Head of Engineering

Engage Recruitment Support; Hastings; On-site; NZD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private health insurance

Birthday day off

Flexible sick leave

Parental leave

Job summary

Fingermark is seeking an exceptional Head of Engineering to provide technical and engineering leadership worldwide from Hawke's Bay or other NZ bases. Reporting to the CEO, you will shape the technology direction and engineering roadmap in collaboration with the executive team.

You’ll lead teams responsible for developing, delivering and maintaining Fingermark's technology—software, platforms and deployed hardware—across global QSR brands.

Qualifications

• Proven track record leading engineering teams at executive level.
• Ability to translate customer and business priorities into a focused technology roadmap.
• Experience building scalable software applications for SaaS and field‑deployed hardware.
• Experience with cybersecurity, data protection, and quality assurance.

Responsibilities

• Set and deliver Fingermark's engineering and technology roadmap with the CEO.
• Lead development and delivery of Fingermark's technology.
• Provide technical leadership across software, platforms, infrastructure and deployed tech.
• Ensure systems are scalable, reliable and support business needs.
• Translate customer requirements into practical technical solutions and integrations.
• Establish incident management practices with Support leaders.
• Mentor and develop technology teams and leaders.
• Collaborate with Product, Sales, Marketing and Operations.

Skills

Engineering leadership

Software architecture

Team leadership

Strategic planning

Cross-functional collaboration

Tools

SaaS infrastructure

Cloud platforms

Job description

Jora New Zealand will close on 16th September 2026. Thank you for being with us, we are cheering you on as you continue your career journey.

Engage Recruitment Support - Hastings, North Island

Fingermark is a New Zealand-founded global technology company focused on the Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) sector, with teams across New Zealand, Australia, Brazil, the Philippines, Canada and the United States.

For more than 20 years, Fingermark has been developing technology for the realities of busy restaurant environments. Today, its solutions span Vision AI, intelligent self-service kiosks and digital menus, combining software and field-deployed technology to help some of the world’s leading QSR brands improve operational performance and customer experience.

We're now looking for an exceptional Head of Engineering to provide technical and engineering leadership across the business.

About the role

Reporting directly to the CEO and sitting within the executive team, this is a significant technology leadership role with influence across the business.

You'll help set the direction for Fingermark's technology, shape the engineering and technology roadmap alongside the CEO, and lead the teams responsible for developing and delivering it.

The role brings together strategy, engineering leadership and delivery. You'll work closely with Product and other areas of the business to turn customer and commercial priorities into robust, scalable technology.

Your job won’t be to have every answer yourself.

It will be to create the clarity, capability and engineering leadership that allows good teams to move quickly, make sound decisions and deliver technology customers can rely on.

You'll be responsible for:

Setting and delivering the engineering and technology roadmap in partnership with the CEO

Leading the development and delivery of Fingermark's technology

Providing technical leadership across software, platforms, infrastructure and deployed technology

Ensuring systems are scalable, reliable and able to support the needs of the business and its customers

Translating customer requirements into practical technical solutions and integrations

Providing oversight of quality assurance, data protection and cybersecurity

Establishing effective incident management practices alongside Fingermark's Support leaders

Leading, mentoring and developing the technology teams

Building accountability and capability across engineering leadership

Working closely with Product, Sales, Marketing and Operations

Providing technical advice to internal stakeholders and customers

About you

You'll be an experienced engineering or technology leader with a strong technical foundation and the ability to operate confidently at executive level.

What matters more than the title you currently have is how you lead. You'll have the technical credibility to earn the respect of experienced engineers, but you won't need to be the person making every technical decision.

You'll know how to:

Lead and develop strong engineering teams and leaders

Set direction and make sound decisions when the answer isn’t obvious

Turn customer and business priorities into a focused technology roadmap

Create pace through clarity, prioritisation and accountability

Balance engineering quality with effective delivery

Bring sound judgement and a clear technical perspective to executive decision-making

Navigate technical complexity while keeping teams focused on delivery

Communicate clearly with technical and non-technical stakeholders

You'll bring a strong technical background, including experience building scalable software applications, along with commercial awareness across budgeting, planning and resource management.

Experience within SaaS and technology involving field-deployed hardware would be particularly relevant. Exposure to digital displays, computer vision, SOC 2 or PCI environments, product quality management or similar technology environments would also be useful.

Just as importantly, you'll know how to lead through others. You'll be able to create clarity for engineering teams, develop capable leaders and maintain strong engineering standards while keeping customer and business outcomes in view.

Why Fingermark?

There aren’t many engineering leadership roles in New Zealand that combine this breadth of technology, global customer exposure and level of influence.

You'll work directly with the CEO and executive team and help shape Fingermark's technology direction across an environment spanning software, platforms, infrastructure, integrations, AI and field-deployed technology.

This is technology that has to work in the real world, supporting customers operating busy restaurant environments around the world.

For someone based in, or open to Hawke's Bay, this is a rare opportunity to lead globally focused technology work from the region. Hawke's Bay is the preferred base, but strong candidates from across New Zealand will also be considered.

What we offer:

Competitive salary and private health insurance

Extra paid day off for your birthday

Flexible sick leave policies

Two weeks of additional paid parental leave

At Fingermark, we own it, stay brave and are customer obsessed. We've always got your back, and we never forget to have a laugh.

Ready to make your mark?

If this sounds like the kind of engineering leadership challenge you're ready to take on, we'd like to hear from you.