Transport Recruitment

Want to work for NZSki this Year? 

Bus Drivers

Our bus drivers transport our guests from Queenstown to the mountains as well as for the ski field staff. On any day you may be driving to Coronet Peak or Remarkables, but wherever you go, we expect you to warmly greet and safely transport our guests and staff, provide current road, weather & snow conditions, answer any queries, help with ski gear and provide honest service level updates whilst maintaining a high standard of presentation of yourself and your vehicle.

Shuttle Driver

Our Shuttle Drivers are responsible for transporting our ski field guests from the car parks to the base area and back again at the end of the day. Shuttle Drivers also service the iconic Homeward run if based at The Remarkables. On any day you may be driving to Coronet Peak or Remarkables, but wherever you go, we expect you to warmly greet and safely transport our guests, provide up to date weather, lift & snow conditions, answer any queries, help with ski gear, inform guests of where they are parked and provide honest service level updates whilst maintaining a high standard of presentation of yourself and your vehicle.

DISPATCHERS

Our Dispatchers keep us moving by directing our day to day transport operations from Queenstown to the mountains. On any day you may be overseeing Coronet Peak or Remarkables, but wherever you go, we expect you to warmly greet our guests and staff, coordinate bus movements to and from the ski fields safely, be mindful of our resources, adhere to any agreed service levels, manage any queues, respond to weather and road conditions, answer any queries, help with ticket validation and provide honest service level updates whilst maintaining a high standard of presentation.

Transport Assistants

Transport Assistants play a varied, supportive and crucial role within the team. Their role is split into three primary tasks: assisting drivers with chain fitting, hosting and custodial. On any day you may be assisting with chain fitting in the morning, queue management in the afternoon and helping our drivers with cleaning vehicles in the evening. Wherever you go, we expect you to warmly greet our guests and staff, be mindful of our resources, keep it safe, manage any queues, answer any queries, help with ticket validation and provide honest service level updates whilst maintaining a high standard of presentation.

Transport FAQs

I’ve got the equivalent license in another country; can I apply?

All of our commercial driving jobs require a Full New Zealand Licence of the appropriate vehicle class and endorsement. As a minimum, our smallest passenger vehicle requires a class 1 license with a Passenger Endorsement, however a class 2 license is recommended to enable more vehicles to be driven. You may be eligible to convert your overseas license to a NZ one. See below for more information.

I don’t have any commercial licensing at the moment; are there any options for me?

Our team is also recruiting for Dispatchers and Hosts. If you would like further information on these roles please visit the following links for more information or check out our General Recruiting page to work with one of our other teams.

General licensing information link

Converting an overseas license

Applying for a Passenger Endorsement

What would my expected hours be?

This varies from day to day, but the majority of our drivers begin their shifts between 6.30am and 7.30am. The actual start time would be communicated to you the day before. Our finish times are not scheduled and vary depending on the days business levels and other operational factors, however the majority of our drivers typically finish between 5pm and 6.30pm each day.

I haven’t done any alpine specific driving; should I apply?

Yes! The more experience driving in alpine conditions the better, however we provide comprehensive training and assessment to all of our drivers.

What types of vehicles would I be expected to drive?

Our bus fleet includes MAN TGM 4x4 buses, MAN R37 Coaches, Mercedes Coaches, Isuzu F Series Buses, Mitsubishi Rosas, Mitsubishi Canters, Isuzu N Series Shuttles and Mercedes Actros shuttles. Specific training and/or assessment is delivered for each of our vehicle types. The expectation is to drive any and all of these vehicles depending on your license class and once you are trained and signed off. For operational flexibility, we don’t allocate drivers to individual vehicles or vehicle types.

If I’m employed as a bus driver, what else am I expected to do during the day?

Every team member is expected to help out one another and to undertake tasks that are delegated by our leadership team. This includes, covering carpark shuttle driver breaks, helping to load each other’s buses, checking passes etc. See above for more detail.

Do you do drug testing?

Yes. All drivers must undertake a pre-season drug test. We also test randomly throughout the season and post-incident for drugs and alcohol.

Do I get to ski or snowboard?

Yes! You are encouraged to get out and enjoy the slopes as much as possible! Your lunch break will be taken on the skifield each day (pending operational requirements) and you will have a minimum of one hour as an unpaid break to eat and go skiing or snowboarding if you wish. In addition to that, depending on business levels, your lunch break may extend into ‘Standby Time’ when you can still ski or ride as long as you are in touch with Dispatch and are available to return to your bus at short notice.

Is there anything else I need to know in advance?

Yes. You will require a smartphone (either iPhone or Android) to perform some aspects of your job. This includes access to team communication, signing on and off of shifts and vehicle inspections. Free data is provided in the areas you will be expecting to use your device.

We Look For

Department Overview 

The Transport Department was set up in its current form in 2009. Prior to that NZSki buses were just used to transport staff, and any customer who wished to use public transport needed to use a third-party transport provider. As NZSki didn’t have any influence over the customer experience it was seen as an important step to introduce a service that would offer our guests a high level of service, as well as incorporating the NZSki company values. Since 2008 NZSki has invested in 15 x MAN 4WD buses, 2 x tag axel MAN R37 coaches, as well as 1 x 2WD Isuzu bus and 8 smaller 4WD shuttles. The fleet is also supplemented with several lease buses from third party operators as well as several buses from our sister companies. During peak periods the fleet can exceed 30 buses in total.

The Transport Department is one of the larger departments in NZSki and in a normal year we employ around 80 staff including drivers, team leaders, administration and various other support staff.

The Transport Department is broken down into several operations;

Operations

Express Service

This is a very economical service to Coronet Peak and the Remarkables from the Snow Centre in central Queenstown, as well as stops along the way.

Staff Transport

The majority of the mountain staff are transported each day as part of our Express Service from the Station. The first few buses of the day are allocated for staff and they may also use any Express bus throughout the day.

Car Park Shuttles

As the car parks at both skifields are very large and spread out, we offer a complimentary service for the guests and their equipment to and from each car park to the base buildings.

Homeward Shuttles

Two of the Remarkables most popular and iconic runs are “Homeward” and “Outward”, which run from the top of Shadow Basin and finish about a kilometre below the base area. Once the guests have skied or ridden down to the pick-up point, they are delivered by us back to the base area. The Homeward shuttle is run in conjunction with the Remarkables Carpark shuttle.