Te Tākinatanga - Our Story   

At Contact, we believe home is the most important place in the world. It's all part of our vision to leave Aotearoa better than we found it. We’re a power, mobile, and broadband company, but we’re so much more than that.  
 
We are transforming the ways we mahi, and how Aotearoa is powered, leading the charge on renewable energy and digitising customer journeys in ways not yet seen here. 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.  
 
Right now, we’re stepping into the next phase of that journey, where data and AI play a central role in how we serve our customers and operate as a business. We’ve invested in a suite of AI tools, and the opportunity in front of us is huge: moving beyond experimentation into real, scaled adoption that delivers meaningful outcomes. 

This role sits right at the heart of that shift. You’ll help bring AI to life across our retail and platform teams, connecting strategy to action, and ensuring the mahi we do creates real value for our customers and our business. 

Te Whiwhinga mahi | The Opportunity  

This is a senior leadership, enterprise-facing role focused on activating AI across our retail business, embedding tools, uplifting capability, and enabling teams to move faster and smarter. 

You’ll work alongside leaders and teams to turn AI from potential into practice, shaping how it’s used to improve customer experiences, optimise decisions, and unlock value. 

In this role, you will: 

• Be part of the Data and AI Leadership team partnering closely with retail leaders, platform teams, and domain experts to identify where AI can make the biggest impact 
• Coach and uplift capability across the business, enabling teams to confidently adopt and use AI tools 
• Guide decision-making on when to leverage existing AI tools through self-service solutions, or handover for deeper technical development 
• Across initiatives like retail platform transformation, marketing automation, and customer intelligence, help turn ideas into working prototypes and real-world solutions to grow revenue, deliver compelling customer experiences and improve productivity 
• Champion safe, responsible, and effective use of AI, balancing innovation with good governance 
• Track and communicate the value of AI adoption - from usage to outcomes - helping shape future direction 

This is a role where influence matters as much as delivery. You won’t just build, you’ll enable, connect, and lead from the centre of the business.

Ko wai koe | About You    

You’re someone who thrives in complexity and ambiguity, able to connect big-picture strategy with practical, real-world outcomes. You know how to bring people on the journey, not just tell them where to go. 

You’ll likely bring: 

• Experience in large, customer-focused organisations using AI to improve customer outcomes and operational performance. 
• Strong understanding of data, advanced analytics, and AI, including hands-on experience delivering real solutions that leverage AI (not just theory).  
• The ability to translate technical concepts into clear, meaningful insights for a wide range of stakeholders. 
• Experience working with tools such as Microsoft Copilot Studio, Databricks Genie, or similar AI platforms to deliver generative AI solutions as well as automation with agentic AI solutions. 
• A track record of influencing across teams, working collaboratively to create impact without formal authority 

More importantly, you’ll bring the mindset we value: 

• Curious, adaptable, and always learning 
• Collaborative and approachable, someone who brings others along on the journey 
• Comfortable balancing demand, expectations, and competing priorities 
• Grounded in outcomes, focused on what actually delivers value 

If you’ve worked with emerging approaches like agentic AI, or helped scale AI adoption across a business, that would be a big bonus! But it’s your ability to make AI real for people that matters most. 

We support flexible working where it works for the individual, the team and the business. Two of our main hubs are in Wellington and Auckland, and this role is best suited to someone who can work flexibly from one of these locations to enable strong in person connection and collaboration. While we do have smaller sites across other centres of Aotearoa, proximity to one of these hubs is important for this role. 

Contact is not a place you’ll stagnate. We’re growing, evolving, and investing in our people. We also offer 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 on Tuesday 2nd June. But just like peak demand, great talent surges early, so if this role sparks your interest, power up your application now! 

We love a good story at Contact, it’s what keeps our energy flowing! If you’ve got one that connects with this role, send it our way. 

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.