Dispatch Trader Job in Clyde Recruiting by Contact

Te Tākinatanga | Our Story    

At Contact, we believe home is the most important place in the world. It's all part of our vision to achieve our goal of net zero energy generation emissions by 2035 and leave Aotearoa better than we found it. We’re a power, broadband and mobile company, but we’re so much more than that. We are transforming the ways we mahi, and how Aotearoa is powered, leading the charge on renewable energy and digitising customer journeys in ways not yet seen here.  

If you live locally, you probably know of Contact already. We own and operate Clyde and Roxburgh dams. More than half a million Kiwis count on Contact Energy to keep the lights on and the hot water running. It’s an important job that our Hydro team is key to. 

Te Whiwhinga mahi | The opportunity  

Based at our Clyde Hydro station, Dispatch Traders essentially have two jobs in one: Operator and Spot Trader.  

Operator (Dispatch) 

As Operator, you are in the control room, using the control system, managing the  Hydro Assets on the Clutha River. Focus is on the hydrology within the catchment, ensuring the most effective use of our limited water resources in line with environmental and legislative requirements.  

Spot Trader 

As Spot Trader, you are focused on our short-term portfolio modelling and manage of all Contact’s intra-day trading decisions. This includes offering our generating assets into the New Zealand Electricity Market (NZEM), purchasing from the NZEM to supply our customers and managing a range of ancillary services.  

This job is a truly rare and unique opportunity where you’ll get to work at one of NZ’s most iconic infrastructure locations and your mahi will have a direct link to our company’s strategy.  

Based in Clyde, our friendly, motivated team of nine report to our awesome Dispatch Manager, Trevor Lawrence. The team are a high performing, close knit bunch operating in a dynamic, fast paced environment where no two days are the same.  

Ko wai koe - About you

The Dispatch team want their next team mate to be team player, someone who has a great attitude, takes pride in their work and values their contribution. You can be relied upon 100%, and when things don’t go according to plan, you’re able to understand the situation, deal with the complexities and figure out a way forward. You thrive under pressure, and when a sense of urgency arises, your quality of work is never compromised.  

You pride yourself on your communication skills and your ability to decipher complex, ambiguous information. You deliver it in an easy to understand format that non-technical folk can appreciate. 

You will be a curious individual, always researching and analysing better ways to do things. Your business minded, enjoy crunching numbers and most likely have an interest in the financial markets. Your clever thinking will help our team identify opportunities to create value in the ever-changing landscape of the New Zealand Electricity Markets (NZEM). 

Electricity generation never sleeps, our Hydro assets operate 24/7 so this role does require some shift work on a rotational roster basis. This isn’t your typical roster though – it’s unique and offers a lot of flexibility with regular days off, and dedicated time for learning and development. Training on the job will be provided, but you need to be prepared to work hard and motivated to get up to speed quickly so you can work on the trading desk (where all the magic happens). 

We’re open minded about the experience you bring. The team at Clyde all have different backgrounds and experience, that’s what we consider our secret recipe and makes us hum. You might be an engineer, an account manager, hydrologist or even in the Navy. Having the right attitude, hunger to learn and team fit, is top of mind for us.  

There are a bunch of perks to being a permanent Contact kaimahi (employee). Along with great leadership, teammates, development, and growth and progression opportunities, you’ll enjoy flexible working, 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  , discounts on Contact Energy products, and more! 

We’re keen to welcome a new Dispatch Trader. We welcome and encourage women, Tangata whenua and people from diverse backgrounds to apply. If this exciting, rewarding position sounds like a bit of you,  apply now! You could very well be our next Dispatch Trader. Applications close at 5pm on Monday, 6 May. We’ll be screening applications as they come in so hop to it. 

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.