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EMPLOYMENT

People are key to Antarctica New Zealand's success. This includes permanent staff; fixed term and contract staff; seconded staff from the New Zealand Defence Force and our many strategic partners in Government, the science community and other National Antarctic Programmes. We seek to create a high performance organisation underpinned by a culture of shared beliefs.

Antarctica New Zealand has a variety of positions that support our operations in Christchurch and at Scott Base, Antarctica. We are a Crown Entity and as such all staff are expected to uphold the Standards of Integrity and Conduct issued by the State Services Commissioner

Positions are advertised for both locations throughout the year on this site, and range in length of term and contract type.

CURRENT VACANCIES

To see what vacancies are currently advertised please visit our Current Vacancies page.

To apply for any of our vacancies you must first register on this site.

Registration is a one off process and once registered, you will need to complete the application form specific to the vacancy of interest. Please ensure you provide enough information in your registration and application form for us to assess your suitability for employment.    When applying for a role, please upload a single file containing your covering letter and CV. 

You must be legally entitled to work in New Zealand to be employed by us. If you are unsure about this you can check your eligibility through the Immigration NZ website.

EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

If you are interested in working for Antarctica New Zealand, but there are no suitable vacancies open, you can register your interest on our Expressions of Interest page.

This will ensure that you will be contacted when a new vacancy is posted. Details of each role, including a full role description will be available at the time that the vacancy is posted.


 
Photo: Becky Goodsell       View from Observation Hill


Christchurch
Scott Base
Preparing to work at Scott Base
Partnerships working at Scott Base

Christchurch

We currently have approximately 50 staff who support Antarctic operations by working in various teams: Antarctic Operations; Communications; Corporate Services & Strategy; Engineering; People & Performance; Policy, Environment & Safety and Science.

As part of their role a number of our Christchurch staff spend part of the Antarctic Summer season at Scott Base.  

Our office and warehouse facilities are part of the International Antarctic campus at 38 Orchard Road in Christchurch. We share this campus with the United States, Italian and Korean Antarctic Programmes; Antarctic Heritage Trust;  New Zealand Antarctic Research Institute; and the International Antarctic Attraction Centre. 

 

Scott Base

Scott Base is the hub of New Zealand's activities in Antarctica. Because of its remote location it is essential that all staff employed to work at Scott Base work well as a team, are safety focussed and can successfully integrate into the small base community lifestyle. One of the biggest challenges for people is living an working away from their usual support networks. Over the summer period, staff share a small 2 bunk room with another staff member.

The length of employment depends on the role type. Summer employment is for 5-6 months from August/ September. Winter positions are for 13 months from September until October the following year.  

Some summer only roles are for shorter periods to meet our operational requirements. Durations for these positions will be listed on the position vacancy.  

We select and appoint a standby for each position, to be available to take the role if one of the preferred candidates is unable to carry out the position through unforeseen circumstances. 

We like to employ a mixture of returnee staff and new staff. Sometimes this means that roles are not open for general application or that only standby roles are available for a particular season. 

If you have worked with us in the past and are interested in future opportunities please email us People@antarcticanz.govt.nz

  
Photo: Julie Patterson

 

Applications for the following season (starting Aug) open in February each year

Information about the types of roles we have and what you can expect working in Antarctica can be found on our website.

We strongly recommend that you read the information about the role before making your application to ensure that you have the skills and experience we are seeking and to get a better understanding of what you are applying for.  

 

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Preparing to work at Scott Base

We have maintained a constant presence at Scott Base since 20 January 1957, with a fluctuating population depending on the time of year.  

The base is a hub of activity during the summer operational phase.  

Staff undertake comprehensive training, both in Christchurch and at Scott Base, to ensure they can live and work safely in Antarctica. This training commences in September/October and requires all team members to be in Christchurch for the duration of the training.

The team will participate in Antarctica New Zealand's Awareness Programme to learn our organisational values, team process models and Health, Safety and Environmental tools.  Staff then complete a week of Fire Training. This provides all the skills and training required to fulfil firefighting duties. Fire is a major risk in Antarctica and all of our staff are trained to keep and people and property safe. Fire crews are formed during this training to participate in a fire roster on base.

 


Photo: Ross Land

Our role in Antarctica is to ensure that Antarctica's environment continues to be protected, that scientists are support to find the answers to complex scientific questions, and that science outcomes are communicated back to policy makers and the public.

Over the season we support many different types of science events - some will work from Scott Base while others head out to field camps to undertake their research. Events could also be working from Scott Base and taking day trips to their research sites.

One of the great things about working at Scott Base is spending time with scientists and gaining an understanding of what questions they are trying to answer and how this relates to New Zealand & the rest of the world now and for future generations.

Our team play a critical role in supporting the Science community while they are in Antarctica and have the ability to help deliver scientific outcomes everyday. 

 

Regular flights between Christchurch and McMurdo Sound occur from early October until early March.  Over winter there are limited flights scheduled.  In order to be self sufficient and sustainable, the base is resupplied annually by ship. Resupply occurs in February and the team on base unpack containers and get things in order before moving into Winter Operations.  

Over winter we have a smaller team who run the base and we appoint a Winter Leader and Winter Engineering Supervisor to lead the team, which generally consists of 12 people.

 

The final scheduled flight before winter occurs in early March. Traditionally this has been the last flight to Antarctica till August.  More recently there have been some additional flights scheduled which has meant we were able to send some additional staff and supplies to assist with operational work.

Flights are limited over this winter period due to the lack of sunlight. The days gradually get longer and darker through April until the sun stops rising for the Winter period. You can find out more about the sun light over winter here.

Communication with the team over the winter is via telephone and email - our bandwidth is similar to dial up speed and we cannot utilise Skype or similar web based communication progammes.

 
Photos: Simon Shelton

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Partnerships working at Scott Base


We have a longstanding close relationship with the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) who provide Communications Officers, Plant Operators, Chefs, Cargo Handlers and Logistics Support personnel to work as part of our team at Scott Base over summer.  They also deploy staff to the nearby McMurdo Station as part of Operation Antarctica. A Senior National Officer seconded to us from NZDF works in the Christchurch office and provides leadership for all military personnel deployed to Antarctica.

Compass select a person to run the Scott Base Bar and Store and work with us to appoint somebody from the winter team to lead the Shop/Bar Coordination duties over the winter period. 

Downer EDI select a Telecommunications Technician to work at Scott Base as part of the winter team.  They will work closely with our other Technical support staff and Engineering Team. 

 
Photo: Ross Land