Program Manager - Ruakākā Solar Farm

Ethical Power New Zealand; Whangarei; Hybrid; NZD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Five weeks annual leave

Medical insurance

5% Kiwisaver employer contribution

Large-scale project pipeline

Job summary

Ethical Power New Zealand – Whangarei, North Island is seeking a Program Manager to own and manage the Ruakākā Solar Farm program. This hybrid role requires 2–3 days on site to coordinate development, engineering, procurement, construction and handover with a single, reliable project view.

You will lead planning, reporting cadence and program reviews, presenting dashboards to senior management and clients. 4–6 years of PM experience, strong Excel/CPM/MS Project skills, and travel ability are

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Engineering or Diploma in Engineering, or equivalent.
• Recognised Project Management qualification.
• 4–6 years in project or program management on large-scale projects.
• Experience maintaining integrated project programs with multiple workstreams.
• Strong Excel, CPM scheduling, and MS Project/Smartsheet skills.
• Experience in EPC construction and civil/electrical interfaces is desirable.
• Excellent communication, reporting and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Willingness to travel with a clean Class 1 licence.
• Strong planning and organizational abilities.

Responsibilities

• Own and maintain the integrated project plan as the source of truth for delivery status.
• Lead disciplined planning and reporting cadence with PMs and teams.
• Lead status update meetings with senior management, clients and stakeholders.
• Highlight milestones, dependencies, constraints and interventions.
• Coordinate planning across engineering, EPC, regulatory and site teams.
• Confirm progress, forecast dates and resource constraints with teams.
• Develop and track the program from development to handover.
• Maintain detailed schedules with MS Project or Smartsheet.
• Issue regular program reports and dashboards showing progress and risks.
• Ensure safety, quality and environmental requirements are upheld.

Skills

Advanced communication

Report writing

Stakeholder engagement

Facilitation

Organisational skills

Travelling readiness

Driving licence

Education

Bachelor or Diploma in Engineering

Project Management qualification

Tools

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Project

Smartsheet

Job description

Jora New Zealand will close on 9th September 2026. Thank you for being with us, we are cheering you on as you continue your career journey.

Ethical Power New Zealand – Whangarei, North Island

This is a full-time role supporting us on our Ruakākā Solar Farm project, being constructed for our client, Meridian Energy. The role is a hybrid role, but there will be an expectation of being at our Ruakākā site offices 2-3 days a week.

The Ruakākā Solar Farm Program Manager is responsible for owning, maintaining and communicating the integrated project plan for Ethical Power New Zealand projects, providing a single, reliable view of schedule, milestones, dependencies and delivery status. The role will coordinate planning inputs across development, engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning and handover, ensuring the program is current, appropriately baselined and updated as work progresses. The Program Manager will identify critical path activities, dependencies, emerging delays and recovery actions, and will work closely with Project Managers and delivery teams to validate progress and forecast completion. A central requirement of the role is high-quality reporting. The Program Manager will lead the regular program review cadence and provide clear, timely schedule updates and dashboards to the project team, senior management, clients and other stakeholders so that risks, decisions and priorities are visible and acted on early.

Key responsibilities

Act as the custodian of the integrated project plan and ensure it is the agreed source of truth for project delivery status.

Establish and lead a disciplined planning and reporting cadence with Project Managers, construction teams and functional leads.

Lead project and program status update meetings with Ethical senior management, clients, energy off-takers and finance counterparties as required, using the detailed project plan and a clear high-level status dashboard.

Drive timely action and decision making by highlighting critical milestones, dependencies, constraints and required interventions.

Coordinate planning inputs and deliverables across project engineering, EPC, client, regulatory, permitting and site delivery teams.

Work with Project Managers and functional leads to confirm progress, forecast dates, resource constraints and upcoming deliverables.

Own, develop, baseline, track and maintain the integrated project program from development through construction, commissioning and handover to Operations.

Maintain detailed project schedules and tasks using appropriate project management tools, including Microsoft Project or Smartsheet.

Prepare and issue regular program reports and dashboards showing progress against baseline, key milestones, critical path, forecast completion, key changes and emerging concerns.

Ensure program decisions and recovery planning do not compromise Health & Safety, quality or environmental requirements.

About you

Bachelor of Engineering degree, Diploma in Engineering, project management, construction management or equivalent is desirable.

Recognised Project Management qualification.

At least 4-6 years professional experience in project or program management within large-scale, complex project delivery.

Proven ability to establish, baseline, maintain and report complex project programs involving multiple workstreams and stakeholders.

Strong proficiency with Microsoft Excel, CPM scheduling, and Microsoft Project or Smartsheet.

Experience within EPC construction and an understanding of civil, electrical and structural delivery interfaces is highly desirable.

Advanced communication, report writing and presentation skills, including executive-level program reporting and stakeholder engagement.

Willingness and ability to travel and attend project sites as required, with a clean Class 1 driving licence.

Excellent organisational skills demonstrated by clear, logical and maintainable project plans.

Strong facilitation and relationship management skills, with confidence leading program reviews with senior and external stakeholders.

What we offer

One of NZ’s most exciting solar farm builds, in the beautiful Northland

5 weeks annual leave

5% Kiwisaver employer contribution

Medical insurance

A further pipeline of large-scale projects

Ethical Power

Ethical Power is at an exciting point in its evolution. Founded in 2010, we have built an excellent reputation in the solar energy market and are poised to take advantage of increasing opportunities in solar power as countries across the world, commit to a net zero carbon status.

We’re an independent vertically integrated renewables company operating globally. We work across the entire project lifecycle and offer excellent opportunities to discover various career paths across our Group Companies. Our mission is to maximise the potential of capturing and using clean power for all stakeholders, while staying true and committed to our values.

As our project pipeline in New Zealand continues to grow, we are looking for an experienced Program Manager to strengthen planning, coordination and reporting across our large-scale renewable projects.

Ethical Power offers the opportunity to be part of a leading global team working on some of New Zealand’s most innovative and large-scale renewable projects. We value fresh perspectives and diverse experiences, which is why we actively seek individuals who bring unique ideas and a hunger for growth.

Applicants must hold New Zealand citizenship, New Zealand permanent residency or a valid New Zealand work permit.