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. 

We’re now looking for a Technology Partner Manager to strengthen our vendor ecosystem, improve operating performance, and ensure our strategic partners deliver the outcomes Contact needs today and over the next five years.

Te Whiwhinga mahi | The Opportunity

As our Technology Partner Manager, you will shape how Contact engages with its strategic technology partners and ensure we get the performance, value, and delivery outcomes needed to support our five‑year strategy. You’ll work closely with the Head of Strategy & Transformation to grow our vendor and commercial management capability - a key priority for the Executive team.

You will lead strategic partner development across Technology, aligning vendor capability, investment and delivery with Contact’s technology roadmap. You’ll bring clarity to a complex vendor landscape, influence senior stakeholders, and ensure partners understand our strategy, technical requirements and performance expectations.

A core part of your role is lifting vendor performance and operating delivery, driving quality, speed, cost‑effectiveness and risk management across the Technology partner landscape. You’ll strengthen governance, improve commercial processes and simplify our technology environment to deliver higher quality, more efficient outcomes, faster.

Your leadership will foster collaboration, model a growth mindset and help teams lift their commercial and vendor management capability.

In this role, you will

• Lead strategic partner development across Technology and collaborate with Finance, Procurement and key business stakeholders
• Manage technology partner and vendor relationships, providing insight on capability needs, risks, opportunities and change impacts
• Establish and uplift governance frameworks for strategic partners and vendors, aligned to business priorities and the Technology investment plan
• Drive vendor performance improvements to achieve faster, higher‑quality, cost‑effective outcomes while proactively managing risk
• Advise on investment planning (capex and opex), performance metrics and integration of commercial processes with financial planning and asset management for efficient delivery and operations
• Communicate Technology strategy and roadmap updates to partners, vendors and internal stakeholders
• Manage commercial documentation and tracking, ensuring agreements, obligations and performance are clearly understood and managed
• Act as a trusted advisor and coach on vendor and commercial management best practice
• Identify opportunities to improve systems, processes, financial performance and risk management across the vendor landscape
• Contribute to team performance and support broader technology and business transformation initiatives

Ko wai koe | About You

You’re an experienced technology commercial leader who knows how to build strong partnerships, manage complex vendor ecosystems, and drive performance improvements. You’re commercially sharp, calm under pressure, and confident working across multiple stakeholders, delivery and operating models, and priorities.

You are relentless about facts and problem‑solving, bring creative thinking to complex challenges, and your change leadership inspires confidence. You’re skilled at influencing and aligning leaders, and you foster collaboration to get to the best commercial and delivery outcomes.

You’ll bring

• A relevant degree in commerce, finance, engineering or management
• 10+ years’ experience in strategic partner management and commercial management of technology solutions, delivery, operations, managed services and/or systems integration
• Extensive experience in technology commercial planning, operational excellence, risk management, governance and cost/value optimisation
• Strong financial management capability, including business case development, budgeting, forecasting and reporting
• Experience in capex and opex planning
• Strong commercial and interpersonal skills for building effective partnerships
• Experience in cross‑functional technology and business transformation, including requirements gathering, prioritisation, solution development and performance measurement
• Excellent analytical, problem‑solving and decision‑making skills with a can‑do mindset
• Experience working in multi‑disciplinary, multi‑site delivery environments (e.g. Agile, Waterfall)
• Excellent communication skills, able to clearly articulate strategic and commercial positions to all levels
• Demonstrated ability to build and maintain strong relationships with high integrity and professional standards
• Ability to work effectively across a fast‑paced organisation

We’re working in partnership with JOYN to support recruitment for this role. JOYN acts on Contact’s behalf as part of the hiring process. All candidate information is collected and managed by Contact and will be used solely for the purposes of your application, in line with our privacy obligations.

We support flexible working where it works for the individual, the team and the business. This role is best suited to someone who can work flexibly from one of our Auckland or Wellington main hubs. 

This ad will close on Monday 8th June but we’re considering applications as they come in, so hop to it if you're keen!

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!

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.