Kia ora! 

Air New Zealand plays a vital role in supporting Aotearoa’s success. Our purpose – connecting Kiwis with each other and the world – is a privilege we don’t take lightly. We know that to keep flying for generations to come, we need to make sustainability part of every decision we make. 

We are looking for a versatile Sustainability Specialist to join our team. This role is ideal for someone with a broad sustainability background and strong analytical skills, who can flex to support key projects, research, and stakeholder engagement across the business. You’ll be part of a driven, purpose-led team working on initiatives that matter for our airline, our country, and the planet. 

The role requires someone who is eager to work on the airlines top sustainability priorities and who can pivot to deliver these on a quarterly basis. It would suit someone with interest and experience in a wide range of sustainability-related topics and who has a broad set of business-related skills. 

Key responsibilities:

• Manage the airline’s nature strategy, including coordinating governance forums, driving key initiatives, managing related risks and opportunities, and conducting research into emerging nature-related issues. 
• Support quarterly sustainability priorities — which may include energy transition and decarbonisation, sustainable supply chain, policy, or reporting — based on business needs. 
• Keep the team ahead of the curve by monitoring global sustainability research, best practice, risks, and trends, and translating these into actionable insights. 
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to embed sustainability across the airline. 
• Establish and maintain relationships with internal and external stakeholders, cultivating strategic partnerships and influencing positive sustainability impacts. 
• Create briefings, reports, and visual content tailored for engaging and educating internal teams, senior leaders, government and industry partners, and public audiences. 

Key experience and skills:

• 5+ years experience in sustainability or business-related roles with demonstrated research, strategy, or project delivery. Whether you’ve led major initiatives or contributed to cross-functional teams, we value strategic thinkers with a learning mindset and strong analytical skills. 
• Proven analytical and quantitative ability — confident building and interpreting models in Excel and making sense of complex data. 
• Strong core business skills: a problem solver with excellent communication, stakeholder engagement, and commercial awareness. 
• Able to manage competing demands, prioritise effectively, pivot quickly, and consistently deliver high-quality work. 
• Comfortable navigating new topics and industries — quick to learn, with a knack for identifying opportunities and risks. 
• High attention to detail and experience producing professional outputs for diverse audiences. 
• Knowledge of aviation and sustainability topics (e.g. sustainable aviation fuel, carbon credits, next-generation aircraft, circular economy, modern slavery), as well as an understanding of sustainability frameworks, standards, and tools is advantageous but not required. 
• Experience in sustainability areas such as strategy, supply chain, policy, or risk management would be an asset. 

This is a fantastic opportunity for someone with a genuine interest in nature and sustainability to make a real impact. If youre excited by the chance to contribute to the future of aviation. we’d love to hear from you. Join us on the journey as we navigate bold challenges and unlock new possibilities for a better tomorrow. 

Applications close Monday 9th June. 

**Please note while we will provide an outcome to all applicants, due to the high volume of applications we will only organise conversations with shortlisted candidates. 

At Air New Zealand, we are proudly committed to diversity, equity and inclusion and believe in creating a truly inclusive workplace where everyone can be themselves and thrive. Our people are our greatest asset – because while everything else we do in our operation can be replicated by our competitors, it is our people that truly set us apart. We are firm believers in celebrating the differences and diversity of thought our people bring to their roles. We encourage candidates from diverse backgrounds, including those with a disability, additional health and mental health needs, and/or are neurodiverse to apply for our roles.

If you have encountered any accessibility barriers and require further information or reasonable accommodations to our recruitment process, please reach out to the recruiter listed on this job advert so they are able to support you to freely participate equitably in our recruitment and selection process.

Whāia te pae tawhiti kia tata. Ko te pae tata whakamaua, kia tina.

"Seek to bring distant horizons closer. Once near, seize them and make them your reality."