About Us
Established in 2009, Harper Smith Recruitment Ltd is a technical recruitment company specialising in the recruitment, search and selection of professionals from an Engineering, Construction and Industrial background. With offices in Tauranga and Christchurch, Harper Smith is perfectly situated to partner with companies and candidates throughout the country.
Harper Smith is a team of experienced recruiters that have developed the core principals necessary to be an effective and highly successful technical recruitment supplier to businesses and corporations, large and small.
“Harper Smith has become a recognised leader in Construction and Engineering recruitment throughout New Zealand.”
Stephen Smith, Director
Stephen’s recruitment career began in the highly competitive London recruitment market in 1999. Since then, he has recruited across a broad spectrum of industries and developed extensive recruitment experience & expertise. Prior to establishing Harper Smith, Stephen managed an Executive division for a large multi-national recruitment organisation based in Auckland. Based in Christchurch, Stephen manages the Engineering division & recruits within the consultancy, civil contracting and local government sectors throughout New Zealand.
Outside of work, Stephen enjoys spending time with his young family and all things sport and will often be seen on the golf course or throwing a rugby ball around with this children.
Paddy Shaw, Director
Paddy began his recruitment career in the challenging UK market alongside Stephen in the late nineties. Following work and travel in Europe and Africa and working construction roles in the USA Paddy returned to New Zealand and set up the Construction & Engineering Recruitment division of a prominent Bay of Plenty and Waikato recruitment company. Based in the Tauranga branch, Paddy leads the Construction and Industrial recruitment team for Harper Smith, and has established strong regional and national contacts. He has a no nonsense direct approach to finding the right candidate and places a premium on communication and personality fit to compliment technical expertise when matching candidates to companies.
Paddy has a keen interest in construction and new technology and enjoys the opportunities that social media creates for recruiting that ‘hard to find’ candidate. Outside of work he is a keen family man, and he enjoys the lifestyle Bay of Plenty offers his family with its great surf, epic mountain biking and pristine golf courses.
Sarah Smith, para-consultant
Sarah works as a Para Consultant for Harper Smith with her core function being candidate resourcing and researching. In addition to this, she maintains Harper Smith’s Human Resources, Payroll and accounts, Social Media and website.
Sarah is an experienced recruiter and HR professional with a background in permanent recruitment, people and performance management, employment relations and legislation. She is passionate about people and aiding others to maximise their potential – whether that be someone seeking their next career move or as an employer looking to drive business growth and capabilities.
Born and bred in Canterbury, Sarah enjoys all that Christchurch and the wider Canterbury region has to offer. Flexible hours allow her to manage work and be at home with her three young children.
Out of work, Sarah loves spending time with her family, reading, cooking and baking and catching up with friends.