Lead Principal Architect - Cloud, AI & Platform Engineering

Saltus Group; Canberra; Hybrid; AUD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Saltus Group is seeking an experienced Lead Principal Engineer to provide technical leadership on a major Federal Government transformation program in Canberra. You will shape enterprise architecture, drive cloud-native and AI capabilities, and influence engineering decisions across large-scale platforms.

The role requires leading AI SDLC adoption, modern engineering practices, and governance across multidisciplinary teams.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience designing and delivering cloud-native, microservices and event-driven architectures in complex enterprise environments.
• Strong AI engineering experience, including enterprise AI solutions, semantic search and ML.
• Deep expertise in modern software engineering: DevSecOps, CI/CD, Security by Design, automated testing and observability.
• Proven track record leading large-scale technology transformation and shaping enterprise architecture decisions.
• Outstanding stakeholder engagement and leadership with senior executives and cross-functional teams.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership and architectural direction for cloud-native, microservices-based and AI-enabled platforms.
• Lead AI-enabled SDLC adoption and governance across programs.
• Drive modern engineering practices: DevSecOps, CI/CD, automated testing, observability and platform engineering.
• Lead enterprise modernization including containerisation and reusable architecture patterns.
• Establish engineering governance and capability uplift across multidisciplinary teams.
• Mentor engineers and ensure long-term knowledge transfer.

Skills

Cloud-native

Microservices

AI engineering

DevSecOps

CI/CD

Observability

Leadership

Stakeholder mgmt

Platform engineering

Tools

Kubernetes

OpenShift

AKS

EKS

GKE

Job description

We're seeking an experienced Lead Principal Engineer to provide technical leadership on a major Federal Government technology transformation program. This is an exciting opportunity to shape enterprise architecture, influence engineering decisions, and drive the adoption of modern cloud and AI capabilities across large-scale platforms.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership and architectural direction for cloud-native, microservices-based and AI-enabled platforms
• Lead the adoption of AI-enabled Software Development Lifecycle (AI SDLC) practices
• Drive modern engineering practices including DevSecOps, CI/CD, automated testing, observability and platform engineering
• Lead enterprise technology modernisation, including containerisation, reusable architecture patterns and enterprise integration
• Establish engineering governance, standards and capability uplift across multidisciplinary teams
• Mentor engineers and ensure knowledge transfer to support long-term organisational capability

• Extensive experience designing and delivering cloud-native, microservices and event-driven architectures within complex enterprise environments
• Strong experience in AI engineering, including enterprise AI solutions, semantic search, machine learning and responsible AI practices
• Deep expertise across modern software engineering including:
  • DevSecOps
  • CI/CD
  • Security by Design
  • Automated Testing
  • Observability
• Proven success leading large-scale technology transformation initiatives and influencing enterprise architecture decisions
• Outstanding stakeholder engagement and leadership skills, with experience working alongside senior executives, delivery partners and multidisciplinary teams

Highly Desirable

• Kubernetes, OpenShift, AKS, EKS or GKE
• Site Reliability Engineering (SRE)
• Observability tooling
• Agile leadership and coaching geographically dispersed teams

Location: Canberra (Hybrid with flexible working arrangements)

Occasional interstate travel may be required

Start: October 2026

Contract: 12 months + 2 x 12-month extension options

Security Clearance: Baseline

This is an outstanding opportunity for a senior technology leader passionate about AI, cloud engineering, enterprise architecture and modern software delivery to make a significant impact within a large-scale Federal Government transformation program.