Quilter was the deputy commissioner at the State Services Commission from 2007 to 2012, where she was responsible for the first five-year strategic plan for the Ministry of Social Development.

[1] She worked on improving systems for governance and risk assessments, and led the implementation of the Defence White Paper 2010.

In her Public Service Commission role she was responsible for achieving greater diversity and a 50/50 gender split for a group of thirty chief executives.

[2] She also conducted a review into the workplace culture at Fire and Emergency New Zealand, and supported the public service commissioner through the COVID-19 response.

[4] Although she retained 30 works from the collection, Quilter later auctioned 47 others in order to fund an interest in 17th- and 18th-century religious art, and New Zealand artist Louise Greig.