Chief executive of Kim Dotcom's Mega, Vikram Kumar, has resigned to take up a role with the controversial German businessman's fledgling Internet Party.
The former chief executive of advocacy group Internet NZ announced his move in a blog post this afternoon.
His role would be "on the management side but details still need to be worked out".
"My initial perspective is to look at the Internet Party as a start-up and therefore my role will be to do whatever needs doing."
He ruled out standing for the party as a candidate.
History showed it would not be easy for the party to get across the 5 per cent threshold necessary to enter Parliament without an electorate seat, but it was doable, he said.
"The onus is on the party to show that it has staying power, great policies, great candidates, voter mobilisation capability, and can make a difference. Undoubtedly, there is both a need and the opportunity to reach out to people who are either completely disengaged with voting or hate politics. These people will 'grow the pie' of votes if they are motivated enough to feel that their participation is critical and worthwhile."