Sheffield South Island has been appointed by the council to help in the hunt for a chief executive and advertising is expected to start on Monday.
Incumbent Sandy Graham has not said if she intends to apply.
The agency’s South Island general manager is Louise Green and council minutes from April last year said she was engaged in a 360-degree survey about Ms Graham and responded to questions at a confidential meeting.
Ms Graham told the Otago Daily Times in 2024 of her intention to participate in the survey when an article ran about her apologising for "habits that were not acceptable", such as some instances of unprofessional language.
Ms Graham started a five-year contract as chief executive in 2020 and the council ended up offering her a one-year extension last year.
The council is required to advertise the position this year.
Any previous engagement between the council and Sheffield was unrelated to the chief executive recruitment and selection process, a council spokesman said.
"All candidates for the role of chief executive will be assessed according to the same process, and the final appointment will be a decision for the full council."
The council undertook an open-market process to choose a recruitment agency, which resulted in Sheffield’s selection, the spokesman said.
The process was overseen by the council’s procurement team to ensure it would be robust and fair, he said.
