Senior Engineer - AI

Serko; Auckland; Hybrid; NZD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive base pay

Medical Benefits

Discretionary incentive plan

Learning & development platform

Flexible work policy

Job summary

Serko seeks a frontend/full-stack engineer to own the end-to-end delivery of web applications and the BFF layer. You will partner with Product and Design to define scope, implement AI-powered features with solid engineering practices, and raise accessibility, performance and security from day one.

You will work across React, Next.js and Python stack, shipping frequent updates, and mentoring teammates while advancing platform integrations and reliability.

Qualifications

• Drives outcomes independently and owns results.
• Influences what gets built, not just how.
• Adapts quickly to new systems and helps others ramp up.

Responsibilities

• Own the delivery: lead projects end-to-end across React, Next.js and Python stack.
• Shape the scope: partner with Product and Design, define user states, cut scope to protect timelines.
• Integrate AI thoughtfully: build AI features with transparency and sane fallbacks.
• Raise the bar: champion accessibility, performance, security and code quality.
• Mentor early-career engineers through pairing and feedback.

Skills

High Agency

Strong Product Sense

High Learning Velocity

AI & System Leverage

Clear Communication

Full-Stack Flexibility

Bias to Action

Tools

React

Next.js

TypeScript

Tailwind CSS

Python

Kubernetes/Helm

Pulumi

GitHub Actions

New Relic

Job description

At Serko, we believe something incredible happens when people come face-to-face. That's why we're on a mission to engineer a frictionless, next-generation business travel marketplace. We don't just manage travel; we are leveraging advanced AI and cutting-edge tech to eliminate the complexity of global movement.

When you join Serko, you join a global collective of passionate technologists who show up as their true selves to build world-class products. With established hubs across New Zealand, Australia, North America, India and China - your code and ideas will impact millions of corporate travelers worldwide. If you're ready to challenge the status quo and build the future of travel tech, your next journey starts here.

Reporting to a Senior Engineering Manager or Engineering Manager, you lead the design and delivery of moderately complex solutions at the application experience layer — the web applications, and the BFF and orchestration services behind them that connect our experiences to platform services.

You own outcomes, not just your slice: you shape the \"why\" with Product and Design, lead projects end-to-end with light-touch steering, and raise the craft, accessibility and performance of your team's surfaces.

At Serko, we believe something incredible happens when people come face-to-face. That's why we're on a mission to engineer a frictionless, next-generation business travel marketplace. We don't just manage travel; we are leveraging advanced AI and cutting-edge tech to eliminate the complexity of global movement.

When you join Serko, you join a global collective of passionate technologists who show up as their true selves to build world-class products. With established hubs across New Zealand, Australia, North America, India and China - your code and ideas will impact millions of corporate travelers worldwide. If you're ready to challenge the status quo and build the future of travel tech, your next journey starts here.

Reporting to a Senior Engineering Manager or Engineering Manager, you lead the design and delivery of moderately complex solutions at the application experience layer — the web applications, and the BFF and orchestration services behind them that connect our experiences to platform services.

You own outcomes, not just your slice: you shape the \"why\" with Product and Design, lead projects end-to-end with light-touch steering, and raise the craft, accessibility and performance of your team's surfaces.

Requirements

Who Thrives in This Role:

• High Agency: Drives outcomes independently, makes quick decisions, and owns results
• Strong Product Sense: Influences what gets built, not just how
• High Learning Velocity: Adapts quickly to new systems and helps others ramp up faster
• AI & System Leverage: Leverages AI tools effectively to drive system-level improvements
• Clear Communication: Aligns Engineering, Product, and Design with articulate decision-making
• Full-Stack Flexibility: Deep frontend expertise, confident across the entire stack
• Bias to Action: Ships small, high-impact changes frequently.

What You'll Do

Own the Delivery: Lead projects end-to-end across our React, Next.js, and Python stack. Ship small, frequent updates and own your deployment, infrastructure, and on-call support.

Shape the Scope: Partner with Product and Design early. Pressure-test ideas, define all user states upfront, and aggressively cut scope to protect timelines.

Integrate AI Thoughtfully: Build AI features with transparency and user fallbacks, while championing agentic engineering habits (TDD, curated context) across the team.

Raise the Bar: Champion accessibility, performance, and security from day one. Document trade-offs clearly and keep code reviews moving by focusing on intended behavior.

Multiply Your Impact: Mentor early-career engineers through pairing and empathetic, judgment-building feedback.

What you'll bring

Frontend & BFF: Proven production experience with React, Next.js, TypeScript, and Tailwind CSS. Ability to design and own Python BFF and orchestration services (API contracts, auth, platform integration).

AI & Agentic Engineering: Hands-on experience building AI-powered customer features (managing streaming, latency, and non-deterministic outputs). Working knowledge of context engineering, verification loops, and evals.

Architecture & UX: Fluent in responsive component architecture. Transforms Figma prototypes into scalable UI with strict, routine adherence to WCAG AA 2.x standards.

Infrastructure & DevOps: Experience deploying and operating services on GCP using GitHub Actions, containers, Kubernetes/Helm, and Infrastructure as Code (Pulumi).

Quality & Observability: Writes comprehensive automated tests (unit, component, e2e). Drives architectural and product decisions using New Relic, Core Web Vitals, and telemetry.

Engineering Mindset: Pragmatic under shifting priorities. Proactively targets workflow inefficiencies, balances security with maintainability, and actively drives personal growth and community practices.

Benefits

At Serko, we aim to create a place where people can come and do their best work. This means you'll be operating in an environment with great tools and support to enable you to perform at the highest level of your abilities, producing high-quality and delivering innovative and efficient results. Our people are fully engaged, continuously improving, and encouraged to make an impact.

Some of the benefits of working at Serko are:

• A competitive base pay
• Medical Benefits
• Discretionary incentive plan based on individual and company performance
• Focus on development: Access to a learning & development platform and opportunity for you to own your career pathways
• Flexible work policy