Clayton Hubbard

Impact at scale

• 2,470+ Schools & kura served
• 900,000+ Daily students & educators
• 13M+ Security threats blocked / month
• 38,000 Wi-Fi access points deployed
• 300,000+ SOC events processed / second
• 13+ yrs Building N4L since inception

Core expertise

• National-Scale Architecture
• Cybersecurity & Threat Analytics
• Network Architecture
• Identity & Access Governance
• Strategic Governance & Cross-Agency Partnerships
• Digital Transformation & Product Realisation

Professional experience

1. Principal Advisor — Digital Futures

   Jul 2025 – Present

   Network for Learning (N4L) · Auckland, NZ

   Strategic advisor operating at the nexus of technology foresight, sector collaboration, and delivery influence. Advising on the strategic direction of N4L's future digital platforms — focused on AI enablement, next-generation service models, and emerging technology integration across the education sector. Provides high-trust strategic guidance to the Chief Digital Officer and senior leadership team, connecting strategic intent, commercial potential, and architectural feasibility.

2. Head of Architecture

   Apr 2023 – Jul 2025

   Network for Learning (N4L) · Auckland, NZ

   Led N4L's formal architecture function, cross-functional delivery squads, and platform design governance across all portfolios. Responsible for technology strategy, roadmap, and vendor selection. Chief Technical Advisor to the CDO. Chaired the Architecture Review Board. Key programmes: national Wi-Fi upgrade (Te Mana Tūhono), third-generation managed network procurement, enterprise identity modernisation, national SIEM and SOC maturity, cybersecurity automation, and email protection.

3. Enterprise Architect

   Aug 2019 – Apr 2023

   Network for Learning (N4L) · Auckland, NZ

   Formalised the corporate Enterprise Architecture practice, establishing design governance, architectural standards, and cross-agency alignment mechanisms. Co-authored the Ministry Design Authority approval for nationwide security monitoring infrastructure. Led network access control programme, network-as-a-service architecture, and customer portal platform design. Co-Chair of the Technology in Schools (TiS) governance group with the Ministry of Education.

4. Solution Architect / Senior Engineer

   Mar 2013 – Aug 2019

   Network for Learning (N4L) · Auckland, NZ

   Joined N4L at inception as one of the founding technical team. Led the design and nation-wide deployment of the primary managed network infrastructure: broadband, routing, content filtering, and managed Wi-Fi across 2,000+ schools and 800,000+ users. Responsibilities spanned solution architecture, commercial negotiations, product development, operational escalations, and network design.

5. Pre-sales Engineer

   Oct 2011 – Mar 2013

   Vocus Communications (formerly Maxnet) · Auckland, NZ

   Provided senior network and services design for enterprise customers supporting sales teams across MPLS networks, data centre services, IaaS and virtualisation, and data protection.

6. Technical Services Manager

   Sep 2009 – Oct 2011

   SIPcom · United Kingdom

   Built and scaled the UK Hosted Cloud PBX and SIP trunking business. Managed all technical staff and sales engagements. Placed at Microsoft for four months to design and deliver the reference architecture for Microsoft Lync Hosted UC Platform.

7. Network Engineer

   Jan 2008 – Mar 2009

   Datacraft NZ / Dimension Data · Auckland, NZ

   Post-sales implementation, network design, P1 break/fix escalation, and VoIP support and implementation.

8. Network Engineer / Application Support

   Sep 2004 – Dec 2007

   EDS New Zealand (now HP) · Auckland, NZ

   WAN/LAN services, routing protocols (RIP, EIGRP, OSPF, BGP), legacy voice and VoIP, firewall (Checkpoint, Cisco PIX), VPN/RAS, ISDN, QoS.

9. Internet Helpdesk / Support

   Aug 2001 – Sep 2004

   First Contact / Webworld / Quicksilver Internet · Auckland, NZ

   Customer service and technical internet support, domain and web hosting, call centre for multiple clients, escalation support.

Signature programmes

• National School Network Infrastructure (Managed Network)

  2013 – Present

  The core national connectivity platform connecting every state school and kura in New Zealand to fast, safe, managed internet services — one of the country’s largest managed infrastructure programmes.

• Te Mana Tūhono: National Wi-Fi Programme

  2021 – Present

  Te Mana Tūhono ("the power of connection") is the Ministry of Education’s national ICT upgrade programme for all state schools. N4L was selected as the delivery and management partner.

• National Security Operations Centre (SOC) & SIEM

  2017 – Present

  Designed the architectural framework and governance model for N4L's national Security Operations Centre — the centralised platform that monitors, detects, and responds to cyber threats across every school in the country.

• Switch on Safety: COVID-19 Home Learning Security

  2020

  When New Zealand entered COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020, hundreds of thousands of students shifted to home learning — without the safety filters that protect them at school. N4L had two weeks to solve this before Term 2 began.

Capabilities

Leadership & strategy

Enterprise & solutions architecture · Technology strategy & roadmap · Architecture Review Board (chair) · Ministry-level governance · Vendor & commercial negotiation · Programme delivery

Networks & infrastructure

National managed network design · Wi-Fi 6 at national scale · Network access control · Next-generation firewalls · Broadband & optical LAN architecture

Cybersecurity

SOC design & operations · SIEM (Elastic) · Security automation (SOAR) · Threat detection & incident response · DNS filtering & email security

Identity & access

Cloud identity platform architecture · Legacy-to-cloud migration · Secure device onboarding

Data & platforms

Elastic Observability & APM · Real-time event processing at national scale · Cloud infrastructure (Azure, IaaS) · Customer portal & integrations · BI & reporting