ABOUT US

Our
People

When a DEC engineer pauses to retool a state-of-the-art injection moulding machine, they are putting in place a small, perfectly placed, piece of a much bigger system.

ABOUT US

Our
People

When a DEC engineer pauses to retool a state-of-the-art injection moulding machine, they are putting in place a small, perfectly placed, piece of a much bigger system. Learn more about our leadership, people and culture.

Governance

Bruce Chave

Board Chair
Bio

Bruce is an Independent Director and Chair. Bruce has a wide range of business leadership roles including various governance positions. Bruce has over 20 years of manufacturing experience across a number of sectors in senior and executive leadership positions. Bruce specialises in strategy development, sales and new business, culture shaping, running innovation programmes aligning strategy to NPD across organisational structures. He has experience across ANZ and Asia Pacific in large corporate and privately owned businesses. Bruce is currently employed by Fletcher Building heading up a business to drive a new and innovative offsite manufacturing (OSM) company, bringing manufacturing and automation to residential construction across New Zealand.

Duncan Mackintosh

Board Member
Bio

Duncan is a Senior Investment Manager with Brandon Capital Partners, Australia and New Zealand’s largest life-science VC, and manager of the Medical Research Commercialisation Fund (MRCF). A veterinarian by training, Duncan spent 5 years in clinical practice including leadership roles during the 2001 foot and mouth outbreak in the UK. Duncan joined Brandon Capital in 2016 to manage the New Zealand operations following 15 years in R&D commercialisation and early stage venture, most recently with five years as CEO of University of Waikato (NZ) commercialisation company WaikatoLink. An experienced Founder and Director  he is currently on the boards of Cadmus Animal Health Ltd, Amaroq Therapeutics Ltd, and TamoRx Ltd.

Howard Moore

Board Member
Bio

Howard is an experienced CEO and professional director with a career of leadership, entrepreneurship and management in innovation, technology and strategy development, and financial modelling. This was initially in the dairy industry but then extended to the wider food, agricultural, biotechnology and health sectors to include fund raising and investment in early stage and growth companies. commercialisation and early stage venture, most recently with five years as CEO of University of Waikato (NZ) commercialisation company WaikatoLink. An experienced Founder and Director  he is currently on the boards of Cadmus Animal Health Ltd, Amaroq Therapeutics Ltd, and TamoRx Ltd.

Executive Management

DEC is led by a passionate team of executives, assembled to continue DEC’s strategic shift toward the growth of partner innovation and commercialisation, and maintain the business’ excellence in manufacturing processes.

Peter Davison

Chief Executive Officer
Bio

Peter is a senior executive leader with a track record of success across a number of international and domestic roles.  Having served in leadership positions at several blue-chip companies over the last 30 years, Peter’s career has traversed several industry sectors including technology banking and dairy.  His most recent role was at AirSuite Limited, where he was CEO.  Prior to this Peter held several senior leadership positions at Fonterra during his 17 year tenure at the company, with time also spent in management roles within the finance and banking sector.  Peter brings a wealth of cross functional experience to DEC, having worked across multiple disciplines, including finance, sales, operations, marketing and innovation.

Nick Gaddum

Chief Scientific Officer
Bio

Nick Gaddum obtained a BE(Hons) in Mechanical Engineering from Canterbury in 2004, and a PhD in Medical Engineering in Brisbane, Australia, in 2009.  There he developed novel artificial heart technology, focusing on pump design and physiological controllers to respond to physical activity.

Moving to London, he established new MRI and ultrasound-based strategies to measure arterial disease to better diagnose Hypertension.  He then took on the Lead Scientist role at Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult, working with start-up bio-pharmaceutical companies.  This involved developing scalable, cost-driven manufacturing processes for novel cell-based therapies. Finally, as Director of Waiflow Ltd., he provided contract technical and IP support for medical device companies.

Returned to New Zealand in 2019, he took up the CSO role at DEC International NZ Ltd. establishing an R&D program to expand their medical devices portfolio.  This role will drive both proprietary technology development, as well as collaborative and contract manufacturing projects.

Jane McLaren

Chief Operating Officer
Bio

Jane joined DEC in 2023, having previously held key leadership roles at Sealed Air, Fletcher Steel and most recently Silver Fern Farms.  Throughout her career Jane has displayed a proven track record of delivering results and managing complex businesses.  In additional to leading a number of transformational projects, Jane has demonstrated strong capabilities in leading operational excellence, growing and developing large teams, and formulating and implementing strategic thinking.  Jane’s unique blend of industry experience and commercial acumen will enable DEC to continue to build our operational capabilities.

As our COO, Jane plays a pivotal role in overseeing and optimizing our day-to-day operations, enhancing efficiency, and ensuring seamless execution of our business strategies.  As a key member of our Executive Team, she works closely with all parts of our business to align operations with our long-term goals, whilst fostering innovation and maintaining our commitment to delivering exceptional products to our valued customers.  In addition, Jane holds accountabilities for managing the overall financial performance of DEC Plastics.

Nigel Kapoor

Quality Assurance Director
Bio

Nigel has been with DEC for 30 years in various roles over that time. He has held management positions spanning Engineering, Manufacturing and Quality Assurance.  As part of the Executive Team, he has responsibility for all quality assurance and regulatory compliance for DEC International NZ Ltd, DEC Pharmaceutical Ltd, DEC Healthcare Ltd and DEC Plastics Ltd. Since 2001, he has lead the company QA strategies including engagement with regulators, suppliers and customers; while implementing and maintaining quality systems including pharmaceutical cGMP, and ISO 13485 at DEC Healthcare Ltd. His knowledge has ensured our growth into more than 50 global markets, meeting the diverse quality and regulatory requirements for each market.

Deborah Lee

People and Capability Manager
Bio

Deborah joined DEC in 2021 with significant experience in the Public and Healthcare Sectors and progressed from being a Senior Advisor to being appointed to the Executive team as People and Capability Manager.  She offers a unique blend of strategic and operational skills and is known for her practical and grounded approach in delivering people solutions. She is able to relate to staff at all levels and her problem solving abilities enable her to effectively navigate complex HR challenges.  She has a proven track record of streamlining HR processes and fostering a positive work culture that promotes employee wellbeing and growth. Deborah is a natural leader and sees her role as the head of People and Capability as maximising the human potential within DEC and aligning performance with DEC strategic objectives and contribute to long term success for all.

Senior Leadership

Cara-Lee Davey

Technical Manager
Bio

Technical Manager since 2021, Cara has been with DEC Pharmaceutical since leaving university in 2008. Her team ensures that good scientific rigor is applied to all validation and investigation projects. The technical team holds the memory of the company in detailed and comprehensive technical reports stretching back to the original product inceptions while still looking forward to apply the newest learnings or regulations effectively and efficiently to the process. This leads to robust confidence in the quality of the product and controls for both regulators and the customer.

Jitendra Kumar

Quality Control Manager
Bio

With his 20 years of experience at DEC Jitendra has gained a deep understanding of the pharmaceutical industry and has honed his skills in various areas of analytical chemistry.

Jitendra is an experienced Quality Control Manager at DEC Pharmaceuticals. His role is vital for maintaining the quality and safety of the company’s pharmaceutical products.

One of Jitendra’s key responsibilities is managing the quality control team. He oversees their daily activities, assigns tasks and ensures that all laboratory operations are carried out efficiently and accurately, adhering to current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) within the laboratory.

Jitendra is also skilled at Analytical method development and validation, analytical equipment qualification and setting up methods for High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and UV spectrophotometers and various other analytical equipment.

Harley van Walraven

Production Manager
Bio

Harley manages the Production Team at DEC Plastics, leading a dedicated team of production, drilling, and assembly operators. His responsibilities encompass overseeing and ensuring a seamless manufacturing process and production activities. Harley’s key objectives include ensuring regulatory compliance, driving DIFOT, and minimizing both waste and downtime. Throughout these processes, he is committed to the consistent delivery of high-quality plastic moulded products.

Jenny La Roche

Quality Assurance Manager
Bio

Jenny has 20 years of experience in quality assurance systems and has been the QA Manager since 2013. She is responsible for maintaining a pharmaceutical cGMP compliant quality system and regularly engages with suppliers, customers and regulators.

Jenny leads an experienced team overseeing document control, change control, deviation management, batch release, supplier management, artwork, training and internal auditing.

Maintaining effective and compliant QA systems ensures that customer and regulatory requirements are met and supports our ongoing growth strategy.

Ajith Kapadi

Senior R&D Scientist
Bio

Ajith joined the company in 2014 as a Technical Officer and progressed to his current role.

With a master’s degree in Materials and Process Engineering from the University of Waikato in 2006, Ajith brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the team. He specializes in leading the R&D Analytical program, driving method development, verification/validation studies, and ensuring adherence to GMP QC standards.

Ajith’s subject matter expertise in silicone formulation and moulding further enhances his contributions to the R&D team.

With a strong focus on research and development, Ajith plays a key role in advancing the fields of human and animal healthcare, consistently striving for scientific excellence and embracing technological advancements.

Velram Mohan

R&D Scientist
Bio

Velram Mohan holds a PhD in Polymer Composites and has significant experience working with a range of polymers and developing functional composites for various applications. Velram leads the R&D polymer processing and testing lab at DEC. He also looks after polymer structure and property relationship studies.

In his previous role, Velram worked as a Research Fellow at the Plastics Centre of Excellence at the University of Auckland, where he managed industry-based projects and served as the programme convenor for post-graduate courses in Polymer Engineering.

Velram is a chartered scientist and a member of several engineering professional bodies and institutions, such as the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3), Engineering New Zealand (EngNZ), Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) and Professional Management Institute (PMI). He is a reviewer for several materials science/engineering-based scientific journals and served as a consultant for the Royal Society of New Zealand’s ‘Plastics: Rethinking’ initiative. Velram is an avid fitness enthusiast who enjoys cross-fit training and archery, while photography and carpentry are his main hobbies.

Departments

The DEC team consists of several interconnected departments, each critical in delivery excellence and in assisting our customers’ journeys to market.

PRODUCTION

Manufacturing

QUALITY

Our quality control personnel ensure compliance

ENGINEERING

Providing support in product development, process development, equipment

R&D

Development, and tech transfer of controlled drug release technologies

SUPPLY CHAIN

Logistics connecting raw material coming in, to product export around the world

COMMERCIAL

Commercial support, IP strategy

Our Culture

When a DEC engineer pauses to retool a state-of-the-art injection moulding machine, they are putting in place a small, perfectly placed, piece of a much bigger system.

As a purpose-driven organisation, we seek to enable, empower and motivate our people around a common pursuit of perfection. We strive to have every member of our team understand the importance of their role in the success of our business, and in the delivery of the world-beating products we help our customers take to market.

DEC is one of the largest employers in our sector, and many of our staff have been with us for more than 10 years.

Employee benefits include: medical insurance, high quality training, staff events throughout the year, and a diverse, positive culture. As a company we are always thinking of new ways to harness the energy of our staff to achieve a greater future.

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