Roles for everyone

Our ambition is to build a better future for Aotearoa.

It takes the passion and the efforts of ten thousand people across the country to bring it to life. They are people like you, and they make change happen every day in our local communities. We offer a wide range of opportunities for development and growth – facilitating something different for everyone. We recognise that no one size fits all, and for you to thrive, we provide a multitude of support and pathways to suit.

Transport

Downer keeps New Zealand moving by delivering transport solutions. Whether it’s road maintenance, asset management, digital engineering, or a large infrastructure project, we have experts on the ground all over the country.

Driven by excellence delivery and innovation, we support customers through the full life of their transport assets in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.

Help us deliver value across the entire road services value chain including the 25,000 kms of roads we maintain and through the 30 road corridor maintenance contracts we manage.

Roles available include:

Driver Operators
Construction Managers (NOC)
Traffic Management – all roles including STMS
Surfacing Managers
Chip Seal Supervisors
Certified Drainlayers
Landfill Operators
Digital Engineers
Data Analysts
Operations Managers
Contract Managers
Project Managers

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Utilities

Downer offers a full variety of services and solutions for the utilities sector, ranging from energy and telecommunications to water.

As a leading utilities provider in New Zealand, we are a partner of choice for cities, rural communities and industries, providing exceptional delivery throughout the whole asset lifecycle.

We’d love you to join us and help us supply safe water to 500,000 households and keep New Zealand connected.

Roles available include:

Electrical Engineers
Mechanical Engineers
Technicians
Estimators
Water & Wastewater Treatment Operators
Civil Project Engineers
Contract Managers
Project Managers

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Facilities

The Facilities business combines the strength of Downer, Hawkins and Spotless to provide whole of life solutions for customers across Aotearoa. We design, build, maintain and operate social infrastructure, and offer industry leading future focused solutions.

We are delivering projects across multiple industries including health, education, information technology and aviation for 75 years with Hawkins. Our integrated facility management services are provided by Spotless, AE Smith, Alliance or Epicure.

We focus on knowledge sharing and using digital technologies to improve information flow and service performance. Passionate, collaborative, and thinking out of the box? Become a part of our team and you’ll find everything you need to succeed and make a
difference.

Roles available include:

HVAC Technicians
Contract Managers
Electricians
Project Managers
Foreperson
Senior Project Managers
Quantity Surveyor
Project Director
Site Managers
Plumbers
Cleaners
Site Engineers
Catering Assistants
Procurement Category Manager
Head Chefs
HSE Advisor
Building Quality & Compliance Auditor

EXPLORE OPPORTUNITIES HAWKINS SPOTLESS

National Support Centre

Our National Support Centre team is responsible for providing specialist expertise and support to our customers and staff across the country.

We focus on creating outstanding experiences and bringing efficient solutions while enabling the growth of the business. Areas of expertise include Finance, Human
Resources, IT, Marketing & Communications, and Legal.

Roles available include:

Recruiters
HR Specialists
Payroll Specialists
Finance Specialists
Accounting Specialists
IT

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We love individuality

We take pride in embracing individuality and what makes our people and business unique – we are proud of our differences and own it. We have a team of over 10,000 people throughout New Zealand who are all different and they are our greatest strengths.

We work in diverse communities across the country, acknowledge the special place that Māori hold as Tangata Whenua in Aotearoa New Zealand, and we are building a workforce that is reflective of our local communities and of our values as a socially responsible organisation.

Stories that build experience

Henry Cheung

Career History

Asphalt Roller Driver at Higgins (2 years)
Traffic Engineer at Opus (5 years)
Traffic Design Team Coordinator at Hyder Consulting in Qatar
(1 yr)
Contract Engineer, at Downer NZ (5 years)
Zero Harm Project Coordinator at Downer Aust (1 year)
Contract Engineer, at Downer Aust (2 years)
Contract Manager at Downer Aust and NZ (6 years)

Hobbies?
Hanging around and going to the zoo with the kids

No one knows…?
I failed a number of papers during University (I had to do 2 extra years to finish off my university degree). This drove me to work full time as a Roller Driver while finishing the last 2 years of my degree

Who’s your role model?
Richie McCaw – a “follow me” type of a leader.

What motivates you?
People (working with people and seeing them grow to the best of their ability)

Words of advice?
Use every failure as an opportunity to learn and grow.

Mark Taylor

Career History

Baker 4 years (Aust) 4 & 20
Interstate long haul driver 2 years (Aust) Show Freight Charter skipper 3 years Sun sail NZ Boat charters Started with Downer 1996 – Current
Jet Patcher Driver operator Downer
Truck and Trailer Driver Downer
Digger, Roller ,Grader, Operator Downer
Foreman Construction Downer
Maintenance Supervisor Downer
Operations Manager Current role Downer

Hobbies?
Spending as much time with my family as I can especially my grand daughter

No one knows…?
I’m a qualified Baker by trade

Who’s your role model?
I’ve been lucky to have had multiple role models in my life it would be unfair to place one above another

What motivates you?
Making a change

Words of advice?
Don’t make decisions when you’re angry

Ragnar Talia

Career History

Stop/Go Operator 1.5 years - Auckland Asphalt / Technic Chip runner 5 years - Technic / HEB
Spreader and Bitumen Sprayer
Operator Chipseal 3 years – HEB
Obtained 6 wheeler, truck and trailer and dangerous goods licenses
Asphalt Labourer – learnt the technical and operational side of paving asphalt
6 months - HEB
Asphalt Foreman 8 years – HEB
Asphalt Supervisor 3 years – Tebo
Asphalt Foreman and Supervisor 3 years / current – Downer

Hobbies?
Riding motorbikes

No one knows…?
In Downer that I know how to operate the emulsion sprayer

Who’s your role model?
My dad. He worked for Downer, as a Chip Seal Supervisor

What motivates you
Being able to buy our own home, we’re in the process of doing that now

Words of advice?
Challenge yourself to be who you want YOU to be at the end of the day, not what everyone else wants you to be

Rupert Bronkhorst

Career History

Entertainment Chaperone South Africa (10 years)
Real Estate and Meat Processing Business owner (5 years) Manager – Organic Meats Shop (1 years)
General Worker – State Highway Contract Downer (2 years) General Worker – Road Construction & Maintenance - Downer (2 years 4 months)
Foreperson – Downer (1 year 9 months)
Supervisor – Downer (1 year 1 month)
Contract Engineer – Downer (2 years – Current)

Hobbies
Composing songs, Reading Dan Brown novels, Motocross

No one knows…
I was once able to run the 100m sprint in 11 seconds, now 11 minutes.

Who’s your role model
My father & Elon Musk

What motivates you
Seeing my children happy & healthy

Words of advice
Don’t make decisions when you’re angry

Women succeed at Downer

At Downer, we believe individuality makes us stronger, so we want you to bring what you love best to the job every day. With programmes to support, mentor and develop our female workforce, Downer is a great place to build your future.

Kumeroa (‘Cooms’)

White Water Site Engineer, Utilities

An under-30 representative of Nga Kaitiaki o te Ara Whanake and an alumnae of Te Ara Whanake, goal-driven Kumeroa White (‘Cooms’) describes the immense satisfaction gained from her role, making a difference to the local communities she works with in the water space in the Bay of Plenty.

As a young woman, with only four years’ experience in infrastructure, Cooms says, “I don’t feel I am treated differently because I’m female. The perspective wahine bring on site adds an alternate viewpoint to the project team – not better, just different. Women can be more empathetic and willing to listen or collaborate within a team.”

Cooms believes the support she received from leaders has directly contributed to her career progression to a supervisor role: “Positive mentoring and coaching helped me navigate some challenging times. My managers’ have highlighted strengths in me that I had not recognised in myself. Downer helps people find their niche. It’s such a diverse sector – you can find your area to shine.”

Brandy Smith

Stakeholder and Communications Manager, Transport

Joining Downer 13-years ago, communication and engagement professional, Brandy Smith believes the sector’s landscape is moving in a positive direction for women, to become more inclusive in general. “I can pinpoint positive tangible changes I’ve seen as a female manager over the decade since I joined,” Brandy comments.

In her role leading communication strategies for some of Downer’s complex and high-profile projects such as Auckland’s Downtown project, Brandy says, in her experience, project teams are still fairly ‘male-dominated’. “But there’s definitely more women out on site, than when I started, which is great to see them in other role in the past usually held by men.”

“For the Downtown project, I was on the senior leadership team. This was a game changer as I had a voice and was empowered, which meant the ‘compassionate settings’ we aspire to for stakeholder engagement became key performance indicators on the project.” Brandy believes Downer is on track towards achieving better balance around equality. “It’ll take some time to happen, however what I’ve observed is that the avenues and support are there for women to move into senior roles, if that’s their chosen path.”

Roimata Maihi

Hawkins Foreperson, Facilities

As a site supervisor with Hawkins, and twenty years with the company Roimata says she’s passionate about encouraging and inspiring others like her into the sector. “We’re starting to balance the scales I think, and that come from education at the top senior level, so we see greater diversity in project teams, not just adding women in as a last resort. There’s now, for sure, more women joining us as apprentices, quantity surveyors and in the BIM-technology areas... but not enough!”

Returning to work eight months after having her son, Roimata says with the support of Hawkins she was not disadvantaged when she returned to work as a single parent, “I was encouraged to pursue opportunities, and over the years I’ve valued strong support for working women from the company. When Hawkins joined the Downer family, I have received amazing professional development opportunities and support. So now I want to manaaki (give back) to pass on what I have learnt.”

When my son turned 14, I took on my role as supervisor, and was able to have work life balance knowing my son was at an age of independence and I was able to commit more to a managerial role.

As a wahine leader of Ako Whakaruruhau, Hawkins Māori and Pasifika trades training and mentoring programme, Roimata currently mentors other wahine across Hawkins sub-contracting whanau.

Downer’s aspiration to support its people to bring their authentic selves to work, is gaining momentum, as this sector leader celebrates difference at all levels. With positive inclusion initiatives breathing life into this organisation, Downer is on track to create an environment where people can own their own purpose, creativity and uniqueness.

We've got the work, bring your difference

If you're passionate about pushing the boundaries, trying something and challenging the norms, take the next step in your career journey with Downer.

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