Machine Learning Engineer

Tribe Recruitment; Auckland; Hybrid; NZD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

5 weeks' leave

Sick leave provisions

Wellbeing support

Annual volunteer day

Job summary

Tribe Recruitment in Auckland, New Zealand seeks a data/ML engineer to build and maintain data and model pipelines, taking concepts into production. You will design infrastructure for model management, evaluation and deployment across cloud/HPC/on-prem environments and collaborate with scientists and domain experts.

The role emphasises strong software engineering, MLOps practices, and a hybrid working setup with location flexibility across main centres. NZ citizen or right-to-work is required.

Qualifications

• 3+ years’ experience in data engineering, DevOps/MLOps, or related roles.
• Strong Python and/or R with practical ML deployment experience.
• Proven experience building ETL pipelines and repeatable model development workflows.
• Confidence with containerisation and automated deployments (Kubernetes-style environments).
• Understanding of model evaluation, and a solid foundation in statistics.
• Comfort working with cloud platforms (Azure experience ideal) and infrastructure-as-code (preferred).
• Ability to embed ethics, privacy, governance and Māori data sovereignty considerations into delivery.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain high-quality data and model pipelines, taking proof-of-concept work into production.
• Design and implement infrastructure for model management, evaluation and deployment across cloud/HPC/on-prem environments.
• Collaborate with data scientists and domain experts across multi-disciplinary programmes.
• Promote strong software engineering and MLOps best practice (CI/CD, automation, reliability).

Skills

Data engineering

DevOps / MLOps

Python

ETL pipelines

Kubernetes / containers

Cloud platforms (Azure)

Infrastructure as code

Ethics and governance

Job description

Jora New Zealand will close on 9th September 2026. Thank you for being with us, we are cheering you on as you continue your career journey.

Tribe Recruitment – Auckland, North Island

About the Opportunity

• Join a New Zealand research-based organisation delivering science that supports public health, environmental protection and justice outcomes
• Build and maintain high-quality data and model pipelines, taking proof-of-concept work into production
• Design and implement infrastructure for model management, evaluation and deployment across cloud/HPC/on-prem environments
• Collaborate with data scientists and domain experts across multi-disciplinary programmes
• Promote strong software engineering and MLOps best practice (CI/CD, automation, reliability)

What You’ll Bring

• 3+ years’ experience in data engineering, DevOps/MLOps, or related engineering roles
• Strong capability in Python and/or R, and practical experience deploying ML solutions
• Proven experience building ETL pipelines and repeatable model development workflows
• Confidence with containerisation and automated deployments (e.g., Kubernetes-style environments)
• Understanding of model evaluation, and a solid foundation in statistics
• Comfort working with cloud platforms (Azure experience ideal) and infrastructure-as-code (preferred)
• Ability to embed ethics, privacy, governance and Māori data sovereignty considerations into delivery

What’s on Offer

• Meaningful work: apply ML to complex, high-impact challenges for Aotearoa NZ
• Flexible working options (hybrid environment) and location flexibility across main centres
• Benefits package including equivalent of 5 weeks’ leave, sick leave provisions, and wellbeing support
• Annual volunteer day + supportive, values-led culture focused on collaboration and quality

To apply for this vacancy, you MUST be a New Zealand citizen, resident, or have already secured the right to work in New Zealand and therefore hold a valid visa.

Tribe is a group of specialist teams, each of who truly understand their world, and together they partner to understand yours. Whether you’re looking for your next opportunity or recruiting, we’re all about bringing people together for a shared purpose. Find your people.