Security Specialist

Contact Energy, a Kiwi power, broadband and mobile company investing in renewable energy and smarter ways of working, is expanding its Security and Infrastructure team with a new Security Specialist role based onsite in Wellington. The team focuses on keeping important systems secure as the company moves important work forward, across Trading and Corporate squads. This role suits someone who enjoys translating risk into practical steps and partnering with people who don’t live and breathe security every day.

The Security Specialist sits at the crossroads of delivery and risk. You’ll work with squads across the Trading Domain and Corporate platforms, helping people understand what security risk means for their work and shaping controls that keep things moving. The portfolio is varied: you might support a major platform upgrade for Corporate, advise on work in the Trading domain, or help a squad design controls for a new technology initiative. The aim is to balance depth when it matters with pragmatic action that keeps priorities visible and manageable. It’s not about saying no; it’s about bringing enough depth to discuss risk and then finding a workable path forward. In addition, you’ll contribute to the wider security chapter and take ownership of a capability that complements the team’s work.

Security in action across trading floors and corporate systems

You’ll move between priorities, translate technical risk into plain business language, and know when to dig deeper and when to focus on what matters most. The role is built for someone who can partner with people who don’t live in security while still applying a strong technical lens. It’s a hands-on role that links risk, requirements and practical solutions early in the work, helping the squads progress with confidence.

What the role expects and what helps

The company is looking for a solid technical foundation that has grown into trusted security advisory skills. You should be able to work independently, stay organised under competing demands, and build credibility with colleagues who don’t live security. Below are the essentials and the nice-to-haves.

• Three to five years in a relevant ICT field, such as information security, risk management or audit
• Hands-on information-security experience in a large, complex organisation
• Broad security knowledge with the judgement to turn risk into practical action
• Strong communication and consulting skills, including the ability to explain technical ideas in business terms
• High integrity, self-management and the ability to prioritise under pressure

• Experience with cloud and cloud-networking concepts
• Exposure to banking, finance or trading environments
• Security or cloud certifications are welcome, but the emphasis is on how you have applied knowledge in real situations
• Evidence of transferring security, risk and stakeholder partnership skills across multiple contexts

You won’t need to have done everything already. If your background offers strong transferable evidence across technical security, risk and stakeholder partnership, the company would still love to hear your story.

Pay, perks and where you’ll work

The role is onsite, with main hubs in Wellington and Auckland. Contact supports flexible working so you can be in the office for collaboration and connection, while still making room for personal arrangements. In addition to a supportive work setup, the company offers a suite of perks such as free health insurance cover, boosted KiwiSaver, access to Contact Shares, a “Good to be Home” annual payment toward home setup and wellbeing, a generous parental leave policy, twice-yearly payments toward products if you’re a Contact customer, and more. The emphasis is on wellbeing and balance as the team grows and evolves. A note on eligibility: candidates must have the right to live and work in New Zealand. Proximity to a main hub is important for this role, and flexibility from Wellington or Auckland is encouraged to help with in-person connection and collaboration.

Advice for applicants from someone who’s been in the room

Lead with a tight summary on your resume that states you have 3–5 years of experience in ICT security, risk management or audit, and couple that with a concrete example of how you advised a squad on risk and enabled delivery. This helps hiring managers see you’ve got real-world impact and the credibility to speak with non-security colleagues.

When you describe your must-have skills, frame them as outcomes. For example, highlight a project where you translated risk into a practical control and show the business impact, such as reduced exposure or faster decision-making, rather than listing generic capabilities.

Prepare for conversations about how you translate technical risk into business terms. Have a couple of clear stories ready that illustrate your ability to balance depth with delivery timelines, explain controls in plain language, and know when to probe deeper versus stepping back to prioritise what matters most.

Ask a targeted question that shows you’ve thought about this role’s unique context. For instance, inquire how the security chapter collaborates with both Trading and Corporate squads today, or what outcome they’d like the Security Specialist to own within the next six to twelve months.

How to apply

Applications close on Thursday 12th November. The role requires the right to live and work in New Zealand, and being near Wellington or Auckland will help enable in-person collaboration with the team. If you’re excited by shaping security for a critical set of systems and you meet the essentials, this is a chance to bring practical security leadership to a broad range of projects.