Senior Talent Acquisition Business Partner

The Opportunity

We’re searching for a Senior Talent Acquisition Business Partner to take full ownership of our New Zealand Blue Collar recruitment strategy. This is an autonomous, high-impact role where you’ll lead, curate, and execute a strategy that ensures we attract and engage the very best talent in the market.

This isn’t just recruitment, it’s strategic influence. You’ll act as a trusted advisor to senior leadership and the People & Culture team, shaping workforce planning, succession strategies, and innovative sourcing approaches to meet both immediate and future needs.

What we offer

• Flexible Work Environment. Join a team spread across Auckland, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth, with flexible/hybrid work options.
• Continuous Learning. Stay at the forefront of industry trends, with opportunities for ongoing professional development and leadership training.
• Career Progression. Be part of a high-performing team with clear pathways for growth and advancement within the talent function.
• Strategic Impact. Contribute to projects that shape the future of energy, utilities, and infrastructure in New Zealand and beyond.
• Free Marram health care benefits

What You’ll Do

This role provides strategic leadership of national talent acquisition and workforce planning, ensuring Energy & Utilities New Zealand attracts, develops, and retains the critical capability required to deliver on its long-term strategy. It combines deep market insight, data-driven analysis, and strategic workforce foresight to position the business competitively in a dynamic labour market, with a particular focus on blue-collar and operational leadership pipelines across New Zealand.

Key Strategic Accountabilities:

• Define and execute a national talent and workforce strategy that strengthens organisational capability, succession depth, and workforce resilience.
• Lead advanced market and competitor analysis to inform strategic talent decisions, leveraging data to anticipate trends and future skill demands.
• Partner with executive and senior leaders to integrate workforce planning and succession frameworks into business strategy and transformation agendas.
• Provide strategic direction, coaching, and performance leadership to the Talent Acquisition NZ function, embedding analytics, innovation, and best practice.

What We’re Looking For

This role requires a seasoned talent acquisition and workforce professional with proven experience influencing senior leaders and driving enterprise-wide talent outcomes. The incumbent will demonstrate strong commercial acumen, data fluency, and the ability to navigate complexity with confidence and composure. 

Other Key Competencies & Experience Required:

• Minimum seven years’ experience in talent acquisition or workforce planning roles, partnering directly with executive and general management levels.
• Skilled in workforce analytics and data storytelling to influence strategic decision-making and shape talent strategies.
• An ability to operate effectively in complex, high-stakes environments, balancing diplomacy with assertive leadership to achieve alignment and results.
• Confident, adaptable, and committed to improving candidate experience, organisational capability, and compliance with governance and legislative standards.

About Energy & Utilities…

Downer's Energy & Utilities business unit is an integrated trans-Tasman team, providing services and solutions that connect communities to essential networks and infrastructure. We design, build, operate and maintain today's critical assets and networks, delivering complete services across the water, electricity, telecommunications, industrial and power generation sectors. Our expertise spans in-house technical smarts, specialist engineering, integrated OEM partners, and dedicated crews of qualified tradespeople.

Downer Group is an employer that acknowledges and embraces the importance of our people's diverse experiences, talents, and cultures. As an inclusive employer, we welcome applications from everyone.