quality care.

I am privileged to lead this team and we are working together to establish our training programmes as world leading examples of how to develop doctors that are both equipped with the technical skills and knowledge to provide excellence in primary care but who possess the tools to flourish in our diverse and ever-changing communities.

Find Victoria on LinkedIn

We support our specialist GP and rural hospital doctor registrars and Fellows throughout their membership journey with the College to ensure that they can provide the best healthcare to the people of Aotearoa New Zealand.

We do this through supporting their continuing professional development; providing quality programmes that set the standard for general practice certification and accreditation; we facilitate educational and collegial events; we promote the roles of specialist GP and rural hospital doctors; we inform; we conduct research to understand current issues; and we advocate on behalf of our members to government and other agencies to ensure continual health outcome and inequity improvements.

With an extensive background in marketing and engagement, I’m passionate about understanding customers’ needs, wants and the bigger picture that we’re operating in to help inform our workplan and provide the best service levels to our members to support their important mahi.

We do this through the provision of mentoring, pastoral and clinical support to our Māori and Pacific registrars undertaking our training programmes. We also partner with the learning, membership, and corporate teams to ensure equity, cultural safety, Māori responsiveness, and, Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Māori rights are central considerations in the delivery of their respective services. Our work is guided by the expertise of Te Akoranga a Māui and the Pasifika Chapter who are key partners to the College.

With a background in critical health psychology, the focus in my career to date has been in the fields of advancing hauora Māori and health equity. This has included work as a Māori health lecturer, a Māori health equity project manager for the Northern Region and as a chief advisor in Māori Health. I am passionate about developing system [and systemic] responsiveness to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Māori health rights as well as providing tangible, pragmatic, and meaningful interventions to achieve health equity.

During my career I have worked in no less than 18 countries and in a variety of senior management and leadership positions including roles in primary and secondary health organisations, and in the disability and ambulatory sectors. I have also held senior positions with Lockheed Martin, Millennium and Copthorne Hotels, Fujitsu IT, Marriott International and the NZDF where I held the appointment of Assistant Director Corporate Support for the RNZAF.

I have placed a significant amount of spare time in to volunteering and in community roles e.g., Justice of the Peace, a volunteer senior fire fighter and outdoor mountain leader instructor. I am also an avid learner, now possessing an MBA (Gloucester, UK) and Masters of Strategic Management and Leadership, Post Graduate Diplomas in Business Admin (HR & Comms); Environmental Management and one in Strategic Leadership; a Post Graduate Certificate in Strategic Governance and Public Sector Management, and two first degrees - BA (Humanities), BSc (Economics and Health Sc.) together with two qualifications in adult education and training.

As a Chartered Member of the HR Institute of NZ, a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (Company Secretary), and a Fellow of Governance NZ it is a privilege to lead the Corporate Services team and I am confident my time with the College will be rewarding in many ways.