About us

Kūmānu is your landscapes, environmental and water team, where designers and doers work together with purpose to deliver exceptional projects.

Our process

A Kūmānu team member holding a folder of plans smiles while speaking with two clients inside a modern building.

1. Consultation

Understanding your challenge is our challenge. We are focused on your needs – how can we help?

A close-up view of a Kūmānu staff member’s hands flipping through colourful planning documents outdoors.

2. Tailored plan

We apply our expertise, experience, and ‘Big nature thinking’ to deliver bespoke and enduring solutions.

A Kūmānu supervisor and a worker in high-visibility gear stand on an active construction site, reviewing progress as they look across the project area.

3. Implementation

We are a big team with the skills and capability to match, from exceptional enduring designs, to delivery and long-term maintenance, our talented teams get the job done.

Start the journey

Health, safety, environment and quality

We have invested in our Health, Safety, Environment, and Quality Management Systems to deliver a best practice, fully integrated HSEQ framework across all areas of our business.

Health and Safety
At Kūmānu, the health, safety, and well-being of our people come first. We are ISO 45001 accredited and take a proactive, system-wide approach led by our leadership and embedded across the organisation. Our commitment goes beyond compliance, reflecting our genuine care for our people. We continually learn from experience to improve processes, strengthen our safety culture, and support a motivated, capable, and healthy workforce.

Environment
Kūmānu holds Toitū Enviromark Diamond certification — the highest level within the programme — demonstrating that our environmental management systems meet and exceed international standards, including ISO 14001. We protect and enhance the environments we work in through responsible resource use, pollution prevention, and biodiversity protection. By measuring our impact, setting reduction targets, and integrating sustainability into decision-making, we support a thriving natural environment for future generations.

Quality
We are ISO 9001 accredited, demonstrating our commitment to consistently delivering high-quality outcomes for customers and communities. Our integrated quality management system drives continuous improvement, innovation, and accountability. Through strong governance, clear processes, and regular review, we deliver every project and service with precision, reliability, and care, maintaining client confidence and our reputation for excellence.

Technology

Kūmānu has invested significantly in technology to help deliver state-of-the-art services across our business. We continue to exceed expectations through our specialist team using GIS, and drone, technology and Artificial Intelligence services for effective and accurate design mapping, monitoring, and imaging at scale. We also have electrical services teams that deliver and maintain advanced monitoring, IoT, and telemetry systems. Process improvement and innovation is systemised across our business, ensuring strengthened future delivery and maintaining our position as a smart and connected team focused on efficient and enduring outcomes. We call this ‘Big Nature Thinking’.

Nature positive

Our work takes the Kūmānu team far beyond urban boundaries, with a broad remit to deliver positive outcomes from the mountains to the sea. We centre our work on creating exceptional landscapes where people and nature can thrive. From built environments, infrastructure and commercial projects, through to targeted biosecurity to protect and restore our precious biodiversity, we’re committed to delivering lasting, quality designs and intentional solutions for positive impact.

Our history

Kūmānu has been working across Te Tauihu for over 30 years. Starting as a Council-Controlled Trading Organisation (CCTO), Nelmac Limited, we have grown to a trusted partner in delivering sustainable solutions across landscapes, water, and environments across the country. In 2018, the environmental and landscape architecture teams within the business rebranded to Kūmānu Environmental. The name change to Kūmānu, was supported by Ngāti Kuia in 2018. Grounded in te reo Māori, it means "to care for and nurture", and it reflects our deep commitment to caring for our people, our clients, and the built and natural environments we work in. We have evolved as a business and are now proudly united under the Kūmānu brand. We’re a big team with the skills and experience to match - a unique blend of landscape architects, ecologists, field personnel, and biodiversity experts through to water asset management and water projects teams - we are designers and doers, who get the job done.

Clients we have worked with

Culture and values

At Kūmānu, our values shape the way we show up as a team. They influence how we work together, how we look after one another, and how we build strong, trusted relationships with our clients and communities. These values are the everyday behaviours that define our team culture.

Because we care for a wide range of environments, and because people are at the heart of everything we do, our values sit at the centre of how we work, our culture and what we stand for.

Work with us!

At Kūmānu, we recognise that success comes from having a strong team, focused on delivering exceptional service. With over 200 employees working across Aotearoa, we’re looking to add talented people who share our values and are committed to going the extra mile for our clients.

To apply for one of our listed vacancies, click on the link below or to start the conversation please email careers@kumanu.co.nz

Current career opportunities

Current Career Opportunities