Senior Mechanical Engineer - Hydro

Te āhua o te tūranga | The nature of the role

As a Senior Engineer – Mechanical, you’ll play a key role in supporting the safe, reliable, and economic operation of our hydro generation assets. This is a hands‑on, influential engineering role where your technical judgement helps shape decisions across asset management, maintenance strategies, and project delivery. You’ll be a trusted voice within the Hydro Engineering team, working closely with asset, operations, and project teams to keep plant performance at its best.

Your days will see you balancing big picture thinking with practical problem‑solving. From coordinating Opex and Capex projects, to investigating plant issues and guiding long‑term asset management plans, your work will directly impact how our assets perform over their lifecycle. You’ll bring clarity to complex issues, contribute to robust engineering decisions, and help the wider business understand what good looks like when it comes to mechanical engineering in a power generation environment.

Ko wai koe | About you

You’re an experienced mechanical engineer who enjoys working with complex, long‑lived assets and understands the responsibility that comes with asset safety and reliability. You bring sound engineering judgement, strong analytical skills, and a collaborative mindset, and you’re comfortable explaining technical concepts to a wide range of stakeholders. Most importantly, you care about doing things well and supporting others to succeed.

We’re ideally looking for someone who brings a relevant engineering qualification and strong experience in heavy industrial or power generation environments, along with a solid understanding of mechanical systems, rotating equipment, condition monitoring, and asset lifecycle management. Experience coordinating projects, contributing to asset management strategies, and supporting investigations is essential. Professional registration, membership of an engineering institution, and experience with financial modelling or commercial drivers are valuable additions, but not barriers to applying.

We know no one ticks every box. If you bring most of what we’ve described, along with curiosity, integrity, and a willingness to learn, we’d love to hear from you. You’ll thrive here if you enjoy working collaboratively, take ownership of your work, and are motivated to continuously grow your skills while supporting Contact’s values and tikanga.

There are a bunch of perks to being a permanent Contact kaimahi. Along with great leadership, teammates, development, and growth and progression opportunities, free health insurance cover, better-than-your-average leave, access to Contact Shares, a ‘Good to be Home’ annual payment toward your home set up & wellbeing, a trail-blazing parental leave policy, bi-annual payments towards Contact Energy products, and more!

Applications close 5pm Friday the 1st of May