AI Engineering Director

Lever, Inc.; Auckland; Remote; NZD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Complex projects

Health insurance

Gym subsidy

Coffee and wellness

Flexible/remote work

Training budget

BYOD allowance

Tech resources

Award-winning culture

Job summary

ClearPoint Ltd. is seeking an experienced engineering leader to define and drive the AI engineering practice, uniting technical leadership with people management to deliver value for clients. You’ll lead seasoned engineers across enterprise environments, shaping an AI-first roadmap while maintaining hands-on credibility.

You’ll drive performance, mentor teams, and contribute to pre-sales and delivery oversight, ensuring quality outcomes. Flexible/remote work is available for the right candidate.

Qualifications

• Proven track record leading software engineering teams in medium-to-large environments.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management across technical and non-technical audiences.

Responsibilities

• Define AI engineering strategy and roadmap, embedding agentic coding and AI tooling.
• Lead engineers, manage performance, and develop team capabilities.
• Oversee client engagements from solutioning to delivery oversight.

Skills

Software engineering

Leadership experience

Hands-on coding

Client-facing consulting

AI fluency

Agile at scale

Microsoft stack

AWS

Azure

GCP

Tools

Microsoft stack

AWS

Azure

GCP

Job description

Auckland

A bit about us

For over 19 years, ClearPoint has been the trusted technology partner for organisations navigating complex digital transformation. We combine software engineering, AI, data and insights, cloud, and human-centred design to deliver meaningful, lasting outcomes.

We work with some of New Zealand’s most impactful organisations - and we care deeply about the quality of what we build. Our Auckland head office overlooks the Viaduct (5 minutes from Britomart), with co-working access across NZ and Australia.Through innovative thinking, we strive to make a difference for ourselves, our teams, our clients and our community across New Zealand, Australia and the UK.

The ClearPoint culture

At ClearPoint, we’re proud of the culture we’ve built - collaborative, curious, and high-performing. Our values aren’t just words:

• Respect and Care for People

• Act with Integrity

• Earn and Nurture Trust

You’ll work with sharp, passionate people who take ownership, raise the bar, and genuinely enjoy what they do. Whether you’re in Auckland, Wellington, or Christchurch, you’ll be part of a team that invests in your growth and makes space for you to shine.

The Role

This is a senior engineering leadership role for someone who has genuinely done the hard yards - hands-on in the code, leading teams through complexity, and navigating the complex dynamics and pace of mid-to-large enterprise environments. In this role, we'llpartner together to define ClearPoint's AI engineering practice and ensure we're delivering tangible value for our clients. Reporting to the Chief Practice Officer, you’ll unite technical leadership and people management to drive success across our client delivery.

Key focus areas include:

• AI Strategy & Practice Development: Shaping an "AI-First" engineering roadmap that embeds agentic coding and AI tooling into how our teams design, build, and ship software - not as a bolt-on, but as a genuine shift in how we work.

• People Leadership & Performance Management: Line managing a team of engineers with real accountability - hiring, developing, and where necessary, having the hard conversations. You'll know how to grow people and how to hold them to a high standard.

• Technical Direction & Pre-Sales: Bringing deep credibility to client engagements - from solutioning through to delivery oversight. You'll earn respect in the room because you've done the work yourself.

• Consulting Delivery: You'll carry billable responsibility and stay close enough to the work to catch issues early and uphold quality standards across practice engagements.

What we’re looking for

We're looking for someone who has moved from writing code to leading the people who write it - and who has done both well. The ideal candidate brings:

• A strong software engineering foundation: You bring a strong software engineering background and a passion for high-quality delivery. We’d love it if you’ve spent significant time in the Microsoft stack, but we’re just as excited to talk to leaders from other tech backgrounds who 'get' modern architecture. From microservices to cloud-native patterns in AWS, Azure, or GCP, you’ve spent years in the trenches and can speak the language of engineering because you’ve actually built the software.

• Engineering team leadership experience: You've led software engineering teams in medium-to-large corporate environments - you understand how to operate inside complexity, build high-performing teams, navigate stakeholder dynamics, and get quality software shipped.

• Hands-on performance and line management: You've owned the full people management lifecycle - setting expectations, coaching, performance reviews, and when needed, managing people out. You're comfortable with the accountability that comes with line management.

• Professional services or consulting background: You understand what it means to work in a client-facing, billable environment - managing margins, scoping work, building trust with clients, and delivering on commitments.

• AI and agentic coding fluency: You're not just curious about AI - you're already using tools like GitHub Copilot, Claude, or similar in your day-to-day work. You have a practical view on where Generative AI and agentic coding deliver real value and where the hype outpaces the reality.

• Agile at scale: Deep experience with SCRUM, TDD, and modern engineering practices. You've applied these in environments where the stakes and the team sizes are real.

What makes an Ideal Candidate?

You're the kind of leader who gets credibility the hard way - by knowing your craft deeply and showing up consistently. You're direct without being abrasive, commercially aware without losing sight of the people and the code, and you genuinely care about the outcomes you deliver for clients.

You've probably led teams of 10–30+ engineers inside a large corporation or in a consulting environment (or both), and you've been the person others look to when things get complex. You bring calm to chaos, clarity to ambiguity, and you create the conditions for your team to do their best work.

Most importantly - you're not done growing. You're excited about where AI is taking software engineering, and you want to be the person shaping what that looks like at ClearPoint.

What’s on Offer

• Complex, high-impact projects that push you technically - there’s always something interesting on the go

• Competitive remuneration, health insurance, subsidised gym, barista coffee, wellness workshops, and more

• Flexible/remote working - we trust you to get the job done wherever you do your best work

• Annual training budget + access to AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft, and Salesforce learning resources

• BYOD allowance, phone allowance, and access to whatever tech you need to do great work

• Award-winning culture - AWS Social Impact Partner of the Year, CIO 50 Award recipient

Interested?

If you're passionate about engineering leadership, love solving complex problems, and want to make a significant impact, we want to hear from you!

Location: Auckland, New Zealand Type: Permanent Full-Time Position

ClearPoint is an equal opportunity employer committed to creating an inclusive environment. You must be eligible to work in New Zealand to be successful in this application.