Community Engagement Advisor

Community Engagement Advisor (West) 

📍 New Plymouth, Palmerston North or Whanganui (Ideally New Plymouth based but Palmerston North or Whanganui works too!)

🕐 Permanent - Full-time

About us

Our purpose is to connect communities. It’s at the heart of everything we do as we serve our customers now and into the future. At Powerco, we’re passionate about doing mahi that keeps over 1.1 million customers connected and enables energy choices as we support Aotearoa on the journey to a low-carbon future. 

Ngā Tikanga - Our Way, is what guides us to achieve our purpose and ensures we’re better together, work smarter, proud to be here, and future focused in how we work together with each other, our communities, and industry stakeholders.

About the role

As a Community Engagement Advisor, you’ll play a vital role in delivering Powerco’s Community Engagement Strategy not just by building strong connections with community stakeholders, but by ensuring community voices are heard and reflected in the way we plan, work, and make decisions.

You’ll lead and support initiatives that gather valuable insights, foster trust, and contribute to community resilience and the transition to a low-carbon future. By working closely with internal teams and project leads, you’ll help embed engagement into the heart of how Powerco operates making it practical, repeatable, and meaningful.

To succeed in this exciting and rewarding role, you’ll bring outstanding communication skills, the ability to adapt to a wide range of audiences, and a strategic mindset. You’ll be confident connecting with people in diverse settings, and skilled at turning feedback into action.

If you have at least three years’ experience in community or stakeholder engagement in a corporate, government, or community setting that also includes working in partnership with tangata whenua, we’d love to hear from you.

This is a role for a connector, a listener, and a community champion - someone who sees the value in local voices shaping our energy future

Skills & Experience

To successfully carry out the role, you will have:

• ​A high level of relationship management skills across a range of audiences that adds value by recognising synergies and shared goals.
• Ability to influence organisational and community wide decision-making processes
• Confidence in building and maintaining effective relationships with tangata whenua and/or a genuine understanding of tikanga and te ao Māori and willingness to work within the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi
• Strategic mindset with a particular focus on analysis of engagement methods, messaging and impacts
• A natural networker who can listen and turn ideas into actions
• Capable of simplifying complexity and communicating in a clear and understandable way
• Ability to communicate with influence both internally and externally
• Demonstrated experience developing and delivering creative, fit-for-purpose engagement plans

Our investment in you:

• Working with an amazing, supportive, and fun team - even if we do say so ourselves…
• Loads of flexibility – we believe in a mix between home and office (our offices are so nice you might prefer them though!) and are open to flexible working hours
• All the usual stuff, but way better – 4% Kiwi Saver, ability to buy extra leave, paid volunteer days, free fruit in the office, amazing Parental Leave entitlements, free Life and Medical Insurance – I know right!?
• As much development as you can handle! Whether it’s professional development, on the job learning and leadership development – it’s all on offer.

We are less hung up on your qualifications and more interested in what experience you have, whether you’ve advanced community engagement skills or just the kind of person who can demonstrate their love of connecting with people and turning ideas into opportunities. Above all, if you are passionate about working with communities, we’d love to hear from you.

There’s nothing to lose in expressing interest – we don’t need a hefty application or cover letter, just fire us your CV indicating the experience you have and strengths you’d bring.

📅 Applications close: Sunday 20 July 2025

Our ability to get the best out of people is what sets Powerco apart. We realise that candidates – especially from underrepresented and neurodiverse backgrounds – often won’t apply for roles unless they meet ALL the criteria. We encourage anyone who shares our passion for connecting communities to apply for any role that aligns to your strengths and interests. We will provide a safe space where you can bring your whole self to work and thrive.  

If you would benefit from support or adjustments in order to participate equitably in the recruitment process, please phone 0800 769372 or email kiaora@powerco.co.nz