Quality Engineering & Automation Chapter Lead

SmartRecruiters, Inc.; Wellington; Hybrid; NZD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Free health insurance

boosted KiwiSaver

Contact Shares

Good to be Home allowance

Parental leave policy

Job summary

Contact Energy is seeking a Chapter Lead to guide Quality Engineering & Automation within our Technology department. You will shape standards, drive capability growth, and mentor engineers to deliver high-quality software and data solutions.

You'll balance people leadership with technical guidance, partnering with engineering, delivery and technology leaders to embed quality-first practices across teams and accelerate reliable delivery in a evolving tech landscape.

Qualifications

• Strong understanding of quality engineering, automation and modern software delivery practices.
• Experience leading, coaching and developing technical people.
• Ability to influence across engineering, delivery and technology teams.
• Strong communication skills and a pragmatic approach to solving problems.
• Strategic mindset with hands-on willingness to roll up your sleeves when needed.

Responsibilities

• Develop the capability roadmap for quality engineering and automation.
• Grow and support a high-performing chapter through coaching and career development.
• Establish pragmatic quality standards, frameworks and engineering practices.
• Help teams adopt modern approaches to automation, testing and quality engineering.
• Partner closely with Domain Leads, Delivery Leads, Software Engineers and Data Engineers to improve delivery outcomes.
• Evaluate emerging tools, technologies and AI-driven opportunities that can enhance quality and efficiency.

Skills

Quality engineering

Automation

Leadership

Communication

Strategic thinking

Influence across teams

Coaching and mentoring

Cloud / API / data platforms

Tools

CI/CD tooling

Quality engineering tooling

Job description

Quality Engineering & Automation Chapter Lead

• Full-time
• Department: Technology

At Contact, we believe home is the most important place in the world. That belief shapes everything we do, from leading the energy transition to how we power Aotearoa and care for our people and communities.

We're a power, broadband, and mobile company, but we're also investing boldly in renewable energy and smarter, more connected ways of working ( mahi ). Our ambition is simple: to leave Aotearoa better than we found it.

Guided by our values & behaviours, we're a team who care deeply about the work we do, how we support one another, and the impact we have. Simply put, we touch lives to make life better.

Quality is becoming an increasingly important part of how great software is delivered. As Contact continues to evolve its quality engineering and automation capability, we're looking for someone who can help shape the standards, practices and ways of working that support high-quality delivery across our Technology teams.

This is an opportunity to lead a talented group of quality engineering and automation specialists while influencing how quality is embedded across software and data engineering teams. You'll help lift capability, establish clear standards and support a more proactive, quality-first approach to delivery.

This is an opportunity to lead and grow Contact's quality engineering and automation capability at a time when the discipline is evolving rapidly. You'll help shape how quality is embedded into our technology teams, lift capability across the chapter, and ensure we're adopting practices that support high-quality, reliable software delivery.

As Chapter Lead, you'll balance people leadership, capability development and technical guidance while remaining close enough to the work to coach, challenge and support teams. You'll work alongside engineering, delivery and technology leaders to strengthen quality engineering practices and build a culture of continuous improvement.

You'll be responsible for:

• Developing the capability roadmap for quality engineering and automation
• Growing and supporting a high-performing chapter through coaching, mentoring and career development
• Establishing pragmatic quality standards, frameworks and engineering practices
• Helping teams adopt modern approaches to automation, testing and quality engineering
• Partnering closely with Domain Leads, Delivery Leads, Software Engineers and Data Engineers to improve delivery outcomes
• Evaluating emerging tools, technologies and AI-driven opportunities that can enhance quality and efficiency

Ko wai koe | About You

We're looking for someone who brings a blend of technical credibility, leadership and influence. You might come from a quality engineering, automation or software engineering background, but however you've got there, you'll be comfortable working with technical teams to improve capability, establish good practices and help others succeed.

What you’ll bring:

• Strong understanding 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 approach to solving problems
• A strategic mindset, balanced with a willingness to roll up your sleeves when needed

Useful, but not essential:

• Experience improving quality engineering or automation capability at scale
• Exposure to cloud, API, data or digital platform environments
• Knowledge of CI/CD practices, quality engineering tooling, or relevant industry certifications

You won't need to tick every box. We're interested in people who are curious, adaptable and motivated to help teams deliver great outcomes. If you've built strong foundations in quality engineering and have experience helping others grow, we'd love to hear your story.

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!

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.