Site Operations Manager

About Lightyears

Lightyears is a New Zealand solar energy company with a bold but grounded ambition: to build a high-quality, scalable, and enduring clean-energy platform that makes a meaningful contribution to New Zealand's energy transition.

We have grown from a founder-led development business into a multi-business-unit organisation spanning solar development, design, construction, maintenance, power generation and sales.

This is an exciting stage of growth for Lightyears. We're building the systems, processes and capability needed for the next phase of the business while maintaining the practical, collaborative culture that has helped us succeed.

We value professionalism without ego, open communication and people who are willing to step in, solve problems and support each other to achieve the best outcome.

The opportunity

Alongside developing and building solar farms for sale, Lightyears also has a growing portfolio of solar farms that we operate and maintain. With six sites currently operating and two more expected to come online by the end of the year, this newly created role will take ownership of day-to-day operations and maintenance coordination.

Your immediate focus will be coordinating planned and reactive maintenance, managing contractors and keeping sites operating safely and reliably.

You'll be equally comfortable on site assessing a fault or outage and coordinating a response, or at your desk working through performance data, Excel spreadsheets and operational reports. The systems and procedures are already in place, ready for you to take ownership and strengthen them as the portfolio grows.

Based at our Eden Terrace office, you'll travel to sites approximately one to two days per week.

What you'll be doing

Reporting to the Director of Solar Farm Operations, you'll oversee daily and weekly operations across the portfolio.

Key responsibilities are across:

• Operations and maintenance coordination.
• Contractor and site management.
• Performance monitoring and reporting.
• Health, safety and compliance.
• Budgets and operational administration.
• Systems and process improvement.

About you

You have a practical background in electrical asset operations or maintenance. You may have progressed from an electrical trade into supervision or maintenance coordination, or bring experience from renewable energy, electricity generation, a network operator or another electrical infrastructure environment.

You can assess what's happening on site and organise the right response, while being equally comfortable with data, reporting and accurate records.

You'll bring:

• At least five years' experience in operations or maintenance of solar, renewable energy or other electrical assets.
• Site management and contractor coordination experience, with practical knowledge of fault assessment and resolution.
• Strong working knowledge of health and safety requirements in an electrical environment.
• Confidence using Excel and other Microsoft applications, with clear reporting and communication skills.
• An autonomous, pragmatic approach, taking ownership and exercising sound judgement.
• A full driver's licence and willingness to travel regularly to sites.

An electrical qualification would be advantageous, as would experience with solar PV equipment, SCADA, plant monitoring or maintenance management systems.

Why join us?

We’re at an exciting stage of growth with a strong pipeline, maturing operations, and increasingly sophisticated investor and lender engagement. With plans to double in size in the next 18 months, now is the perfect time to join the team.

You'll have the opportunity to make your mark on how we operate and grow your responsibilities alongside the business. As the portfolio expands, there is scope to build and lead a team and move into more strategic responsibilities.

You'll also enjoy:

• A role with genuine influence and career growth opportunities.
• A collaborative, family-friendly culture built on trust and respect.
• Funded health insurance for you and your family.
• Subsidised fitness benefits.
• Flexible start and finish times.

If you're up for the challenge, we'd love to hear from you. Apply via SEEK with a cover letter telling us what you'll bring to the role or contact our recruitment partner Vicky Blake at JOYN on [021 899 356](tel:021 899 356) or [email protected] for further information.

To apply, you must be a New Zealand Citizen, Resident, or hold a valid Work Visa giving you the right to work in New Zealand.