Project Manager – Assurance Services
Kat Schuenemann has been on both sides of building product assurance – as the manufacturer, and as the assessor.
Dr Katrin Schuenemann is a project manager in BRANZ's assurance services team, managing product appraisals and CodeMark certification – a product certification scheme that demonstrates a building product meets the requirements of the New Zealand Building Code. She is one of the team's main points of contact for new clients, managing relationships from first enquiry through to market. She also conducts annual onsite manufacturing quality audits and manages the Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) scheme – a service she helped pilot.
Before joining BRANZ in 2018, Kat completed a PhD in chemistry and worked for New Zealand Steel as a research scientist before moving into product innovation and product development, rising to Product Launch Manager. This shift from straight science to commercial manufacturing might seem unconventional, but Kat found the business side compelling. "I like finding the drivers for businesses and helping them accelerate and be successful."
For BRANZ assurance services, she was a natural fit. Building science matched her background, and the commercial side meant she didn’t lose the work she loved. In many respects, her previous roles were the perfect training ground, enabling her to assess building products with both technical rigour and a practical understanding of how they perform in manufacturing, installation, and real-world use.
Meet Kat and you'll soon realise she's a bit of a knowledge junkie – the kind of person who balances problems from every angle before finding the way through. Whether it's connecting clients with the right expertise, distilling technical requirements into practical next steps, or drawing on her materials knowledge to spot issues early, her approach is guided by a favourite whakataukī: He moana pukepuke e ekengia e te waka – a choppy sea can be navigated.
"I'm here to navigate people through and help them succeed – because there's always a way to get there."
Qualifications
PhD, Medicinal Chemistry, University of Auckland
MSc, Organic Chemistry, Technical University of Dortmund
BSc, Chemical Biology, The University of Dortmund
Industry participation
Sustainable Steel Council, board member