Quality Engineering & Automation Chapter Lead

Contact Energy (Te Mata Hiko) is expanding its quality engineering and automation capability. As a power, broadband and mobile provider, Contact is investing in renewable energy and smarter ways of working to power Aotearoa and support its people and communities. The aim is to leave Aotearoa better than it was found, with a team that cares deeply about delivering high-quality software and data solutions.

The company is shaping a more proactive, quality-first approach across technology teams, and this leadership role focuses on guiding a talented quality engineering and automation chapter. It’s an opportunity to influence standards, practices and ways of working while lifting capability and embedding quality across software and data engineering efforts. The position is onsite in Auckland and may suit someone who can work flexibly from one of Contact’s main hubs to enable in-person collaboration.

For someone who can blend people leadership with hands-on coaching and technical guidance, this role offers a clear path to impact how quality is built into delivery and how teams continuously improve their practices.

Shaping quality at scale

As Chapter Lead, you’ll balance guiding people, growing capability and offering technical direction, staying close enough to the work to coach teams and challenge approaches when needed. The role requires partnering with engineering, delivery and technology leaders to strengthen quality practices and foster a culture of continuous improvement. You’ll help shape how quality becomes part of delivery across domains, ensuring teams adopt modern approaches to automation, testing and quality engineering.

Your responsibilities center on building the chapter’s capability roadmap, mentoring and career development for team members, and establishing pragmatic quality standards, frameworks and engineering practices. You’ll work with Domain Leads, Delivery Leads, Software Engineers and Data Engineers to improve delivery outcomes, and you’ll evaluate emerging tools, technologies and AI-driven opportunities that can lift quality and efficiency across the teams.

What you’ll bring to the chapter

• A solid grasp of quality engineering, automation and modern software delivery practices
• Experience leading, coaching and developing technical people
• The ability to influence across engineering, delivery and technology teams
• Strong communication skills and a pragmatic, problem-solving approach
• A strategic mindset paired with a willingness to roll up your sleeves when needed

Nice-to-haves include experience improving quality engineering or automation capability at scale, exposure to cloud, API, data or digital platform environments, and knowledge of CI/CD practices, quality engineering tooling, or relevant industry certifications. You won’t need to tick every box; curiosity, adaptability and a motivation to help teams deliver great outcomes are valued.

Pay, perks and practical details

The role is onsite in Auckland, with Contact supporting flexible working where it works for the individual, the team and the business. The company operates main hubs in Wellington, Auckland and Tauranga, and proximity to a hub is important for this role, with flexibility to work from one of these locations to enable strong in-person collaboration. The perks include free health insurance cover, boosted KiwiSaver, access to Contact Shares, a “Good to be Home” annual payment toward your home setup and wellbeing, a trail-blazing parental leave policy, and twice yearly payments toward Contact products if you’re a Contact customer, among other benefits.

Applications close on Monday 19th October. Only candidates with the right to live and work in New Zealand will be considered for this role. Contact Energy does not accept unsolicited CVs from recruitment agencies unless there is a formal engagement with the Talent team; in that case, agencies may be considered for current or future vacancies without financial obligation to the agency, and this also applies to CVs sent directly to line managers.

Advice for applicants

Your resume should lead with examples of how you’ve built quality engineering capability and coached technical people, showing the impact on delivery outcomes and teams’ growth. Highlight any cross-functional collaboration with Domain Leads, Delivery Leads, Software Engineers and Data Engineers, and point to concrete improvements you’ve driven in quality practices.

To prove the must-have skills, include evidence of your understanding of quality engineering, automation and modern software delivery, plus your track record coaching and developing technical staff and influencing across multiple teams. Quantify improvements when you can, such as faster delivery, higher quality metrics or reduced rework, and describe how you established standards or frameworks that teams adopted.

Be prepared to discuss how you balance strategic thinking with hands-on work, and to share approaches you’ve used to introduce pragmatic quality standards and automation. You may be asked to describe a time you partnered with Domain and Delivery leads to improve outcomes, so have a few concrete examples ready.

Ask a smart question about the future of quality at Contact, such as how they’re integrating AI-driven opportunities into quality workflows, what current quality standards look like, and how the chapter collaborates with other engineering teams to drive continuous improvement.

Next steps to apply

Ready to apply? Submit your application before Monday 19th October. The role is onsite in Auckland, but Contact supports flexible working from its main hubs in Wellington, Auckland and Tauranga to enable strong in-person connection. Note that only candidates with the right to live and work in New Zealand will be considered. Te Mata Hiko (Contact Energy) does not accept CVs from recruitment agencies without a formal engagement with the Talent team; unsolicited CVs may be considered only if there is a formal arrangement, and this policy also applies to CVs sent directly to line managers.