About the Role:

We are seeking an experienced and motivated Health, safety, quality and environmental (HSQE) Business Partner to join our Health & Safety team on a 6–8-month fixed term contract. In this role, you will partner closely with leaders and frontline teams to build capability, strengthen critical risk controls, and support safe performance in complex, high‑energy operational environments. Acting as the primary HSQE point of contact for assigned business units, you will provide expert guidance, coaching, and challenge to help teams anticipate risk, as work gets done, and continually improve how health, safety, quality, and environmental outcomes are achieved.
This is a highly collaborative role requiring strong situational awareness and influence. You will work alongside operational leaders, H&S representatives, contractors, and staff to identify energy-based risks, verify the effectiveness of controls, and ensure learning is converted into sustained improvement, not just documented actions.

About the Northpower HSE Team:

At Northpower, safety is not just a priority  it is a core value and is understood as the presence of effective controls and the capacity to manage risk when work doesn’t go to plan. Our dedicated HSQE team play a pivotal role in supporting operational delivery across diverse, high‑risk environments.
Our approach is grounded in contemporary safety thinking. We focus on understanding how work is performed, identifying sources of high energy and strengthening the controls that matter most. We actively learn from everyday work, near misses, and events to design systems that support people to succeed, build resilience, and prevent serious harm.

Key Responsibilities:

-Partner with operational leaders to embed ownership of health and safety outcomes

-Champion a proactive, learning‑focused safety culture with strong emphasis on high‑energy risk control

-Coach leaders and teams to recognised risk, and adapt safely to changing conditions

-Maintain a strong field presence to understand work as done and influence practical improvements

-Facilitate meaningful learning conversations that strengthen control effectiveness and safe performance

-Verify critical risk controls through targeted site engagement and risk‑based assurance

-Support H&S representatives and contribute to operational and client safety forums

About You:

You are a confident and credible HSQE professional who understands how safety is created in complex operational systems. You balance technical expertise with strong relational skills and are comfortable constructively challenging decisions where critical risk controls may be compromised.
You are curious, pragmatic, and outcomes-focused, with the ability to read the room, understand operational pressures, and tailor your approach accordingly. You believe that strong safety performance comes from capable people, effective controls, and continual learning, not rules alone.

Experience: 

-3+ years’ proven HSQE operational experience, ideally within a contracting environment

-Comfortable influencing leaders as a trusted advisor, not an enforcer

-Skilled at learning from work, incidents, and near misses and turning insight into improvement

-Strong communicator with credibility across operational and leadership teams

-Experience in electrical distribution and a strong critical risk lens (highly valued)

-Capable facilitator with strong training and presentation skills

-Confident using Microsoft Office to support reporting and administration

-Pragmatic, professional, and resilient, with the drive to see improvements embedded through to outcome

What Northpower Offers You:

Make real impact across Aotearoa in a stable and future‑focused sector. At Northpower, you’ll do work that matters and powers our communities while growing your career in an organisation that genuinely cares for its people.

You’ll benefit from:

You’ll benefit from:

-A people‑first culture built on safety, inclusion, and deep care, where contributions are recognised and wellbeing is supported through EAP and our award‑winning peer support network (Kaitiaki)

-Fair and market competitive pay with a Tool of Trade vehicle.

-Ongoing learning and development, with clear career pathways to help you grow, specialise, or progress

-A welcoming, family‑friendly workplace where people are encouraged to be themselves and feel valued

About Us: 

Northpower is an electricity and fibre network provider for Whangārei and Kaipara, with more than 60,000 connected customers. 
We are one of the largest multi-utility contractors in New Zealand, servicing the needs of clients in transmission, distribution, generation, fibre, renewables, and commercial sectors. We have a reputation for excellence and innovation, providing commercially viable solutions for electrical and telecommunication design, construction, and maintenance requirements. 

Apply Now: 

This is an opportunity to make a real impact by shaping safety culture and HSQE performance across the organisation. You’ll work alongside passionate professionals in a supportive environment where your expertise, initiative, and leadership will be valued. Apply via #REQ1982 New Zealand work rights are required for the role. Pré-employment checks will include a criminal history check, drug and alcohol testing, and a medical assessment.