Experience Designer – User Research

Company Description

Te Tākinatanga | Our Story

At Contact, we believe home is the most important place in the world. It’s all part of our vision to leave Aotearoa better than we found it. We’re a power, mobile, and broadband company, but we’re so much more than that. We are transforming the ways we mahi, and how Aotearoa is powered, leading the charge on renewable energy and digitising customer journeys in ways not yet seen here. A team of 1000+ from all walks of life who love what we do, look out for each other, and learn from one another every day, we’re stoked to be guided by our tikanga : we touch lives to make life better.

Earlier this year, we worked through some important changes with the formation of our new Technology Innovation group – bringing together our ICT and Digital teams into one unified team. This is a big step forward in how we support Contact’s future, enabling us to better deliver for our people and customers.

Now, we need to ramp up the Innovation part of that name.

Imagine being the person who helps Contact see what’s possible – who turns data into stories, and stories into action. Right now, we’re looking for someone who’s ready to lead the way in research and insights, unlocking the potential for genuine innovation across our digital products and services.

Job Description

Kōrero mō te tūranga | About the role

We’re on a journey to create world-class digital experiences that put people first. As part of a newly formed Chapter (Experience & Business Adoption), you’ll be at the heart of designing products, services, and processes that make a real difference for our organisation and customers. Your research will be the spark that helps us move from operating in the dark to making decisions with confidence and clarity. You’ll be the one who brings together data, people, and ideas – helping us see not just where we are, but where we could go next.

What you’ll be doing

Your days will be filled with curiosity and connection. You’ll dive into research, using established methods to uncover deep insights into user behaviours, needs, and pain points across digital and non-digital touchpoints. You’ll plan and facilitate workshops, interviews, and contextual inquiries with everyone from business SMEs to engineers and Contact Centre teams. Synthesising and analysing data, you’ll help shape experience recommendations and create design artefacts like journey maps, personas, and service blueprints.

You’ll work closely with Product Owners, Business Analysts, Designers, and Business Adoption Specialists, sharing user insights and helping guide product direction. You’ll design and iterate on concepts, process flows, mock-ups, and wireframes, always keeping the user’s needs and business goals in mind. And you’ll document user needs as requirements and user stories to support delivery teams, ensuring every experience aligns with Contact’s brand story and voice.

What makes this opportunity exciting

This isn’t just another research role. You’ll be pivotal in enabling innovation – helping us move from project-by-project thinking to a proactive, insight-driven approach. You’ll look beyond Contact, exploring broader market trends and how we stack up against competitors and industry-adjacent organisations. You’ll be part of a team that’s just been through a big change, now fully Agile and ready for cross-functional collaboration. Here, you’ll have true opportunity to shine.

Who you’ll be working with

You’ll report to our Chapter Lead — Experience & Business Adoption, an awesome wahine whose leadership style is all about support, advocacy, and helping you do your best work. She’s big on resilience and creating a sustainable environment for the team, even through tough times. The Chapter is newly formed, with a strong focus on knowledge-sharing, collaboration, and nurturing human experiences. If you’re open-minded, keen to try new things, and love sharing and learning, you’ll fit right in.

Ko wai koe | About you

What you’ll bring

Must-haves :

• Research experience – comfortable with both qualitative and quantitative methods
• Ability to communicate research in a compelling, storytelling way
• Curiosity, empathy, and strong attention to detail
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively
• Relationship-building and clear communication skills
• Experience working in cross-functional teams, even if not in a fully Agile set up
• Familiarity with workplace collaboration tools (e.g Miro, Jira, Confluence, MS Teams)
• Familiarity with design tools (e.g Figma, Miro, Adobe Design Suite)
• Exposure to journey mapping, service blueprints, and documenting user flows

Nice-to-haves :

Character traits :

Qualifications : No specific qualifications required – your experience, attitude, and research & insights expertise matter most.

Additional Information

We support our people to work how, where and when works the best. We have offices in Auckland, Wellington and Tauranga, but this role can be fully remote and we’re open to applications from all over Aotearoa.

Contact is not a place you’ll stagnate. We are growing and offer superb learning and development opportunities along with a bunch of other perks like free health insurance cover, 4% KiwiSaver, access to Contact Shares, a ‘Good to be Home’ annual payment toward your home set up & wellbeing, a trail-blazing parental leave policy, discounts on Contact Energy products, and more.

If you’re ready to lead research and insights that will shape the future of innovation at Contact, apply now. This ad will close automatically on Friday 31 October but we’re considering applications as they come in so hop to it if you’re keen.

Here at Contact Energy (Te Mata Hiko), we know our strength lies in developing a sense of belonging – one that helps us attract and retain people with a broad range of perspectives and experiences.

We’re committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered to bring their whole selves to work. Our goal is to reflect the diversity of our customers and communities to help build a better Aotearoa New Zealand.

We have a rich community of talented people that we support to thrive at Contact.

Our inclusive hiring process is designed to embrace the diversity of Aotearoa New Zealand, ensuring a wide range of perspectives are included in our decision-making and helping reduce bias along the way.

The wellbeing of our kaimahi is super important to us.

We use employee insights to offer a range of initiatives and resources to support physical, mental, financial and emotional wellbeing — including flexible working arrangements, employee network groups and a market-leading parental leave policy.

At Te Mata Hiko, we want everyone to thrive. We welcome applicants far and wide – of every age, stage, background, and pride. Join us and be part of a team that values your passion and attitude just as much as your experience and skills.

Please note, only candidates with the right to live and work in New Zealand will be considered for this role.

Research shows that while men apply to jobs where they meet 60% of the criteria, women and those in underrepresented groups tend to only apply if they tick every box. We’re not about box ticking, so if you think you have what it takes but don’t meet everything stated above, please still get in touch. We’d love to kōrero.

Te Mata Hiko (Contact Energy) does not accept any CVs received from recruitment agencies where a formal engagement has not been confirmed and agreed to with our Talent team. In the event that unsolicited CVs are submitted by recruitment agencies, Te Mata Hiko (Contact Energy) reserves the right to contact these candidates directly and consider them for current / future vacancies without any financial obligation to the recruitment agency in question. This will also apply to any CVs sent directly to line managers.

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