Principal Systems Engineer: Lead Scalable Cloud & On-Prem

Marketplace; Auckland, Palmerston North, Wellington; Remote; NZD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Five weeks annual leave

Income protection

Critical illness insurance

Professional development

Flexible working arrangements

Job summary

New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) is seeking a Principal Systems Engineer to lead engineering across cloud and on‑prem platforms. You will shape technical direction, drive reliability, and mentor teams while partnering with Product Owners and delivery teams to ensure secure, scalable digital services.

You will champion Agile and DevOps practices, influence roadmaps, and grow engineering capability across NZTA, aligning with Te Ao Māori principles and public service values.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in senior technical leadership roles
• Strong infrastructure, systems engineering, and cloud expertise
• Advanced problem-solving and troubleshooting capabilities
• Experience operating within large and complex technology environments
• Strong knowledge of Agile, DevOps, and continuous improvement practices
• Excellent stakeholder engagement, communication, and collaboration skills
• The ability to balance competing priorities in a fast-paced environment
• Knowledge of Te Ao Māori and Te Tiriti o Waitangi as it applies in the public sector

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and delivery of enterprise technology solutions
• Drive platform reliability across cloud and on-prem environments
• Provide leadership during complex incidents and critical outages
• Champion Agile, DevOps, and continuous improvement practices
• Influence technology roadmaps and engineering direction
• Mentor engineers and strengthen technical capability
• Collaborate across teams to deliver secure, scalable services

Skills

Senior leadership

Cloud expertise

Infrastructure engineering

Agile practices

DevOps practices

Stakeholder engagement

Communication skills

Te Ao Māori awareness

Job description

New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) is seeking a Principal Systems Engineer to lead engineering across cloud and on‑prem platforms. You will shape technical direction, drive reliability, and mentor teams while partnering with Product Owners and delivery teams to ensure secure, scalable digital services.

You will champion Agile and DevOps practices, influence roadmaps, and grow engineering capability across NZTA, aligning with Te Ao Māori principles and public service values.