Performance and Contracts Manager - 8 month fixed term

• Commercially focused, centralised role supporting critical infrastructure
• Exposure to regional, high value, long-term supplier contracts
• Opportunity to influence value, performance, and continuous improvement

Transpower plans, builds, operates, and maintains New Zealand’s National Grid, the high-voltage transmission network that connects generation to the places where electricity is used across Aotearoa. Our purpose is to empower the energy future for New Zealand, supporting a reliable, secure, and increasingly renewable electricity system. The work we do is nationally significant, complex, and essential to everyday life, the economy, and the transition to a lower-carbon future.

About The Team

Our Grid Delivery division is accountable for the delivery of all work across the national electricity transmission network, including project and maintenance activities delivered with our service provider organisations. Transpower delivers approximately $400M capex and $130M opex per annum.

The Service Performance and Contracts team works centrally to support Grid Delivery by lifting commercial focus and performance through insights, KPIs, collaboration, and influence. The team also plays a key role in driving business improvement initiatives across Grid Delivery to optimise value from our commercial arrangements.

The opportunity

This 8-month fixed term role is an opportunity to contribute as a national Performance and Contracts Manager role at an important point in our regional service provider contract cycle. You’ll support the management of long-term, high-value grid services contracts within agreed frameworks, helping maximise value across the contract lifecycle and strengthen commercial performance from key service provider arrangements.

Working within the Service Performance and Contracts team, you’ll contribute to performance monitoring, KPI insight, contract governance, variations and service changes, claims and issue resolution, and practical commercial conversations with internal teams and external service providers. You’ll help create visibility of contract performance and value, support sound decision-making, and contribute to continuous improvement across a complex, asset-intensive delivery environment.

You won’t have direct reports, but you will use your influencing, relationship building, and communication skills to work closely with:

• Regional Delivery Teams
• Regional Service Managers
• Service Delivery & Performance Managers
• Project Managers responsible for capital and maintenance delivery

You’ll also partner with Procurement to ensure contract management aligns with procurement strategies and best practice and engage with senior leaders across Grid Delivery. Externally, you’ll work with service providers to support performance conversations and commercial outcomes.

This role is well suited to someone who enjoys working through complexity, building trusted internal and external relationships, and using commercial judgement, evidence, and influence to support better supplier performance, contract compliance, and value outcomes.

What You’ll Be Involved In

Working as part of the team, you’ll contribute to:

• Supporting the management of grid services contracts within agreed frameworks, including exposure to in-term repricing processes
• Contributing to improved commercial effectiveness, including variations, service changes, claims, issue resolution, and performance monitoring
• Supporting supplier performance and value conversations through clear insights, KPIs, reporting, and performance feedback
• Building and maintaining productive service provider relationships, while working with Procurement to align contract management with procurement strategies and best practice
• Working across functions to lift commercial awareness and support project managers and service delivery managers on contract and performance-related matters
• Contributing to governance, risk mitigation, continuous improvement, and reporting that supports better commercial decision-making

What You’ll Bring

You’ll bring commercial judgement, sound analytical thinking, and the confidence to work with a range of stakeholders to support contract and supplier performance outcomes in a complex operational environment. You’ll be comfortable influencing without direct authority, using evidence to frame issues, and helping others make well-considered commercial decisions.

You’re likely to have:

• Strong influencing and relationship skills, with the ability to build trust and work effectively across internal teams and external service providers
• A developing foundation in commercial management, supplier performance, contract management, procurement, project delivery, or a related operational environment
• The ability to analyse and interpret complex problems, processes, performance information, or KPIs and identify practical improvement opportunities
• An appreciation of good process, governance, contract compliance, and risk management, balanced with pragmatism and collaboration
• Commercial curiosity and confidence engaging in conversations about value, performance, issues, claims, variations, and continuous improvement

What Will Help You Succeed

You may come from a commercial, procurement, contract management, supplier performance, infrastructure, utilities, project delivery, construction, maintenance, or operational environment. We’re open to transferable experience, but you’ll bring a strong interest in how commercially contracted suppliers are managed, how value is improved over time, and how good relationships, process, governance, and evidence-based decision-making support better outcomes. Experience or exposure in some of the following would be beneficial:

• A degree or relevant study in Finance, Business, Commercial Law, Engineering, Supply Chain, Procurement, Project Management, or similar, or equivalent experience
• Practical exposure to contract, supplier, procurement, commercial, project, or service performance management
• Experience working with service providers, contractors, suppliers, projects, infrastructure, utilities, maintenance, construction, or operational delivery teams
• Strong stakeholder engagement and relationship-building skills across operational, commercial, supplier, or project environments
• Experience analysing problems, processes, performance information, or reporting and identifying improvement opportunities
• Exposure to governance, reporting, business planning, budgeting, risk, claims, variations, or continuous improvement would be useful

Why this fixed term role?

This is a great opportunity to:

• Deepen your commercial and contract management capability in a nationally significant infrastructure environment
• Gain exposure to senior stakeholders, service provider relationships, and complex long-term grid services contracts
• Broaden your understanding of how value is driven across a complex asset-intensive environment
• Develop highly transferable skills across commercial management, supplier performance, governance, reporting, and stakeholder influence
• Contribute to work that supports the safe, reliable, and efficient delivery of New Zealand’s national grid

Next steps

If you’re ready to bring your commercial curiosity, relationship skills, and supplier performance focus to work that supports Aotearoa New Zealand’s national grid, we’d love to hear from you.

Please review the position description available via our careers site and apply without delay.

Applications close: Thursday 16th July. Applications will be reviewed as they are received, and exploratory conversations may begin before the close date.

To be considered for this role, your application must include a cover letter and CV. Please note that existing eligibility to work in New Zealand is required.