Company Description

Meridian is the largest producer of renewable electricity in Aotearoa and we strive to deliver clean energy for a fairer and healthier world. We only generate electricity from 100% renewable resources – wind, water and sun, because we believe that’s the best way forward for our planet and our communities. And, we’re doing what we can to help Aotearoa reduce their carbon emissions and supporting others in our communities to do the same.

Together, our two brands, Meridian and Powershop retail electricity to more than 380,000 homes, businesses and farms across New Zealand. Now that’s a pretty impressive combo!

Mō te tūranga | What you’ll be doing

It’s an exciting time to join our Retail team which has undergone a significant change to adopt new modern ways of working. Committed to making energy cleaner and cheaper for Aotearoa New Zealand, our Retail structure is made up of a network of empowered teams, united by a shared purpose and clear goals, equipped with the skills and capabilities to deliver value to customers end to end.

In a newly formed team, reporting to the Experience Engineering Practice Lead, the Principal Software Engineer is a key leader within the practice, playing a pivotal role in shaping and executing software engineering across retail to align with business goals. You will drive the design, delivery, and management of the retail experience engineering platform, pipelines, and products, working within squads or as an enabler. Your responsibilities include designing and building robust backend services using Node.js and infrastructure with Terraform, or leading modern, responsive frontend and mobile experiences using React and React Native. You’ll help define best practices and drive continuous improvement across the engineering organisation.

In this role, you will champion engineering excellence, code quality, performance, and security across the stack, and contribute to DevOps practices, CI/CD pipelines, and cloud infrastructure (AWS, Azure). You’ll also guide and mentor other engineers, helping to level up the entire team whilst fostering a culture of innovation, strategic thinking and continuous improvement. Collaboration with retail cross-functional teams and enterprise ICT will be essential to your success in this role.

Ngā pukenga kei a koe mō tenei tūranga | What you’ll bring

We are seeking a software engineer who has proven experience collaborating with business and product teams to achieve shared outcomes, including design, build, enablement, and transition. As a strong full stack engineer, you will have a clear specialty: either deep backend experience with NodeJS or equivalent, platform/DevOps experience with Terraform or equivalent, and cloud infrastructure experience (Azure/AWS), or advanced frontend/mobile expertise with React, React Native, and modern UI patterns. You’ll also have working knowledge or production-level experience in the opposite stack (e.g., a backend-focused engineer who can comfortably contribute to React apps or vice versa), as well as excellent problem-solving skills and a proactive attitude.

The ideal candidate is someone who possesses a demonstrated ability to lead and mentor other engineers, improving practice and ensuring they remain value focused. You will assist with the technical upskilling and coaching of the rest of the team and act as a change agent, being able to explain the reasons for changes in positive ways. You also have a good understanding of how to deal with different personalities and possess strong communication skills, especially when working with other engineers. You’ll be a proactive leader with the ability to drive initiatives and navigate ambiguity effectively.

He aha koe i hono mai ai ki a mātou? | Why join us?  

At Meridian, we value all people. We embrace different ways of thinking, living and working, because we believe diversity benefits us all. It makes our capabilities even stronger. We encourage all our people to feel comfortable bringing their whole selves to work and we’re proud to have a diverse and inclusive workplace. So, no matter who you are, you’ll find it a great place to work.

We value and live by three ‘How to Be’s’: ‘be gutsy’, working together by ‘being in the waka’ and doing the right thing by ‘being a good human’. We work hard and value the importance of connection and fun, whether this be through daily quizzes, morning teas, birthday and cultural celebrations both in person and virtually!

Sustainability sits firmly in our DNA both socially and environmentally. We proudly support KidsCan and the Kākāpō Recovery and work side-by-side with our generation communities to empower and support projects where needed. There are many opportunities to volunteer to any of our partnerships throughout the year.

Ngā painga ki a mātou | What we can offer   

We Value Work/life Balance So Our WFH And Flexible Work Options (where Possible) Make Things Easier For You And Your Whānau. We Also Offer

• an attractive and competitive salary package that’s reviewed annually, performance-incentive plus discounts from a number of partnerships
• Southern Cross Healthcare - Wellbeing one insurance, funded scheme for eligible employees to give you that extra peace of mind
• enhanced leave provisions: three company paid days (over the holiday period), enhanced parental leave and options to buy up to 12 days additional leave
• life, trauma and income protection insurance (which we hope you won’t need!)
• enhanced KiwiSaver contributions
• access to the Meridian employee share scheme
• excellent learning and development opportunities, we want you to be the best version of yourself and will help you get there!
• award winning wellbeing programme that provides support whenever and wherever you need it
• employee discounts off your power with Meridian, every bit counts
• a one-off $400 payment to support your work from home set-up (if needed)
  
  

Tono mai ināianei tonu | Apply now

All in all, we’re an awesome place to work. If this sounds like you and you want to bring your energy and use your power to make a difference (pun intended), then apply today and tell us why!

To view the full Position Description please click here. If applying through Seek, please email [email protected] for the full position description. We’re not necessarily looking for someone who ticks all the boxes (an elusive unicorn). Research shows that women are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet 100% of the qualifications, whereas men apply when they meet only about 60%. If you think you have what it takes but don't meet every requirement in the job description, we strongly encourage you to apply!

If you have any general enquiries, please email [email protected] and one of our team will get back to you. We're committed to becoming more accessible and providing support if needed, please get in touch via email or phone if there are any parts of our process you would like assistance with (process found here meridianenergy.co.nz/careers), we’re more than happy to help.

This role is located in Wellington (preferred) or Christchurch.

Advertising closes at 11:59pm on 13 May 2025 (please note this is subject to change)