Nirupa is currently the Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at SkyCity Entertainment Group. Prior to this, she was the Chief of Staff to the Mayor of Auckland. She started her career as a refugee lawyer in Auckland. During that time, she interned for President Jimmy Carter working on his human rights programme at the Carter Centre in Atlanta. Nirupa then moved to Parliament to work as a political advisor before returning to Auckland to run the Mayor’s successful election campaign.

Outside of work, Nirupa has been actively involved in human rights NGOs for over a decade including as a board member of the Red Cross Refugee Advisory Board and the Human Rights Lawyers' Association New Zealand. She was also a trustee on the Human Rights Network Trust of New Zealand.

As a Tamil, Nirupa has always maintained a deep connection to community and culture. As a volunteer community school teacher, she has helped Tamil children maintain a link to their heritage and language. She considers being fluently bilingual as one of her proudest achievements.