Senior People Advisor (until Oct 2025)

Company Description

Ko wai mātou | About us   

He aha te mea nui o te ao. He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata
What is the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people.

We think this proverb captures the spirit of our epic People Experience (PE) function.

Over the past three-and-a-bit years we have been putting in some serious mahi to rethink, reshape and reinvent the way People Experience works at Contact, and we couldn’t be prouder of what we have achieved. We have worked hard to be become trusted advisors who enable our people across all the employee journeys, transforming their experiences for the better and taking a continuous improvement approach to ‘how we do things’ at Te Mata Hiko (Contact Energy). We’re in full flight now with an exciting project and need an extra pair of hands for six months to provide HR and ER advice and support to our people that is simple, efficient, and enables them to get on with their day-to-day life, while contributing to further improvements (we’re still on the journey!) and looking to how we embed change and help our people to succeed.

Job Description

Kōrero mō te tūranga | About the role

Ideally based in our stunning Auckland office, smack-bang in the heart of Commercial Bay, you’ll work closely with our business leaders, HR Business Partners and HR Advisors to help with projects across the People Experience team, embed change, and support our kaimahi (employees) and People Leaders with more complex people-related queries. (While we say “based in the Auckland office”, there’s heaps of flex to work from home – two days in the office would be ideal but we’re pretty flexible.)

Reporting to our People Experience Operations Manager initially, while our People Support Manager is on leave (two wāhine you will adore working for), in this 6-month fixed term contract you’ll focus primarily on employee relations that are key to our engagement and culture. Day-by-day you’ll coach leaders, help manage performance issues, support kaimahi returning to work, get stuck into change management and related activity, and have plenty of opportunity to flex your HR expertise as you help improve our HR policies, procedures, and processes.

Qualifications

Ko wai koe | About you

A big fan of the “coach approach”, you know the term “people person” is overused but you can’t resist using it because it’s true. You’re in Human Resources because you love humans. Employment Relations is your bread & butter and you’re known by your peers as a ‘doer’ with a high work ethic and integrity. You’re someone that people gravitate to for advice and guidance because you take the time to listen; a people-centric human with high EQ, natural manaakitanga, and a real flair for reading a room. This type of intuition allows you to build relationships quickly and with depth.

Ideally, your ER experience has been gained in a large commercial organisation jam-packed with a variety of roles and different personality types across multiple locations. (Smaller org experience might be okay if they were complex … bonus points for collective bargaining experience.) Commercially savvy, you’re not the type to be put off by the fact we’re a big company, but also a small company – nimble, resourceful, and at times all-hands-on-deck with lots on the go.

Sense of humour, tenacity, and being young at heart will set you apart from the rest. We’re technically grown-ups but bring a playful approach to work and have a lot of fun getting the proverbial done. Awesome listening and communication skills will be key, too – whether it’s what you write or how you speak, you nail it every time.

Additional Information

This is a 6-month fixed-term contract role (for project agreements attached to milestones/completion) with an ASAP start that will ideally be based in Auckland. Wellington might work, however the majority of our People Experience team are in Tāmaki, including the HR BPs and Advisors you’ll work most closely with, so preference will be given to Auckland-based candidates.

There are a bunch of perks to being a Contact kaimahi. Along with great leadership, teammates, development, and growth opportunities, you’ll enjoy flexible working, a ‘Good to be Home’ payment toward your home set up & wellbeing, discounts on Contact Energy products, and more.

We need somebody yesterday and are considering applications as they come in, so hop to it if you're keen!

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.