Josh Williams

Former Chief Executive of the Industry Training Federation

Josh has had the uncanny knack of being at the leading edge of critical developments in the New Zealand education system over the last 20+ years. He brings fresh thinking and real solutions to school-to-work transitions, curriculum, qualifications, assessment and quality assurance issues (both organisational and educational).

He is the former Chief Executive of the Industry Training Federation. Josh was also a senior policy manager in the New Zealand Ministry of Education, where he led policy for foundational and vocational education, including workplace training and apprenticeships. While in the Ministry, he was programme manager for secondary school transition initiatives, like Youth Guarantee, Trades Academies and Gateway.

Josh was one of the architects of New Zealand’s system of Vocational Pathways, an organising framework for transitional and vocational education, both in schools and the VET sector. He also led a successful industry-government partnership to design and define six Vocational Pathways.

As a Principal Consultant for Skills Consulting Group, Josh has a keen desire to work with organisations globally to improve vocational outcomes.