Lead Developer

Police; Wellington; Hybrid; NZD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

New Zealand Police is seeking a Lead Java Developer to provide technical leadership within a product team, while remaining hands-on where it matters. You will guide solution design, set engineering standards, mentor developers, and influence technical strategy across Centres of Expertise in Wellington.

You will uplift engineering capability, support major modernisation initiatives, and deliver secure, reliable, and impactful solutions for frontline staff and communities.

Qualifications

• Proven Java enterprise-scale development experience.
• Experience leading development teams or providing technical leadership.
• Excellent understanding of software architecture, integration patterns and engineering practices.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership and shape architectural direction and system design.
• Lead delivery of complex features, integrations and modernisation work.
• Champion engineering best practices, coding standards and patterns.
• Mentor and coach developers across levels for capability uplift.
• Conduct and lead design and code reviews for quality and maintainability.
• Partner with engineers, product teams and stakeholders to design secure, scalable solutions.
• Troubleshoot complex issues across distributed systems and guide root cause resolution.
• Influence development roadmaps as a senior technical advisor.

Skills

Java 17+

Technical leadership

Enterprise architecture

CI/CD

Spring Boot

REST APIs

Cloud concepts

Team mentoring

Tools

Spring Boot

CI/CD pipelines

Docker/Kubernetes

Job description

Career Opportunities: Lead Developer (6078348)

Requisition ID6078348-Posted11/10/2026-Wellington-Permanent FT

Stand at the stern of the canoe and feel the spray of the future biting at your face

Mō te tūnga | About the role

NZ Police ICT builds and supports the critical systems that frontline staff rely on every day. With our main ICT hub in Wellington and engineering teams across the motu, we deliver modern, secure, scalable technology that directly contributes to safer communities.

We are looking for a Lead Java Developer to provide technical leadership and direction inside a product team, while still staying hands‑on where it matters. You'll guide solution design, set engineering standards, mentor developers, and influence technical strategy within the Centres of Expertise.

This is a role for someone who enjoys both high‑level architectural thinking and pragmatic, hands‑on problem solving. You’ll work closely with principal engineers, product owners and senior stakeholders to ensure our systems are robust, modern, and future‑focused.

Your leadership will help uplift engineering capability, support major modernisation initiatives, and enable the team to deliver solutions that are secure, reliable, and impactful.

Key Accountabilities

• Provide technical leadership, helping shape architectural direction and system design.
• Lead the delivery of complex features, integrations, and modernisation work.
• Champion engineering best practices, coding standards, and development patterns.
• Mentor and coach developers at all levels, supporting capability uplift and professional growth.
• Conduct and lead design and code reviews, ensuring quality and maintainability.
• Partner with principal engineers, product teams, and stakeholders to design secure, scalable solutions.
• Troubleshoot complex issues across distributed systems and guide teams toward root cause resolution.
• Influence development roadmaps and participate in planning sessions as a senior technical advisor.

He aha taau e kawe mai | What you’ll bring

Whilst we are looking for skills, knowledge and experience relevant to the role, we also place high importance on your state of mind, the alignment of your values with ours,your ability to contribute to and build high performing teams, and the way that you lead yourself or others.

• Strong expertise in Java (version 17 and up) and deep experience building enterprise‑scale applications.
• Experience leading development teams or providing technical leadership in multi‑team environments.
• Excellent understanding of software architecture, integration patterns, and engineering practices.
• Proficiency with version control, CI/CD pipelines, and modern development workflows.
• Ability to break down complex technical problems and guide teams to effective solutions.
• Strong communication skills, able to engage confidently with technical and non‑technical stakeholders.
• A collaborative mindset with a passion for improving systems, teams, and technical maturity.
• Experience with modern frameworks (e.g., Spring Boot), REST APIs, cloud concepts, containerisation, or frontend technologies is an advantage

This role is Individual Contributor/Emerging Leader level. You can refer to Indicators for Success for further information on the requirements

New Zealand Police is the lead agency responsible for preventing crime and enhancing community safety. It works in partnership with individuals, communities, businesses, and other public sector agencies towards the vision of making New Zealand the safest country. Police is the government’s largest front‑line response agency with around 15,000 staff in large and small communities all over New Zealand and in liaison and policing development roles overseas.

Your development is highly valued at NZ Police. Our employees enjoy significant investment in their development not only at an individual level, but also at the team and community practice level. We work hard to match you with work that will both play to your strengths and challenge you in new ways.

The work you’ll be engaged in is real, tangible work that directly benefits our frontline and communities. Taken all together, this means we can offer you career path opportunities to progress in your chosen profession and become a more well‑rounded, experienced leader, with opportunities across the range of work we support.

Please note: Deadline for applications is 5:00 pm on 26/10/2026. Applications may be reviewed prior to the close date as well as contact made with candidates.