Compliance Lead Engineer

Crescent Recruitment; Christchurch; On-site; NZD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Crescent Recruitment is helping a Christchurch-based global technology business recruit a Compliance Lead Engineer for its R&D team. The role oversees regulatory and product safety requirements across the development lifecycle.

The successful candidate will lead certification activities, interpret international standards, and guide cross-disciplinary engineers to embed compliant design practices from concept through release.

Qualifications

• Electrical or electronics engineering background and product compliance experience.
• Experience with IEC, UL, EN, AS/NZS or related international standards.
• Experience with high-power/high-voltage or power electronics.
• Experience with pre-compliance and formal certification testing.
• Ability to lead and act as senior technical authority on compliance.

Responsibilities

• Lead product compliance and certification activity across new product development programmes.
• Interpret relevant international standards and determine appropriate compliance pathways.
• Develop compliance strategies, test plans and certification requirements.
• Identify compliance risks early and influence design decisions.
• Provide technical guidance to engineering teams on standards and regulatory requirements.
• Act as senior technical authority for product compliance.
• Work with internal test teams and external certification bodies.
• Support improvements to compliance processes, test capability and engineering best practice.

Skills

Electrical engineering

Regulatory engineering

Product safety

EMC

Standards interpretation

Leadership

Job description

An opportunity has opened for an experienced Compliance Lead Engineer to join the Christchurch-based R&D team of a well-established global technology business.

This is a senior technical role supporting the development of a new generation of complex electrical and electronic products. You will take a leading role in defining and delivering the compliance strategy across the product development lifecycle, working closely with multidisciplinary engineering teams from early-stage design through to testing, certification and release.

The environment is highly technical and innovation-led, with products involving power electronics, high-voltage systems and complex international compliance requirements.

The role

As Compliance Lead Engineer, you will be responsible for ensuring regulatory and product safety requirements are understood, incorporated and validated throughout development.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Leading product compliance and certification activity across new product development programmes
• Interpreting relevant international standards and determining appropriate compliance pathways
• Working closely with electrical, mechanical, systems and test engineers
• Developing compliance strategies, test plans and certification requirements
• Identifying compliance risks early and influencing design decisions
• Supporting and overseeing pre-compliance and formal certification testing
• Investigating failed tests, non-conformances and technical compliance issues
• Working with internal test teams and external certification bodies
• Providing technical guidance to engineering teams on standards and regulatory requirements
• Supporting improvements to compliance processes, test capability and engineering best practice
• Acting as a senior technical authority for product compliance

What we are looking for

You will bring a strong electrical or electronics engineering background combined with meaningful experience in product compliance, certification, regulatory engineering or product safety.

Relevant experience could include:

• Electrical or electronic product compliance
• Power electronics
• High-voltage systems
• Inverters, converters, power supplies or similar technologies
• Industrial or energy-related electrical equipment
• Product safety testing
• EMC and electrical safety
• Compliance laboratories or test environments
• Certification bodies and external test houses
• IEC, UL, EN, AS/NZS or related international standards
• New product development within an R&D environment

Experience with high-power or high-voltage products would be particularly valuable, although candidates from adjacent technical environments will also be considered where they can demonstrate strong compliance expertise and sound electrical engineering knowledge.

Leadership

This is a senior technical position and would suit someone who is comfortable taking ownership of compliance rather than simply carrying out predefined test programmes.

You may already be leading engineers, acting as a technical lead, or operating as the compliance authority within your current organisation.

You should be comfortable:

• influencing experienced engineers
• challenging design decisions where required
• interpreting standards where requirements are not straightforward
• balancing technical, commercial and regulatory considerations
• managing multiple compliance activities simultaneously
• communicating complex requirements clearly across engineering teams

Why consider this opportunity?

You will be joining a global engineering organisation with a strong R&D presence in Christchurch and the opportunity to work on technically complex products intended for international markets.

The role offers genuine technical ownership and the chance to influence compliance from the earliest stages of product development.

For someone who enjoys complex engineering problems, standards interpretation and working at the intersection of design, testing and certification, this is an opportunity to work on challenging technology in a highly capable engineering environment.

The role is based in Christchurch and will work closely with local and international engineering teams.