Rewiring Aotearoa is a national non‑profit representing everyday New Zealanders in the energy transition. Our goal is an electrified future where every Kiwi has lower energy bills, lower emissions, and can keep their lights on and homes warm.
The Queenstown Electrification Accelerator (QEA) is a community‑led initiative. We support homes and businesses to replace fossil‑fuelled technologies with electric solutions like EVs, solar, and batteries, simultaneously cutting costs, emissions, and improving resilience. Queenstown has the opportunity to lead by example, creating a model that other destinations can follow in Aotearoa and beyond.
This role is embedded in the Queenstown team while working closely with Rewiring Aotearoa’s national team, particularly communications, combining local delivery with national expertise and support.
QEA operates in start-up mode: identifying local electrification barriers, testing solutions, and sharing learnings through strong storytelling. The programme is independently run and supported by partners including Destination Queenstown, QLDC, Central Lakes Trust, Ara Ake, and Rewiring Aotearoa.
This is a full-time, in-person role based in Queenstown or the wider Queenstown Lakes District in New Zealand. You will generally be expected to be in the Queenstown office around three days per week, with additional in‑person attendance across the district as required to support events and programmes.
The role is 40 hours per week, generally during office hours but with some evening and weekend work required.
You must already have the right to work in New Zealand (no visa sponsorship available).
This is a hands-on communications and community engagement role, focused on supporting the delivery of the QEA’s work on the ground. You’ll play a key role in helping bring our projects, events, and initiatives to life, ensuring they are visible, engaging, and accessible to the local community.
You will work closely within the QEA team, with the support from the wider Rewiring Aotearoa team to deliver communications, content, and community outreach activities. The team will set overall direction and priorities, and you’ll be responsible for executing communications, engaging directly with the community, and helping build momentum through day-to-day interactions and touchpoints. You will report to Jade, our Community Energy Lead.
Part of this role includes being out in the community, talking to people, encouraging participation, and helping translate interest into action. You’ll need to be confident, approachable, and able to think on your feet.
You’ll be part of a small, start-up-style team, so you’ll need to be adaptable, proactive, and comfortable jumping in wherever needed.
Locals clearly understand what electrification is, why it matters, and are motivated to get involved.
QEA’s work is visible, relatable, and consistently communicated.
The wider QEA team is well-supported to communicate their work to external audiences effectively.
This is a varied, delivery-focused role where you’ll support community reach, engagement and storytelling across the programme.
Community engagement: Proactively identify and connect with local communities and organisations to raise awareness of QEA’s message. This may involve a mix of in-person engagement and events, local channels, and digital platforms.
Content creation: Capture and share real stories from the community through simple, authentic content (e.g. when you see an opportunity to capture a great story, taking the initiative to ask and record photos, videos, interviews for sharing on social media).
Event organising: Support with the planning and delivery of community engagement and events.
Event hosting: Be a welcoming, inclusive, and energising presence at in-person and online events, starting conversations, answering questions, and encouraging participation.
Science communication: Translate electrification concepts and our research insights into clear, simple, and engaging content for local audiences by showcasing success stories, case studies, pilots, events, and opportunities to get involved.
Required:
Experience in communications, marketing, or a related field, plus at least one of:
Community engagement / activation
Content creation
Event or workshop delivery
Stakeholder coordination
Strong written and verbal communication skills
Confident, outgoing, and comfortable approaching and talking to new people.
Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to quickly build rapport and encourage behaviour change with people from a wide range of backgrounds (e.g. getting people interested, involved, or taking action)
Able to think on your feet and adapt in real-time, especially in community and event settings
Proactive, reliable, and happy to support wherever needed
Passion for community, climate action, electrification, or sustainability
Would be nice:
Confident public speaker or facilitator
Graphic or web design skills (e.g. Canva, Figma, Webflow)
Experience or knowledge in electrification, energy, or climate
This is a fixed-term position until December 2026 with opportunity for extension based on performance and funding.
Remuneration starts from $70k (pro-rata), depending on skills and experience.
Hybrid working environment including a co-working space 3 days a week.
Access to an Employment Assistance Programme.
Opportunity to be part of a high-impact, fast-paced, evidence-driven climate non-profit.
We operate flexibly and provide time off in lieu for evening and weekend work.
Off-sites with the wider Rewiring Aotearoa team, including team bonding and fun!
Email jade@rewiring.nz before Friday 1st May with your CV tailored to this role, and a cover letter that answers the following questions (400 words max total):
What specifically appeals to you about this role at the Queenstown Electrification Accelerator?
Share an example of a time you approached or engaged people you didn’t know and encouraged them to get involved in something. What did you do and what was the outcome?
Share an example of a time you spotted an opportunity to capture or share a story and took the initiative to do so. What did you do and what was the outcome? Feel free to include a link.
Rewiring Aotearoa represents everyday New Zealanders in the energy transition and is working to build an electrified future where every Kiwi saves money on energy bills, reduces their carbon emissions and has the resilience to keep their lights on and homes warm. Let’s make New Zealand more electric!