EntryFull TimeEN
Te Tākinatanga - Our Story
At Contact, we believe home is the most important place in the world. That belief shapes everything we do, from leading the energy transition to how we power Aotearoa and care for our people and communities.
We’re a power, broadband, and mobile company, but we’re also investing boldly in renewable energy and smarter, more connected ways of working (mahi). Our ambition is simple: to leave Aotearoa better than we found it. Guided by our tikanga, we’re a team who care deeply about the work we do, how we support one another, and the impact we have. Simply put, we touch lives to make life better.
As our renewable growth programme gains momentum across multiple technologies, the scale and complexity of what we’re delivering continues to grow. With that comes increased risk and a clear need for consistent, well defined technical expectations that give our projects the best chance of success.
As Owner’s Technical Requirements Manager, you’ll help translate big ambition into buildable reality. You’ll set the standard for what “good” looks like, align stakeholders early, and create the clarity contractors need to deliver safely, efficiently, and to a quality specification. The Owner’s Technical Requirements (OTR) are the technical foundation for procuring and delivering new power stations and major generation assets, and this mahi (work) ensures they remain robust, current, and fit for purpose.
This work matters now. It protects long term asset performance, supports sound investment decisions, and strengthens how Contact delivers renewable generation for Aotearoa.
Te Whiwhinga mahi | The Opportunity
You’ll manage the development, maintenance, and continuous improvement of Contact’s OTR across all generation technologies, ensuring it remains accurate, current, and fit for purpose as a “living” set of requirements that evolves with regulation, standards, and lessons learned.
In this role, you’ll be trusted with strategic ownership and strong cross‑functional influence. You’ll work closely with technical, commercial, legal and project delivery partners to keep requirements clear and unambiguous, balancing regulatory obligations with commercial outcomes, upfront capital choices, and long‑term operational value.
You’ll be responsible for:
Shaping technical requirements that become the backbone of tendering and, once contracts are executed, are managed through formal change processes.
Bringing experts together and turn complexity into clarity by facilitating workshops with technical specialists and incorporating regulatory updates, industry standards, project learnings, and Contact’s risk appetite into the OTR.
Elevating the quality of technical writing and consistency so requirements are plain language, precise, and workable for both contractor and internal technical/commercial audiences.
Strengthening alignment to Contact Engineering Standards by partnering with Engineering and Technical Authorities to ensure the OTR and internal standards stay in sync.
Enabling confident governance and decision making by supporting the OTR Review Boards (including agenda and minutes) and ensuring stakeholders have the insights they need.
Improving the system, not just the document by identifying opportunities to lift OTR processes, governance, and database quality over time.
Supporting delivery teams through tendering so contractors clearly understand and align to requirements before contract award, reducing downstream surprise.
Reporting to the Head of Project Portfolio Management – Renewable Growth, you’ll sit in the Renewable Growth team and work across the business to help projects move from concept to confident execution.
Ko wai koe | About You
You’re someone who can hold the detail and the bigger picture, comfortable operating in ambiguity, confident influencing across disciplines, and motivated by leaving things clearer and better than you found them. You enjoy turning technical depth into structured, usable requirements that help others deliver.
A strong track record in technical writing and developing/working with contract requirements. The ability to produce clear, unambiguous documentation for varied audiences.
Sound understanding of New Zealand regulatory frameworks relevant to construction and operation of generation assets.
A growth mindset: you stay curious, keep learning, and actively support others’ development.
Experience across large infrastructure or major generation projects, with solid engineering and project management capability.
Excellent communication skills — you can simplify complex information without losing precision, and you build credibility quickly with technical and operations stakeholders.
Proven ability to collaborate, influence outcomes, and drive practical improvements in systems and governance.
Bonus points (helpful, but not essential):
Experience leading and developing technical teams
A strong grasp of commercial drivers, business cases, and contracting strategy — and how requirements shape risk and value.
A degree in Engineering (or equivalent technical qualification) and substantial experience in the power sector or similar heavy industry.
If you’re motivated by meaningful mahi (work) and want to play a key role in how Contact delivers new generation assets, while continuing to grow in a supportive, future‑focused team, we’d love to hear from you.
We support flexible working where it works for the individual, the team and the business. We’d prefer if this role was based in either Auckland, Wellington or Taupō, and some travel may be needed to stay connected to stakeholders and projects as we’re spread across Aotearoa.
Contact is not a place you’ll stagnate. We are growing and offer superb learning and development opportunities along with a bunch of other perks like free health insurance cover, boosted KiwiSaver, access to Contact Shares, a ‘Good to be Home’ annual payment toward your home set up & wellbeing, a trail-blazing parental leave policy, twice yearly payments towards our products if you’re a Contact customer, and more!
Applications close 9am Monday the 4th of May, but just like peak demand, great talent surges early so if this role sparks your interest, power up your application now!
Here at Contact Energy (Te Mata Hiko), we know our strength lies in developing a sense of belonging - one that helps us attract and retain people with a broad range of perspectives and experiences.
We’re committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered to bring their whole selves to work. Our goal is to reflect the diversity of our customers and communities to help build a better Aotearoa New Zealand.
We have a rich community of talented people that we support to thrive at Contact.
Our inclusive hiring process is designed to embrace the diversity of Aotearoa New Zealand, ensuring a wide range of perspectives are included in our decision-making and helping reduce bias along the way.
The wellbeing of our kaimahi is super important to us.
We use employee insights to offer a range of initiatives and resources to support physical, mental, financial and emotional wellbeing – including flexible working arrangements, employee network groups and a market-leading parental leave policy.
At Te Mata Hiko, we want everyone to thrive. We welcome applicants far and wide - of every age, stage, background, and pride. Join us and be part of a team that values your passion and attitude just as much as your experience and skills.
Please note, only candidates with the right to live and work in New Zealand will be considered for this role.
Research shows that while men apply to jobs where they meet 60% of the criteria, women and those in underrepresented groups tend to only apply if they tick every box. We're not about box ticking, so if you think you have what it takes but don't meet everything stated above, please still get in touch. We'd love to kōrero.
Te Mata Hiko (Contact Energy) does not accept any CVs received from recruitment agencies where a formal engagement has not been confirmed and agreed to with our Talent team. In the event that unsolicited CVs are submitted by recruitment agencies, Te Mata Hiko (Contact Energy) reserves the right to contact these candidates directly and consider them for current/future vacancies without any financial obligation to the recruitment agency in question. This will also apply to any CVs sent directly to line managers.