Centre of Excellence Manager - Telco & Energy Products

Te Tākinatanga | Our Story

At Contact, home is the most important place in the world. That belief has shaped the business for more than 25 years, and today Contact is one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest energy companies, generating and selling electricity and helping hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses stay connected through energy, broadband and mobile.

There’s never been a more exciting time to be part of our story. Contact is growing and changing at pace, transforming how work gets done, and investing in major renewable generation to help build the energy system Aotearoa needs for the future.

Behind all of that are people who genuinely care about making a difference. Ours is a culture that’s been recognised among the best, with Contact named one of New Zealand’s Top 3 Inspiring Workplaces and among the Global Top 100 in 2026.

Our ambition is simple: leave Aotearoa better than we found it. Whatever part you play here, you'll help power homes, businesses and communities today, while shaping a more sustainable tomorrow.

Contact’s Retail business brings together energy, broadband and mobile to create more connected experiences for our customers. As our range of products continues to evolve, we need a clear view of where to focus, how our products work together and which opportunities are worth pursuing.

This role leads that thinking. You’ll shape the innovation strategy and long-term product direction across electricity, gas, broadband and mobile, while building the capability, partnerships and practical ways of working needed to turn promising opportunities into valuable customer propositions.

Kōrero mō te tūranga | About the role

This is a leadership role with a broad view across Contact’s Retail portfolio. You’ll lead a multidisciplinary team spanning product, innovation and agile delivery, setting direction and creating the conditions for teams to make good decisions and maintain momentum. You’ll provide strategic direction and governance while staying connected to the work, knowing where your involvement can add the most value.

You’ll be responsible for

• Leading Contact Retail’s innovation strategy and integrated product roadmap across electricity, gas, broadband and mobile.
• Turning customer needs, market developments, emerging technologies and business priorities into clear areas of focus and investment.
• Creating a connected view of the product portfolio, including shared opportunities, dependencies and trade-offs across different products.
• Establishing clear approaches to prioritisation and governance so decisions are grounded in customer value, commercial potential, feasibility, risk and evidence.
• Leading a multidisciplinary team of product, innovation and agile delivery specialists.
• Building consistent and practical product disciplines that support teams to develop and deliver strong customer propositions.
• Working directly with delivery teams at critical points to clarify outcomes, support decisions and resolve issues that could slow progress.
• Developing a purposeful network of external partners across the energy, telecommunications, technology and research sectors.
• Building a well-supported innovation pipeline, using customer insight and disciplined experimentation to determine which opportunities should progress.
• Keeping accessibility, trust and fairness central to product and proposition decisions, alongside commercial, legal, regulatory, privacy, security and risk considerations.

Kowaikoe| About You

You bring depth in product, innovation or proposition leadership, along with the judgement to work across a complex portfolio and balance long-term strategy with practical delivery, without losing sight of the customer or commercial context.

You’ll also bring

Experience leading cross-functional teams that have delivered tangible products or services.

A strong understanding of product strategy, portfolio management and the development of customer propositions.

The ability to translate customer insight, market shifts and emerging technologies into clear strategic choices and roadmaps.

Commercial judgement and confidence working with leaders across product, finance, marketing, sales and customer-focused functions.

Experience building alignment across different teams, priorities and professional disciplines.

A practical approach to innovation and experimentation, using evidence to decide whether an opportunity should progress, change direction or stop.

The credibility to work with external technology providers, start-ups, industry partners, research organisations and other potential collaborators.

Strong analytical capability and confidence working across different systems, datasets and sources of information.

A leadership style that provides clarity and accountability while encouraging constructive challenge, learning and thoughtful risk-taking.

The ability to coach and develop others, strengthening capability across both your own team and the wider product community.

You’ll be comfortable making considered calls across a broad product portfolio, balancing customer needs, commercial priorities and delivery realities while giving your team clear direction.

If you’re excited by the opportunity to shape what’s next across energy, broadband and mobile, while leading a talented team and influencing how ideas become great customer propositions, we’d love to hear from you.

We support flexible working where it works for the individual, the team and the business. Our main hubs are in Wellington, Auckland and Tauranga, 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 a main hub 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 Thursday 26th November. But just like peak demand, great talent surges early, so if this role sparks your interest, power up your application now!

He mea nui ngā paki kōrero ki a mātou i Contact, nā reira, mēnā kei a koe tētehi e hāngai pea ana ki tā mātou e kimi nei i tēnei tūranga kei raro iho nei--kei te hiahia mātou kia whakapā mai ai koe!

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.