AI-First Engineering Manager: Platform & Incident Lead

ReadyTech; Auckland, Hamilton; On-site; AUD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

ReadyTech is seeking an Engineering Manager to lead AI-first software engineering across delivery, operations, and platform strategy. You will drive velocity, quality, and cost efficiency while modernising legacy systems toward secure, scalable architectures.

You will mentor Tech Leads, own platform outcomes, and manage major incidents to protect payroll and other critical business systems. Strong experience with C#, .NET, SQL, APIs and cloud platforms is preferred.

Qualifications

• Proven ability to lead and grow engineering teams with accountability for delivery, support, cost, and strategy.
• Strong incident management experience, including acting as P1 incident commander.
• Excellent communication skills, able to translate technical decisions into business outcomes for executives.
• Ability to coach Tech Leads, prioritise competing demands, and perform under pressure.

Responsibilities

• Translate strategy into actionable engineering roadmaps and own platform-level architecture decisions.
• Lead the adoption of AI-first engineering practices across the SDLC — design, code generation, testing, security, and incident analysis.
• Own engineering delivery, ensuring predictable outcomes with the right quality, reliability, and cost balance.
• Lead, coach, and develop Tech Leads and engineers, building a culture of ownership and AI-first thinking.
• Own operational outcomes for your platforms, including leading P1 and critical incident response.
• Understand platform economics and identify opportunities to optimise cloud, licensing, and support costs.
• Present technology strategy, risk, and investment proposals to executives and senior stakeholders.

Skills

Leadership

Incident management

Communication

Coaching

Tools

Kubernetes

Linux

Azure

AWS

Job description

ReadyTech is seeking an Engineering Manager to lead AI-first software engineering across delivery, operations, and platform strategy. You will drive velocity, quality, and cost efficiency while modernising legacy systems toward secure, scalable architectures.

You will mentor Tech Leads, own platform outcomes, and manage major incidents to protect payroll and other critical business systems. Strong experience with C#, .NET, SQL, APIs and cloud platforms is preferred.