Head of Agentic Engineering

Autoplay Automotive Ltd; Auckland; On-site; NZD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

AutoPlay is seeking a hands-on engineering leader to own and modernise the platform, including cloud infrastructure, database, release processes, and security. You will lead a team of engineers and QA, set technical direction, and participate in complex deployments.

Expect on-call escalation as the team expands and governance across ISO27001 is emphasized. The role combines hands-on work with leadership in a fast-moving, agentic-first engineering culture, based at our Auckland Central office

Qualifications

• Hands-on experience running production cloud infrastructure, ideally on AWS.
• Deep production database experience including performance tuning, HA, backup/recovery.
• Experience with CI/CD and release engineering to accelerate deployments safely.
• Proven leadership of engineers & adherence to technical standards.
• Infrastructure as code using Terraform or CloudFormation.
• Observability and incident response readiness.
• Security/compliance awareness with ISO27001 or similar.

Responsibilities

• Own the platform and lead modernization of cloud infrastructure, database, release process, and security controls.
• Mentor and manage a team of engineers and QA; set direction and standards.
• Read query plans and troubleshoot deployments; handle on-call escalations as the team grows.
• Enable faster, safer releases while maintaining quality and compliance.
• Collaborate with wider Vela APX group for security and support.

Skills

AWS

CI/CD

Leadership

Cloud infrastructure

Security & compliance

AI-first development

Query optimization

Communication

Tools

Terraform

CloudFormation

SQL Server

.NET

React

Job description

AutoPlay is the lead management platform that car dealerships, dealer groups and vehicle manufacturers use to run their sales floors, from first enquiry to handover. We work with dealers of every size on both sides of the Tasman, and we are part of Vela APX, a group of automotive technologybusinesses.

About therole

We are looking for a hands-on engineering leader to own the platform our product runs on, and to modernise it. That means our cloud infrastructure, our database, how we build and release, and the security and compliance that sit across allofit.

There is real worktodo:

Modernise our infrastructure and design the platform we movetonext.

Optimise our database for stability and costcontrol.

Improve how we work so we release faster and more often, without droppingquality.

Build security and compliance into everythingweship.

This is a leadership role with its hands on the work. You lead a team of agentic engineers and QA and set the direction, and you are also the person who can read a query plan or fix a broken deploymentstep.

In a team this size you will be the escalation point when production has a problem, with on-call shared as theteamgrows.

How we work: agenticfirst

We are an agentic-first engineering team. Our engineers direct AI coding agents to do much of the building, and that changes the job. It lets one capable leader wear several hats across infrastructure, data, release and security, where a bigger business would hire a personforeach.

Speed is the easy part. We need someone with hands-on experience who keeps control of quality, security and compliance while we move fast. That means deciding what agents can touch, what comes back to a person before it ships, and how the pipeline keeps up as the volume of change grows. If you already work this way, you will settle in fast. If you have the platform depth and the appetite for it, we willbackyou.

What youwillbring

Hands-on experience running production cloud infrastructure, ideallyonAWS.

Real depth with production databases: performance tuning, high availability, backup and recovery, and migrations. SQL Server experience isaplus.

CI/CD and release engineering, and a track record of making releases fasterandsafer.

Experience leading engineers, and the credibility to set standards andholdthem.

Infrastructure as code, with tools such as Terraform orCloudFormation.

Observability and incidentresponse.

Working knowledge of security and compliance frameworks such asISO27001.

Experience with agentic or AI-first development, or a real appetite togetthere.

.NET and React experience.

You will have senior security and technology support from the wider VelaAPXgroup.

Who youare

Hands on. You lead from the work, not fromaboveit.

Calm in production and carefulwithchange.

Pragmatic about cost. You treat the cloud bill asyournumber.

Clear and plain-spoken with engineers and the businessalike.

Comfortable in a small, fast team where you wear severalhats.

Where youwillwork

This role is based in our Auckland Central office, and it is in person. New starters are office-first for their first six months while they learn the job and the team. After that, working from home is earned, case by case, once you have proven yourself intherole.

Several of our engineers are based in Mount Maunganui, so expect frequent travelthere.