Senior / Tech Lead AI Engineer

Datacom; Christchurch; Hybrid; NZD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible work options

Paid parental leave

Employee Assistance Program

Learning & development

Industry-leading training platforms

Recognition programmes

Employee discounts

Meaningful work

Job summary

Datacom is seeking a Senior/Tech Lead AI Engineer to lead AI delivery within our Digital Engineering AI team. You will help design, develop, and deploy AI-powered software solutions across New Zealand and Australia, guiding production-grade projects from concept to implementation.

With a strong software background and passion for AI, you will work on cutting-edge models using platforms like Azure OpenAI, Microsoft Foundry, or Amazon Bedrock, collaborating across cross-functional teams to solve

Qualifications

• 7+ years of professional software development experience.
• Experience with Python and/or TypeScript.
• Delivery of at least one generative-AI application.
• Experience managing context and data integration for AI.
• Ability to diagnose failures and handle API timeouts.
• Strong customer communication and translating requirements.

Responsibilities

• Work on cutting-edge AI-driven software solutions.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to design and develop AI models.
• Deliver AI-powered applications addressing complex business challenges.
• Push boundaries of AI development in NZ/Australia markets.

Skills

Software engineering

Python/TypeScript

AI model integration

AI delivery experience

Customer communication

Tools

Azure OpenAI

Microsoft Foundry

Amazon Bedrock

Job description

Datacom is leading the charge in delivering Intelligent Applications to our customers in New Zealand and Australia. We are tackling interesting new cases across a range of domains and technologies and we're looking for highly capable AI Engineers to join our team.

About the Role (your why)

The way we work and our customer needs are changing! We are going through a significant AI uplift that will be a real game changer in the New Zealand and Australian markets. We are looking for a Senior/Tech Lead AI Engineer who wants to work on cool projects and bring their own expertise to our solutions.

We need someone who is passionate about AI development and wants to push boundaries. Your software background is key and your passion for AI is a must. This role will see you join our Digital Engineering AI team, focusing on delivering innovative AI-driven software solutions. We will offer you the opportunity to work on cutting-edge projects, collaborating with cross-functional teams to design, develop, and use the latest AI models that address complex business challenges. We need multiple people but we need them now so please don't hesitate. This is your chance to put a New Zealand company on the global map!!!

What you'll bring

Must-haves

• Strong software engineering background: 7+ years of professional development experience, preferably using Python and/or TypeScript.
• Production AI delivery: Demonstrated delivery of at least one generative-AI application using Azure OpenAI/Microsoft Foundry, Amazon Bedrock or an equivalent platform.
• Practical AI understanding: Experience managing context and integrating models with relevant data and tools, including retrieval, embeddings, structured outputs and tool calling.
• Reliable implementation and verification: Ability to diagnose failures, handle API limits and timeouts, and verify the quality and reliability of AI outputs and workflows.
• Customer communication: Ability to understand customer needs, explain technical concepts and trade-offs, and translate requirements into working solutions.

These capabilities may be demonstrated through a single production project; we do not expect experience with every framework or equal depth across all areas.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience working in professional services or a similar client-facing environment.
• Experience with AI orchestration frameworks such as LangChain/LangGraph, LlamaIndex, Microsoft Agent Framework or equivalent.
• Advanced retrieval techniques, including hybrid search, reranking and graph-based retrieval, with an understanding of when the additional complexity is justified and the trade-offs between vector stores.
• AI-assisted development and workspace automation, including controlled code execution, bounded repair workflows and verification of outcomes.
• Model Context Protocol (MCP) or equivalent tool and data integrations, including authentication, permissions and handling untrusted content.
• Multimodal document and image understanding using current models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google or equivalent, including cross-modal embeddings where relevant.
• Fine-tuning or custom model hosting on platforms such as Microsoft Foundry or Amazon SageMaker, where justified by the application.

Culture and Benefits

Join a team where you'll be supported to grow your career, prioritise your wellbeing, and make a genuine impact. From industry-leading learning and development opportunities to parental leave, wellbeing support, and employee benefits, we're committed to helping our people thrive both professionally and personally.

We're passionate about creating a workplace where people feel supported, empowered, and inspired to do their best work. Whether you're developing new skills, tackling complex challenges, or collaborating with some of the best minds in the industry, you'll be part of a team that values curiosity, innovation, inclusion, and making a genuine difference.

Why you will love working here

• Flexible and hybrid working options (only include if applicable)
• Paid parental leave
• 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme (DataCare)
• Ongoing learning, certifications, and career development opportunities
• Access to industry-leading learning platforms and future skills training
• Recognition programmes that celebrate great work
• Great employee discounts and financial wellbeing benefits
• Meaningful work that makes a real impact