Data & AI Engineer

ZURU; Auckland; On-site; NZD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health Benefits

Global Opportunities

Competitive Remuneration

Job summary

ZURU is seeking a Data & AI Engineer to own data pipelines powering critical decisions across global operations. You will work with Databricks, dbt, Fivetran and AWS to design and run production systems from ingestion to model reporting.

You’ll own domains, elevate data quality, and shape platform evolution. You will build reliable data products, collaborate with commercial, marketing and logistics teams, and mentor others in SQL, Python and pipeline design.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience building and running data pipelines in production.
• Advanced SQL, including performance tuning on large datasets.
• Strong Python for pipelines, automation and tooling with software engineering practices.

Responsibilities

• Design, build and own production data pipelines ingesting from SAP, retail POS systems, logistics platforms and marketing channels.
• Lead migrations of legacy pipelines into modern, scalable architectures, including the design decisions and cutover plan.
• Model data for analytics and AI use cases, setting the standards others follow.
• Build observability, testing and alerting into pipelines so issues surface before the business finds them.
• Improve platform infrastructure and tooling, and reduce operational toil through automation.
• Partner directly with commercial, marketing and logistics stakeholders to turn ambiguous asks into well-scoped datasets.
• Review others' work and mentor junior engineers on SQL, Python and pipeline design.
• Contribute to governance, documentation and platform standards, and to AI-assisted workflows across the team

Skills

Advanced SQL

Python for pipelines

dbt

Databricks

Orchestration tooling

Clear communication

Tools

Databricks

Snowflake

BigQuery

Redshift

Terraform/IaC

Job description

Own the data platform behind a global business, shape how ZURU uses data and AI, and build systems that directly drive real-world decisions.

About ZURU

ZURU is on a mission to disrupt across industries, challenge the status quo and catalyst change through radical innovation and automation advances. This is in play in different pillars of the company: ZURU Toys are re-imagining what it means to play; ZURU Tech is shaping a better future by leading the next building revolution; ZURU Edge is pioneering new generation FMCG brands to better serve modern consumers.

Founded in 2003 by EY Entrepreneur of the Year and World Entrepreneur Hall of Fame brothers Nick and Mat Mowbray, ZURU has quickly grown to a team of over 5000 direct and indirect members across more than 30 international locations.

One of the largest toy companies in the world, globally recognised and award-winning brands include Bunch O Balloons, Mini Brands, XSHOT, Rainbocorns and Smashers. Our global FMCG brands include MONDAY Haircare, Rascals, NOOD, BONKERS, Gumi Yum Surprise, and more!

For more information, visit www.zuru.com.

YOUR ROLE

As a Data & AI Engineer, you'll own data pipelines that power real business decisions across ZURU's global operations. Working with Databricks, dbt, Fivetran and AWS, you'll design and run production systems end to end, from ingestion through to the models the business actually reports on. You'll take full ownership of your domains and help shape how the platform evolves.

This role sits at the centre of data-driven decision-making at ZURU. You'll build reliable, well-modelled data products, drive up data quality, and make the platform easier and safer for everyone to build on. Your work determines whether commercial, marketing and logistics teams can trust and act on their numbers, and you'll have a direct hand in the direction of ZURU's data platform and AI capability.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES

• Design, build and own production data pipelines ingesting from SAP, retail POS systems, logistics platforms and marketing channels

• Lead migrations of legacy pipelines into modern, scalable architectures, including the design decisions and cutover plan

• Model data for analytics and AI use cases, setting the standards others follow

• Build observability, testing and alerting into pipelines so issues surface before the business finds them

• Improve platform infrastructure and tooling, and reduce operational toil through automation

• Partner directly with commercial, marketing and logistics stakeholders to turn ambiguous asks into well-scoped datasets

• Review others' work and mentor junior engineers on SQL, Python and pipeline design

• Contribute to governance, documentation and platform standards, and to AI-assisted workflows across the team

SKILLS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

• 3+ years of experience building and running data pipelines in production

• Advanced SQL, including performance tuning on large datasets

• Strong Python for pipelines, automation and tooling, with a working knowledge of software engineering practice (version control, testing, code review)

• Hands-on experience with dbt and a cloud data platform (Databricks, Snowflake, BigQuery or Redshift)

• Proven experience with orchestration, and a track record of debugging and hardening pipelines that fail in production

• Comfortable owning delivery end to end and working through ambiguity without close direction

• Clear communicator who documents decisions and can explain trade-offs to non-technical stakeholders

Bonus

• Spark, streaming, or large-scale distributed processing

• AWS (or equivalent) and infrastructure-as-code such as Terraform

• CI/CD for data, data contracts, or data quality frameworks

• Exposure to LLM or AI-driven data workflows

• Experience mentoring engineers or leading a workstream

LIFE@ZURU

ZURU is on a quest to reimagine tomorrow. Founded in 2003, ZURU Group has rapidly grown and now spans three core divisions—ZURU Toys, ZURU Edge (consumer goods) and ZURU Tech (construction).

At ZURU, we have cultivated a high-performing culture that encourages excellence. Our team works towards ambitious goals, learning, performing, and improving together, all while having fun. We empower talented individuals to do their best work every day.

At ZURU, you get out what you put in. You are responsible for driving your own career and we provide the platform to achieve it. As ZURU is on such a fast growth trajectory, there are opportunities here that you won’t find anywhere else.

Get to know us a little better by checking out @lifeatzuru on Instagram or www.zuru.com.

WHAT WE OFFER

• Culture for Growth

• Health Benefits

• Global Opportunities

• Surrounded by an A Player Team

• Competitive Remuneration

• Lots of fresh fruit, coffee, pals fridge and more (optional)

ZURU – Reimagining tomorrow