Director of Software Engineering

Timescapes; Auckland; On-site; NZD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

KiwiSaver 5%

EAP & wellbeing support

Enhanced parental leave

Equity package

Job summary

Timescapes is seeking a Director of Software Engineering to lead a small, high-performing team responsible for backend, frontend and site reliability. You will shape the long-term technology roadmap, drive disciplined delivery, and explore AI-enabled improvements to the SDLC while maintaining security and quality.

You will collaborate with Product, Design and other teams to expand core products and potentially develop new offerings as Timescapes grows globally from New Zealand base.

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading software engineering teams and delivering projects.
• Experience guiding SDLC and AI initiative deployment.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Knowledge of security/compliance (SOC 2, GDPR, ISO).

Responsibilities

• Lead backend, frontend and site reliability engineers (6 in total).
• Define long-term tech roadmap and non-functional investments (scalability, reliability, observability).
• Drive AI maturity and integrate AI into the engineering workflow.
• Hire and mentor engineers; evolve team structure as Timescapes grows.
• Collaborate with Product, Design and operations to deliver on the product roadmap.

Skills

Engineering leadership

Team management

Strategic planning

AI adoption

Risk management

Communication

Education

Bachelor's or Master’s in Computer Science

Job description

Timescapes is looking for a Director of Software Engineering to join our small but growing team of high-performers. We're after someone who approaches problems from first principles, identifying underlying causes and diligently iterating towards the best solution. We believe that great products feature incredible experiences that customers never want to stop using.

About Us

Founded in New Zealand in 2017, Timescapes is a visual progress tracking solution for complex construction projects. Our mission is to simplify construction through shared visibility. Customers love Timescapes because it helps them stay on schedule, validate construction claims and communicate progress more effectively.

We're a rapidly growing company, used by some of the largest construction firms across Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States. We're deliberate and thoughtful in everything that we do, and we emphasise awareness, care and quality in our approach to product development.

About The Role

As Director of Software Engineering at Timescapes, you'll be leading our software development efforts and managing our team of backend, frontend and site reliability engineers (6 in total). This will involve continuing to nurture our core product, while also developing potential new products.

• Engineering management: managing a group of talented engineers and supporting their career development, while also hiring new roles as Timescapes expands into new regions. Rethinking the overall structure of the team as it grows
• Delivery & execution: introducing more discipline to the way the team plans and executes work. Proactively finding risks with respect to delivering the product roadmap and quarterly objectives. Getting on the tools if required to help unblock or accelerate the team. Building strong relationships with Product, Design and other functions within the business.
• AI adoption: determining how to best leverage AI to evolve our SDLC. Developing an AI maturity model for the software engineering team, and actively working to level up each team member. Building the AI systems that enable the team to move faster without sacrificing quality.
• Technical leadership: developing a long-term roadmap for non-functional technology investments (e.g. scalability, reliability, observability etc.), and helping to validate the technical feasibility of major strategic initiatives. Knowing when to lead technical decision making vs delegate to members of the engineering team
• Infosec: until we grow to a point where we can hire a dedicated infosec professional, this role will own key responsibilities around application security, network security, access controls, incident response and compliance (e.g. SOC 2, GDPR, ISO etc.)

About you

We want curious, driven and enthusiastic people who are motivated by the prospect of building solutions that endure. The people who thrive at Timescapes are critical thinkers who are not afraid to embrace the unconventional. If the following resonates with you, we should definitely chat:

• Value-oriented: we're focussed on ensuring that Timescapes as a business gets genuine value from engineering investments. You'll be someone who sees methodologies, best practices and patterns as useful tools, but you don't blindly adopt them and never let them get in the way of great customer outcomes.
• Obsessed with the "why": you're someone who cares about the details, and you take pride in sharing your rationale for every decision you make. You question things that don't make sense, and you expect others to do the same
• All about the editing: when it comes to great solutions, we don't believe you usually nail it on the first attempt. You're someone who's not afraid to leave a lot of ideas on the cutting room floor, and you intuitively understand that the first release is just the beginning
• Adaptable and creative: as a small company doing ambitious things, we don't always have the right answer, and we know that what's worked in the past may not work in the future. We're not deterred by the unknown, and we're excited about trying new things and navigating our way through.
• Communication matters: in addition to communicating clearly and succinctly, you're also a natural relationship-builder, and you're equally comfortable on Slack/email, video calls and in person

The following are definitely not required, but would be a bonus in this role:

• Startup / scale-up experience: you've experienced the chaos of startups, juggled lots of competing priorities and you've rebuilt unscalable processes
• Team structure: you've been responsible for creating / driving the engineering structure within an organisation, especially as the company has grown from its earliest single-team form

Benefits

Life at Timescapes

Our team tells us what they value most: the people, the product, the trust, and the opportunity to do work that actually matters. We have built that culture deliberately and we look for it in every hire we make.

If you are looking for a place where your work ships into the real world, where the team is small enough that your contributions matter, and where the mission is clear, we would love to hear from you.

We offer

• Competitive compensation and equity package
• Health insurance
• 5% KiwiSaver contribution
• EAP & wellbeing support
• Enhanced parental leave