Senior Quality Engineer

Southern Cross Health Insurance; Auckland; On-site; NZD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Five days wellbeing leave

Health insurance for you and your whān

Life insurance cover and discounts on

Job summary

Southern Cross Health Insurance in Auckland is seeking a Senior QA Engineer to shape the quality bar for a brand-new squad and product from day one. You’ll drive test strategy, automation, and risk-based testing across APIs, services, and end-to-end member journeys.

Join a values-driven team focused on delivering safe, scalable software and customer outcomes. You’ll collaborate with engineers, product, design, and business colleagues in a modern CI/CD environment.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in testing and quality engineering within complex technology environments.
• Hands-on experience building and maintaining test automation, ideally integrated with CI/CD pipelines.
• Strong grasp of the testing pyramid, risk-based testing and shift-left practices.
• Experience testing APIs, integrations and end-to-end business processes.

Responsibilities

• Lead the test approach for a new product, from planning through to release.
• Apply risk-based testing that focuses on areas of greatest member, operational and regulatory risk.
• Work with engineers to shift testing left – building quality into stories, acceptance criteria and code from the outset.
• Design and build test automation that runs in our CI/CD pipelines and creates sustainable value.
• Test across services, integrations, data flows and end-to-end member journeys.
• Bring performance and security testing into the squad’s everyday practice.
• Explore how AI can make our testing smarter and faster.
• Identify and clearly communicate defects, risks and dependencies – and their potential impact on members.
• Give objective advice on release readiness and residual risk, backed by clear, traceable evidence.
• Share practical guidance that lifts testing capability across the squad.

Skills

Experience in QA & quality engineering

Test automation

Testing pyramid & shift-left

API testing

Performance testing

Defect/test management tools

Agile product teams

AI in testing

Clear communication

Independent work

Tools

CI/CD tools

Job description

About us

Southern Cross Health Insurance is shaping a healthier Aotearoa New Zealand. Our purpose is simple: empowering our members to live well for longer. We’re here to give peace of mind through timely access to quality care, inspire healthier living, and lead positive change across the health system. As a New Zealand-owned, member-based organisation, we’re building a future where wellbeing is at the heart of everything we do – delivering exceptional value for our members and creating an environment where our people thrive.

Now is an exciting time to join us. You’ll be part of a high-performing, values-driven team where people are at the heart of everything we do – and in return for your talent, you’ll have the opportunity to grow, make an impact, and be proud of the difference your work makes.

About the role

Southern Cross is guided by purpose, powered by people and technology. We exist to help our members live well for longer.

We serve almost one million members across Aotearoa New Zealand – which means the work we do carries real scale, real responsibility, and a genuine opportunity to improve health outcomes for our nation.

As we grow to be a more proactive partner in our members’ health, we’re building something new: a digital health and wellbeing experience designed to help members build healthier habits.

We’re looking for a Senior QA Engineer to help a brand-new squad ship with confidence – and to shape how quality is built into a new product from the very beginning.

About the opportunity

You’ll be joining a new squad, which gives you a rare opportunity: rather than inheriting a testing approach, you’ll help define it.

We see quality as the whole squad’s responsibility, not a gate at the end. You’ll bring the practices that make that real – a healthy testing pyramid, automation where it adds lasting value, and testing that’s built into our CI/CD pipelines so releases can be frequent and safe.

You’ll focus effort where the risk to members is greatest, and give the squad clear, evidence-based insight into whether something is ready to go. You’ll work alongside engineers, product, design and business colleagues, and be connected to the wider engineering community across Digital Platforms.

What you’ll do

• Lead the test approach for a new product, from planning through to release
• Apply risk-based testing that focuses on the areas of greatest member, operational and regulatory risk
• Work with engineers to shift testing left – building quality into stories, acceptance criteria and code from the outset
• Design and build test automation that runs in our CI/CD pipelines and creates sustainable value
• Test across services, integrations, data flows and end-to-end member journeys
• Bring performance and security testing into the squad’s everyday practice
• Explore how AI can make our testing smarter and faster
• Identify and clearly communicate defects, risks and dependencies – and their potential impact on members
• Give objective advice on release readiness and residual risk, backed by clear, traceable evidence
• Share practical guidance that lifts testing capability across the squad

What you’ll bring

We’re looking for someone who treats quality as an outcome rather than a phase – and who can bring engineers and stakeholders along with them.

• Significant experience in testing and quality engineering within complex technology environments
• Hands-on experience building and maintaining test automation, ideally integrated with CI/CD pipelines
• A strong grasp of the testing pyramid, risk-based testing and shift-left practices
• Experience testing APIs, integrations and end-to-end business processes
• Exposure to performance and security testing
• Experience with test management, defect management and automation tools relevant to modern delivery teams
• Experience working in Agile, product-led teams where the squad owns what it builds
• Curiosity about how AI can improve testing, balanced with a pragmatic view of what’s worth adopting
• Clear communication, including the ability to explain quality risks to non-technical people
• The confidence to work independently, juggle priorities and adapt as a new product evolves

Why join us

We’re investing – in people, in technology, and in the mission. At a time when the market is hesitant, we’re continuing to strengthen our foundations and build new capabilities. This is a genuine build role: a new product, a new squad, and the chance to set the quality bar from day one.

We’re building something worth joining. Our teams are growing, our employer brand is gaining real traction in market, and the way we show up for our members and each other is being noticed. This momentum has also been reflected externally – in 2026, Southern Cross placed 8th in the Kantar Corporate Reputation Index and 5th in New Zealand for Trust.

Who we are

_ Ngākau nui. Āhurutanga. Tikanga. _

Join a proud, diverse team that’s always there, always real, always true. If you thrive in a caring, honest and open culture, we think you’ll love working with us.

We know our team’s culture and wellbeing drive us forward. That’s why we prioritise not only professional development but opportunities to thrive personally. We offer exceptional work/life balance, and our people are encouraged – and rewarded – for living well.

Southern Cross employee benefits include:

• Five days of wellbeing leave per year
• Health insurance for you and your immediate whānau
• Life insurance cover and discounts on pet and travel insurance
• Extra parental leave benefits and financial wellbeing support
• Participation in our workplace wellbeing programme
• The option to purchase flexi leave for study, volunteering, or supporting your whānau
• An annual volunteer day to contribute to a cause with your team

This is a permanent, Auckland-based role. While we appreciate interest from candidates in other locations, we’re not able to consider remote options at this stage. If this sounds like the kind of work you want to help shape, we’d love to hear from you. Have questions? Check out our FAQs for help with the application and recruitment process.

We are proud to have taken the Pride Pledge, reflecting our commitment to inclusion and belonging. We also facilitate an active, employee-led Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Forum, which includes our Rainbow Network, Māori Network, Pasifika Collective, and Neurodiversity and Whānau Support networks.

If you share our commitment and passion, we’d love to hear from you.