Mr McDonald, originally from Rotorua, replaces former chief executive Geoff Staniland, who resigned in November, having held the position for seven years.
Most recently the former vice-president and general manager of global healthcare company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Australia, Mr McDonald has spent the past 20 years working in commercial roles across Australia, China, Singapore, Southeast Asia and the wider Asia-Pacific region.
Based in Melbourne, he will relocate to Queenstown before starting his new role with Skyline on June 1.
``The Skyline business is an incredible success story, a tribute to the vision and passion of its founders but equally to the energy and talent of the staff who have built this amazing organisation,'' he said.
``I'm not coming in to replace any of the huge amounts of expertise within Skyline.
``My job is to provide leadership and direction over strategy, infrastructure, people development and systems and processes to enable the company to grow successfully into the future.''
With GSK Australia - a company which employs about 400 people - Mr McDonald led a turnaround in the company's $650million Australian business, delivering sustainable profit growth above target of between 7% and 11% over four consecutive years.
Before that, he was the general manager of GSK New Zealand from 2009 to 2012.
A graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, he holds a master's degree in business marketing from Monash University, in Melbourne, and a bachelor's degree in education and psychology, from Waikato University.
Mr McDonald said Queenstown would be a ``mecca'' for him and his wife, Rose, along with their children, Emily (22) and Callum (20). All were avid skiers, trail runners and hikers.
He was also a regular participant in long-distance triathlons and multisport events.
``We are really looking forward to settling down there and becoming a part of the community.''
Skyline Enterprises executive chairman Mark Quickfall said given the scale and growth of Skyline it was imperative the board appointed a seasoned chief executive with the right skills and management style and he was ``very pleased'' to welcome Mr McDonald to the team.
