Senior / Tech Lead AI Engineer

Datacom; Tauranga; Hybrid; NZD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible and hybrid working options

Paid parental leave

24/7 Employee Assistance Programme (eA

Ongoing learning and career growth

Industry-leading learning platforms

Job summary

Datacom in Tauranga, New Zealand, is seeking a Senior/Tech Lead AI Engineer to join our Digital Engineering AI team. You will design, develop, and deploy AI-driven software solutions, collaborating with cross-functional teams on cutting-edge projects and globally relevant models.

We value strong software engineering, production AI delivery, and practical knowledge of model context, retrieval, embeddings, and tool calling.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of professional development experience with Python and/or TypeScript.
• Production AI delivery: at least one generative-AI app on Azure OpenAI, Foundry or Bedrock.
• Practical AI understanding: retrieval, embeddings, data integration and tool calls.
• Reliable implementation: diagnose failures, manage API limits and timeouts.

Skills

Python

TypeScript

Azure OpenAI

Retrieval & embeddings

Model orchestration

Tools

LangChain

LlamaIndex

Microsoft Foundry

Job description

About the Role (your why)

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.

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