Portfolio Management Lead

About Contact Energy

Contact Energy is working to make life better for people across Aotearoa New Zealand. The company operates in power, mobile, and broadband, and is focused on helping reshape how energy is produced and how customer experiences are delivered. Its work is grounded in tikanga and a purpose to leave Aotearoa in better shape for future generations.

Within the Wholesale Market function, the Market Strategy & Portfolio team plays a central role in key business decisions. It brings together market signals, asset performance, fuel supply, risk, and commercial strategy to guide how Contact responds in a fast-changing energy landscape. This team helps ensure decisions are made at the right time, balancing commercial value with the responsibility of supplying homes, businesses, and communities across the country.

This is a newly created senior role with the chance to help define strong portfolio management practices and influence how Contact optimises its market position.

About the role

As Portfolio Management Lead, you will shape and steer portfolio strategy across real-time, short-term, and mid-term horizons. The role requires you to combine market intelligence, asset data, fuel considerations, and risk insight to support commercial decisions that improve portfolio outcomes.

Key responsibilities

• Create and guide portfolio strategies that deliver value while meeting risk and compliance requirements.
• Set clear decision-making frameworks so trading teams can respond effectively to market changes.
• Spot risks and opportunities early and advise on portfolio position, hedging, and operational trade-offs.
• Blend electricity, gas, fuel, asset, and operational factors into a single portfolio view.
• Work closely with generation sites, operations, analysts, and specialist teams to keep decisions aligned and practical.
• Track portfolio results, interpret the drivers behind performance, and apply learnings to improve ways of working.
• Contribute to reporting and compliance duties across the energy market.

What you will bring

You are likely to come from electricity or gas markets, portfolio management, trading, market analytics, commercial strategy, or a comparable environment. You enjoy tackling complex problems, working through uncertainty, and helping others make informed decisions.

• Hands-on experience in electricity and/or gas markets, preferably in trading, portfolio management, strategy, or a related commercial role.
• A solid grasp of energy market mechanics and the way market movements affect commercial choices.
• Strong analytical capability and comfort handling complex data, competing priorities, and scenario-based thinking.
• Sound commercial judgement, strong risk awareness, and confidence making decisions when information is incomplete or conditions shift.
• Proven ability to build trusted relationships and influence stakeholders across different functions.

Good to have

• Experience improving portfolio performance across multiple time horizons.
• Exposure to gas trading, fuel portfolio management, Financial Transmission Rights (FTRs), or similar market structures.
• Experience guiding others through coaching, prioritisation, or technical direction.
• Background in environments that are operationally complex or highly time-sensitive.

Working at Contact

Contact supports flexible working where it suits the individual, the team, and the business. The main Wholesale Market hub is in Wellington, and this role is best suited to someone who can work flexibly from that location to support strong in-person collaboration. While the company has other sites across Aotearoa, being close to Wellington is important for this position.

Contact offers a range of benefits, including free health insurance cover, boosted KiwiSaver contributions, access to Contact Shares, an annual “Good to be Home” payment for home setup and wellbeing, a progressive parental leave policy, and twice-yearly payments toward Contact products for customers.

Other information

Applications close on Monday 20 July. Early applications are encouraged.

Only candidates with the right to live and work in New Zealand will be considered.

The company values diversity, inclusion, and belonging, and encourages people from all backgrounds, ages, stages, and identities to apply. Applicants who do not meet every requirement are still encouraged to get in touch if they believe they can contribute to the role.

Recruitment agency CVs that are submitted without a formal agreement will not be accepted under Contact’s policy.

Contact notes that employee wellbeing is supported through flexible working options, employee network groups, and initiatives covering physical, mental, financial, and emotional wellbeing.

This role is part of a team that is growing and evolving, offering the chance to make a meaningful impact while building your career in a supportive environment.