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As New Zealand's largest telecommunications and digital services company, Spark’s purpose is to help all of New Zealand win big in a digital world. We provide mobile, broadband, and digital services to millions of New Zealanders and thousands of New Zealand businesses. 

We operate in an exciting and constantly evolving industry, where the pace of change brings new and unique challenges every day, so we operate using Agile ways of working to allow us to meet the fast-changing needs of our customers. Agile replaces the traditional hierarchical organisational structure to produce a transparent, collaborative environment with highly productive teams who are empowered to deliver better outcomes for our customers, communities, and all of New Zealand. 

Role Description:

The Engineering Lead is responsible for overseeing the engineering function across a data centre campus, ensuring the continuous delivery of high availability and operational resilience. This role provides technical oversight of all critical infrastructure systems, including power, cooling, network, and security, and leads the development and enforcement of engineering standards, policies, and compliance frameworks aligned with industry best practices. The role ensures proactive asset management and lifecycle planning, driving risk mitigation strategies across all infrastructure components. In addition, the Engineering Leader manages maintenance activities, capacity planning, and infrastructure upgrades to meet business growth and service level commitments. A key focus is on promoting energy efficiency, sustainability, and resilience, while maintaining accurate engineering documentation, asset registers, and compliance reporting to support ongoing operational excellence.

About the Role: 

Key Responsibilities 

Engineering Leadership & Operational Excellence

• Lead the engineering function across a data centre campus, ensuring high availability and operational resilience.

• Provide technical oversight on critical infrastructure, including power, cooling, network, and security systems.

• Develop and enforce engineering standards, policies, and compliance frameworks in line with industry best practices.

• Ensure proactive asset management, lifecycle planning, and risk mitigation strategies for all critical infrastructure.

• Oversee maintenance, upgrades, and capacity planning to meet business growth and SLAs.

• Drive adherence to energy efficiency, sustainability, and resilience metrics.

• Maintain accurate engineering documentation, asset registers, and compliance reports.

Continuous Improvement & Innovation

• Identify and implement opportunities for energy efficiency, automation, and operational improvements.

• Leverage new technologies, data analytics, and industry trends to enhance reliability and performance.

• Foster a culture of continuous improvement within engineering teams and cross-functional collaboration.

• Participate in strategic planning to support future expansion and innovation initiatives.

Project & Stakeholder Management

• Work closely with internal teams, vendors, and external partners to deliver projects on time and within budget.

• Engage with key stakeholders, including operations, IT, security, and compliance teams, to align engineering priorities with business objectives.

• Manage contracts and vendor relationships for critical infrastructure services.

Experience Required.

• 5+ years of experience in data centre engineering, critical infrastructure, or related fields.

• Strong knowledge of mechanical, electrical, and IT infrastructure in a hyperscale data centre environment.

• Experience leading engineering teams and managing complex, multi-site operations.

• Deep understanding of data centre standards and certifications (Uptime Tier levels, ASHRAE, TIA-942, ISO 27001, ISO 50001).

• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills in high-pressure environments.

• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.

• Familiarity with asset management, lifecycle planning, and risk assessment frameworks.

• Proficiency in Building Management Systems (BMS), SCADA, and DCIM platforms.

WHY CHOOSE US: 

Diversity and Inclusion: Te Kanorau me te Whakawhāiti mai 

At Spark, we are constantly looking for ways to build a more inclusive culture.  Our vision is for diversity and inclusion to be “how things are done at Spark”, embedded into our day-to-day activities, standards, and business practices.  We want you to feel totally comfortable bringing your whole self to work regardless of your gender, ethnicity, orientation, age, or ability. 

Sustainability: Toitū  

 Sustainability is a key focus for us.  We are dedicated to supporting Aotearoa New Zealand’s recovery and economic transformation.  The principle of equity is at the very heart of our approach, and we remain committed to working in partnership to make a positive contribution to digital equity in line with our focus on Diversity and Inclusion. 

Benefits: Awhina 

 Our people matter and we make sure we look after them.  As a valued employee of Spark, we’ve got our people covered with a range of leading benefits including: 

• Wellbeing - Comprehensive medical insurance, life and income protection.  Access to wellbeing coaches, EAP and in-house Specialist Clinical support through our leading Mahi Tahi Wellness programme. 

• Hybrid ways of working - for most teams at Spark this means being in the office for 4 days a week, and 1 day being flexible. 

• Leave - in addition to four weeks annual leave, we offer purchased leave, enhanced parental leave support and study leave.  

• Spark Credit – we provide permanent employees with $120 monthly Spark credit to use on any of our amazing products. 

• Spark Share scheme – periodically we offer the opportunity to buy into our share scheme. 

• Career development – access to an internal marketplace that connects employees with experiential, on the job learning across Spark.