Farewell Stanil Stanilov of Standards New Zealand
Standards New Zealand’s team bid farewell to a much-loved and respected manager this month, with the departure of Stanil Stanilov, Standards Development Manager after a decade with MBIE, seven of which with the Standards New Zealand team.
Stanil Stanilov (left) with Malcolm MacMillan.
Stan has built a trusting relationship with many of our commissioning clients, industry bodies, government agencies and committee members, also leading the development of many critical standards over the years.
Stan has had an amazing career journey to date, from professional oboe player in Bulgaria, to studying a Masters of Music in Cleveland USA, to helping establish and bed in New Zealand’s Licensed Building Practitioner (LBP) scheme, to leading on New Zealand’s standards development and adoption functions for the past eight years.
Stan’s farewell reflected just how much of an impact he has made on people. Praise came from some key players contributing to standards development over the years, including WorkSafe’s Paul Stannard (our busiest standards development committee member ever on around 20 committees!), New Zealand’s International Electrotechnical Commission Committee President and former CEO of Electricity Engineers Association Peter Berry, former Standards Approval Board Chair Vaughan Renner, and former and current members of Stan’s Development team. No stuffy handshakes from Stan, with warm hugs all round.
Stan has worked his way up through the organisation eventually being part of Standards NZ’s management and leading the largest team in Standards NZ, comprising project managers, project coordinators, specialist advisors and a publishing team. Stan leaves big shoes to fill, with his exceptional knowledge across not just the standardisation and accreditation environment but across diverse industries that use standards.
He will be missed, and we all wish him well on his next chapter in life in the US where he is relocating to be closer to extended family and in-laws, much to the excitement of his young daughter and her grandparents. In the meantime, longtime staff member Nick Ascroft will work with the team here to ensure the smooth running and continuation of the many projects we have underway. The Standards Development Manager is a significant role in the Standards NZ leadership team, playing a critical role for New Zealand and its standards and conformance quality infrastructure system, and recruitment for the position will begin shortly.