Ruma Karaitiana chairs the commercial arm of Rangitāne o Manawatū iwi, the Board of Education Services Limited and the Board of the Central Energy Trust. He has worked in governance for thirty years and served on many Boards, working parties and advisory groups, including the Board of ACC. He also serves on the Board of Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu (the former Correspondence School), where he Chairs the Risk and Audit Committee and is a Massey Business School Advisory Board member.

Ruma spent 25 years in Chief Executive roles, including ten years as the Chief Executive of the Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation. During that time, he was Deputy Chair of the Industry Training Federation and a member of the Construction Industry Council. He chaired the Skills Strategy workstream of the Construction Sector Productivity Partnership.

More recently, he was Chair of the Manawatu Whanganui Regional Skills Leadership Group through establishing and delivering its first Regional Workforce Plan.