Leadership

Mark Callender

Chief Executive Officer

As CEO of 2degrees, Mark is leading New Zealand’s third-largest telecommunications company through a dynamic period of growth, cementing its position as the nation’s bold challenger brand. With over 20 years in the telco industry, he has been at the forefront of some of New Zealand’s largest mergers and acquisitions—shaping 2degrees into the scaled, full-service operator it is today.

Mark’s leadership is defined by authenticity, innovation, and a relentless focus on the customer—principles that align deeply with 2degrees’ purpose: Fighting for Fair. Under his direction, 2degrees has grown to exceed $1.4 billion in annual revenue and now competes across all segments, from consumer and small business to large corporate and government.

A passionate advocate for people and culture, Mark places strong emphasis on developing local talent and empowering teams. He champions a workplace where everyone has a voice and is encouraged to challenge the status quo—an approach that fuels innovation and sets 2degrees apart from its competitors.

Holding a Bachelor of Commerce, Mark is also a vocal advocate for digital equity, working to bridge connectivity gaps and ensure all New Zealanders can access the opportunities of a connected world.

Aaron Smith

Chief Financial Officer

As Chief Financial Officer, Aaron Smith guides 2degress financial performance and reporting, as well as playing a critical role in development and delivery of the corporate strategy. 

Since the merger with Vocus in 2022, Aaron has led the Finance Team, tasked with driving financial excellence whilst supporting both the integration programme and ongoing growth across all market segments. 

Prior to joining 2degrees, Aaron held senior finance roles across various sectors in both the UK and New Zealand with 20+ years in Telecommunication. His career has seen him work with leading companies, across all financial disciplines. 

Aaron is passionate about leveraging organisational technical expertise to seize commercial opportunities and ensure disciplined financial management. His strategic insights and commitment to excellence have consistently delivered outstanding results.

Jessica Bartlett

Chief People Officer

Jessica shapes 2degrees’ People and Culture strategy, fostering an inclusive and high-performing workplace. With 20 years of HR leadership experience across Telco and retail both in NZ and the UK, Jessica joined 2degrees in 2021 to lead the People integration.  As CPO, Jessica has since driven initiatives in organisational culture, staff well-being, leadership training, and remote work integration, including New Zealand’s first fully remote call centre. Under her guidance, 2degrees has been recognised for diversity and employee engagement. Jessica is passionate about supporting people to succeed in their career and supporting women to advance in STEM.

Zac Summers

Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer  

Zac leads strategy, Marketing and Product for 2degrees; blending 20+ years of experience at Apple, Vodafone, and McKinsey. Since joining in late 2020, he has steered a number of award-winning campaigns and programmes that strengthened the 2degrees brand while also delivering the consumer product and pricing roadmaps driving New Zealand’s fastest growing telco. He also leads the overall strategy development for the business to ensure 2degrees continues to lead the industry and deliver on our purpose of Fighting for Fair.

Emma-Kate Greer

Chief Customer Officer

Emma-Kate is responsible for the end-to-end experience of 2degrees’ 1.6 million Mobile, 400k Broadband, and 50k Power customers. Promoted to CCO in 2024 after serving as Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, she now leads a team of 700 across Retail, Contact Centres, and Digital channels. With previous roles at Telecom, Genesis, and TVNZ, she brings deep industry knowledge to champion customer-centric improvements. Under her leadership, 2degrees has launched new self-service apps and improved satisfaction scores. Emma-Kate holds an MBA from Melbourne Business School and is known for collaborative, people-first leadership.

Paul Matthewson

Chief Commercial Officer

Paul leads 2degrees’ Wholesale Business and Commercial shared services, delivering Legal, Procurement, Safety, and Supply Chain operations enterprise wide.  As CCO since 2018, he has repositioned Wholesale under the 2degrees Network Partners brand, signalling a flexible, software-enabled approach to Fibre, Broadband, and Mobile partnerships. Recent work includes advancing a cloud-based Wholesale stack to speed onboarding and feature delivery and deliver greater autonomy for partners. Paul previously served as General Counsel, Head of Regulatory and in business development roles and holds an LLB with Honours from the University of Waikato.  His focus is on long-term value creation, leveraging 2degrees world-class infrastructure and digital assets to deliver growth through partners and increase network utilisation for 2degrees.

Adrian Dick

Chief Transformation Officer

Adrian drives strategic change and post-merger integration, bringing more than 25 years of experience across New Zealand and Australian telcos. Joining from Orcon in 2022, he has led multiple transformation initiatives to streamline operations, implement agile practices, and adopt new AI tools for customer service. His remit covers efficiency, innovation, and creating new revenue streams, ensuring 2degrees adapts quickly to market shifts. Adrian is known for balancing ambitious innovation with practical execution to deliver measurable outcomes.

Andrew Fairgray

Chief Business Officer

Andrew Fairgray was appointed Chief Business Officer at 2degrees in September 2019. Following the merger of 2degrees and Vocus in June 2022 was reappointed to Chief Business Officer.  Andrew is an industry veteran with over 30 years’ experience in Telecommunications and IT.  Previous he has had international experience with Alcatel in Paris, France, along with other Telecommunication companies in New Zealand. Andrew joined 2degrees in their 10th year, with a strong brand and a significant opportunity to grow market share and Fight for Fair for New Zealand Businesses. Today, he and his team remain focused on bringing value to improve the overall productivity of New Zealand Inc, by leveraging 2degrees world class Mobile and Fixed networks. 

Stephen Kurzeja

Chief Technology and Information Officer

Stephen leads 2degrees’ Technology Team – who are responsible for building, maintaining and operating 2degrees Mobile and Fibre networks – as well as building best in class-software to help 2degrees customers get the most from their connection. Stephen is passionate about building best in class teams, and the strategic importance of being a digital business, and how a high-performing software-defined business can create value.  In a career spanning more than two decades, Stephen has filled multiple network and software roles within 2degrees, Vocus, CallPlus, Maxnet and other businesses.  Stephen holds a Master of Science Degree with First Class Honours from the University of Auckland.