Senior AI Engineer

Kāinga Ora - Homes and Communities; Auckland; Hybrid; NZD 130,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Five weeks annual leave

Insurance benefits

Job summary

Kāinga Ora - Homes and Communities is seeking a Senior AI Engineer to manage the end-to-end lifecycle of AI-enabled solutions. You will collaborate with business and technology stakeholders to identify opportunities for AI, Copilot, automation, and intelligent workflows across the organisation, ensuring secure, scalable, and ethical implementations.

This Auckland-based role offers five weeks of annual leave plus insurance benefits, with a focus on governance, security, and real-world value

Qualifications

• Proven experience designing, developing and delivering AI-enabled solutions in large enterprise environments.
• Hands-on experience with Microsoft Copilot, Copilot Studio, Azure AI, Azure OpenAI, Power Platform AI or similar enterprise AI platforms.
• Experience building and deploying AI assistants, intelligent agents, conversational AI, automation, and intelligent workflows delivering measurable business value.
• Experience integrating AI capabilities into existing enterprise platforms, apps and processes.
• Strong understanding of Generative AI, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), prompt engineering, and modern AI solution architecture.
• Strong knowledge of cyber security, privacy, information management, compliance, and Responsible AI principles.

Responsibilities

• End-to-end lifecycle management of AI-enabled solutions from discovery to governance.
• Partner with business and technology stakeholders to identify AI opportunities that create value.
• Lead design, delivery, and adoption of AI services across the organisation.
• Ensure AI solutions are secure, scalable, ethical, and compliant with governance requirements.
• Engage with stakeholders to uplift capability and measure benefits.

Skills

AI engineering

Stakeholder engagement

Generative AI

Cyber security knowledge

Prompt engineering

Tools

Microsoft Copilot

Copilot Studio

Azure AI

Azure OpenAI

Power Platform AI

Job description

• Hold responsibility for end-to-end lifecycle of AI-enabled solutions
• Partner with business and technology stakeholders to identify opportunities where AI can create meaningful value
• Permanent Auckland-based role, 5 weeks leave + insurance benefits

Te whiwhinga mahi - Our opportunity

Kāinga Ora are looking for a Senior AI Engineer, to be responsible for the end-to-end lifecycle of AI-enabled solutions, from discovery and design through to implementation, adoption, governance, support, and continuous improvement. You will work at the forefront of emerging technologies, helping Kāinga Ora safely unlock the potential of artificial intelligence while ensuring solutions are secure, scalable, ethical, and aligned with organisational objectives.

The core functions of our Senior AI Engineer include:

• AI Solution Design & Delivery - including driving innovation and transforming business outcomes by identifying and championing opportunities to leverage AI, Microsoft Copilot, automation, and intelligent workflow solutions across the organisation
• AI Platform & Capability Engineering - including leveraging approved enterprise technologies to build and maintain secure, scalable, and effective AI services
• Optimisation & Continuous Improvement - including driving measurable value from AI investments by monitoring, analysing, and reporting on AI solution adoption, benefits realisation, and operational performance across the organisation
• Governance, Security & Responsible AI - ensuring AI solutions comply with security, privacy, information management and governance requirements
• Stakeholder Engagement & Capability Uplift

This is an exciting opportunity to influence the future direction of AI across a complex enterprise environment while delivering solutions that make a tangible difference for New Zealanders.

Ngā pūmanawatanga ōu - What you will bring

To be successful in this role, you will bring a strong combination of AI engineering expertise, business engagement capabilities, and a passion for delivering innovative, responsible technology solutions. You will have experience working in complex enterprise environments and a demonstrated ability to translate emerging technologies into practical business outcomes

You'll bring:

• Proven experience designing, developing, and delivering AI-enabled solutions within large and complex enterprise environments
• Hands-on experience with Microsoft Copilot, Copilot Studio, Azure AI, Azure OpenAI, Power Platform AI capabilities, or similar enterprise AI platforms
• Experience building and deploying AI assistants, intelligent agents, conversational AI solutions, automation capabilities, and intelligent workflows that deliver measurable business value
• Experience integrating AI capabilities into existing enterprise platforms, applications, and business processes
• Strong understanding of Generative AI, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), prompt engineering, and modern AI solution architecture
• Strong knowledge of cyber security, privacy, information management, compliance, and Responsible AI principles and practices
• Proven ability to partner with business stakeholders to identify opportunities, solve complex challenges, and deliver measurable outcomes.

Nōu te rourou - What's in it for you?

We offer competitive salaries, five weeks' annual leave and a benefits package including a range of insurances, flexible working arrangements and career development. These benefits are described in more detail here https://careers.kaingaora.govt.nz/a-great-place-to-work/benefits

As a Kāinga Ora - Homes and Communities employee, we want to make sure that you have all the tools and support you need. We want to ensure you are healthy and have work-life balance. We also want to support and grow your personal and career development through on-the-job learning, training courses, secondments and study opportunities.

Mō mātou - Our Organisation

At Kāinga Ora, ours is the important responsibility of transforming New Zealand’s housing choices, outcomes and the entire housing sector by creating homes and communities that allow New Zealanders to thrive.

What is exciting about working for Kāinga Ora is getting the chance to make a real and positive impact on New Zealanders’ lives. With skills, planning and purposeful action, our people are creating the homes and neighbourhoods that will build the future of Aotearoa.

We are passionate about transforming New Zealand for the better. That includes being a trusted partner for Māori and iwi, protecting and enabling their rights, interests and aspirations under the guidance of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Ō tātou uara - Our values

Our values were developed by us, for us. They unite us as an organisation and guide how we work every day. Our values are:

• Manaakitanga – People at the Heart
• Mahi Tahi – Better Together
• Whanake – Be Bold

Tūhono mai - Join us

Applications close Monday 19th October at 5.00pm.

We value diversity and are committed to working with each other and our customers in an inclusive and respectful way. We welcome applicants from all walks of life and appreciate the richness of experience that your point of difference brings to the organisation.

If you don’t tick all the boxes in this listing but think that you could be a great fit based on your unique background and skillset, we would welcome an application from you.

If you have any questions about this role, please contact [e-mail].