Lead Ai Engineer

Horizon Digital; Perth; Hybrid; AUD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Horizon Digital in Perth, WA, seeks a Lead AI Engineer to take technical ownership of one or more engineering teams, delivering AI and software for a range of clients. You will set technical direction, coach teams, and champion AI-assisted development. The role suits someone who shapes how a team works, not just their output.

You will report to the Technology Manager and work with engineers delivering production systems for flagship clients. Hybrid, 3 days onsite, 2 from home, flexible hours.

Qualifications

• Proven people leadership with performance reviews
• Hands-on experience Python, TypeScript, React, and AWS with Terraform
• Experience with React Native, Flutter or PHP
• CI/CD, automated testing, linting and monitoring as standard practice
• AI-first practice with embedding AI across teams
• Defined and rolled out AI coding standards and rule files
• Owned agentic systems in production and ensured reliability
• Credible, calm in front of Tier One clients with agile delivery knowledge
• Experience running a hiring loop
• Experience with cloud platforms (GCP or others) and native mobile (Swift/Kotlin)

Responsibilities

• Lead one or more engineering teams, owning technical direction and final accountability for estimates
• Coach and grow your team through review, pairing and direct guidance, and run their objectives and performance reviews
• Settle architecture, security, tooling and deployment early in the engagement, and make the final technical call
• Contribute production code and hold your teams to our standards on code review, testing, CI/CD and monitoring
• Drive adoption of AI assisted development and agentic systems, and act as the quality gate on shared skills and libraries
• Act as the senior technical voice with clients, from requirements through delivery, and protect the relationship when things go wrong

Skills

People leadership

Python

TypeScript

React

AWS

CI/CD

AI governance

Agile delivery

Client management

Tools

Terraform

React Native

Flutter

PHP

AWS Cloud

GCP

Job description

Job Description

Location

Perth, Western Australia (George's Terrace)

Workplace

Hybrid, 3 days onsite, 2 days from home, flexible on which two days

Engagement

Permanent, full time, flexible working hours

We are looking for a Lead AI Engineer to take technical ownership of one or more engineering teams at Horizon Digital, delivering AI and software for clients from Tier One enterprise accounts through to smaller engagements. You will set the technical direction, coach the team that relies on you, and champion AI assisted development as the way we build. We move fast and stay adaptable, so this suits someone who wants to shape how a team works, not just their own output.

The Team

You will report to our Technology Manager and work alongside a group of engineers delivering production systems for clients including Woodside, Fortescue, Alcoa, Rio Tinto, BHP, Santos and South32. You will be trusted to spot and grow the next lead, so the team's success never rests on one person.

What You Will Do

• Lead one or more engineering teams, owning technical direction and carrying final accountability for estimates on your projects
• Coach and grow your team through review, pairing and direct guidance, and run their objectives and performance reviews
• Settle architecture, security, tooling and deployment early in the engagement, and make the final technical call
• Contribute production code and hold your teams to our standards on code review, testing, CI/CD and monitoring
• Drive adoption of AI assisted development and agentic systems, and act as the quality gate on shared skills and libraries
• Act as the senior technical voice with clients, from requirements through delivery, and protect the relationship when things go wrong

What We Are Looking For

• Proven people leadership, including reviews, objectives and difficult conversations
• Deep hands on experience across Python, TypeScript, React and AWS with Terraform, plus React Native, Flutter or PHP
• CI/CD, automated testing, linting and monitoring as normal practice, not an afterthought
• An AI first practice, with a track record of embedding it across a team, not just using it yourself
• Experience defining and rolling out AI coding standards, including authoring skills and rule files
• Has owned agentic systems into production and stands behind their reliability
• Credible and calm in front of a Tier One client, with in depth knowledge of agile delivery
• Establishing AI governance, covering data privacy, IP and acceptable use
• Running a hiring loop
• GCP or other cloud platforms
• Swift or Kotlin for native mobile

Why Horizon Digital

• Join a Perth based AI and custom software consultancy building production grade AI for Tier One clients across mining, energy, finance, healthcare and government
• Real technical ownership, you will make the calls on architecture, tooling and delivery for your projects
• Fast paced, adaptable culture where things move quickly and change is normal
• Hybrid working from George's Terrace, 3 days onsite and 2 from home, with flexible hours
• AWS Generative AI Competency Partner