Senior Web Engineer

Icehouseventures; Auckland; On-site; NZD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Icehouse Ventures is seeking a Senior Web Engineer to own the customer-facing web app, internal tools and embedded widgets, shaping standards and architecture across the frontend stack.

You will work closely with product, design and backend teams, hands-on in React and TypeScript, and apply AI tools to move quickly while maintaining high quality. This role anchors NZ fintech web capability and requires strong leadership and craft.

Qualifications

• Extensive front-end experience with React and TypeScript.
• Proven ability to lead architecture and set frontend standards.
• Experience with testing tools such as Jest, Vitest, Testing Library, Playwright or Cypress.
• Backend exposure (Kotlin/Java/Spring) is a plus.
• Strong problem-solving and ownership.

Responsibilities

• Build and own customer-facing web products, dashboards and embedded widgets.
• Lead frontend architecture across component libraries, state management, routing and testing.
• Collaborate with backend engineers on REST APIs and contribute to Kotlin/Spring services where needed.
• Own web performance, accessibility, security and cross-device quality.
• Promote high front-end craftsmanship through reviews and pairing.

Skills

React

TypeScript

Front-end architecture

Web performance

Accessibility

AI coding tools

Technical leadership

Tools

Kotlin

Spring Boot

PostgreSQL

AWS

REST APIs

Job description

About Emerge

Emerge is a fast-growing New Zealand fintech reshaping what modern financial services can look like. Built at the intersection of technology, product, engineering and regulated financial services, the business is creating smart, scalable financial products for people, families and businesses.

The business already has strong foundations in place across transactional accounts, payments and expense management, and is now moving into a wider product suite. That growth creates a rare opportunity for an experienced web engineer to shape how modern financial products are built, scaled and experienced by customers and partners.

About the role

As Senior Web Engineer, you will take ownership of Emerge’s web front end, including the customer-facing web app, internal tools, onboarding flows, dashboards and embedded web components that partners can use in their own platforms.

This is a senior technical role for someone who can lead web architecture and quality from the front. You will work closely with product, design, mobile and backend engineers, while helping Emerge build strong local web capability in New Zealand.

You will be hands-on in React and TypeScript, but your impact will go beyond delivery. You will shape standards, make smart architecture decisions, raise front-end craft, and use AI tools thoughtfully to move faster while still owning the quality of what ships.

You will:

• Build and own customer-facing web products, including web app capability and embedded web widgets.
• Lead front-end architecture across component libraries, design tokens, state management, routing and testing.
• Deliver internal and customer tools across dashboards, onboarding, identity and business banking workflows.
• Work with backend engineers on REST APIs and contribute to Kotlin or Spring services where needed.
• Own web performance, accessibility, browser security and cross-device quality.
• Use AI coding tools as part of your daily workflow, while reviewing and owning every component that ships.
• Raise web engineering standards through design reviews, tech reviews, pull request feedback and pairing.

About you

You are a deeply experienced web engineer who knows the difference between something that works and something that feels right. You bring strong front-end depth, clear technical judgement and the confidence to set standards without creating unnecessary process. You are curious, proactive and comfortable working in a fast-moving product environment where good decisions need to be made quickly.

We are looking for strong web-first engineers, not generalist developers with only light React experience. For one hire, deeper web architecture and front-end craft will be key. For another, meaningful backend experience across Kotlin, Java, Spring Boot, PostgreSQL or AWS would be very useful.

Where you might be right now

You may be a senior web engineer, staff engineer or technical lead in a product-led technology business. You may have worked in a start-up, scale-up, SaaS, fintech or consumer product environment, or you may come from a larger engineering team where you have retained strong hands-on web craft and technical ownership.

You will bring

• Significant professional front-end experience, ideally 10+ years, with strong React and TypeScript depth.
• Experience owning a customer-facing web product, web-first platform, embedded web component, reusable library or widget-style product.
• Strong understanding of performance, accessibility, browser security and cross-browser quality.
• Experience with component and end-to-end testing, such as Jest, Vitest, Testing Library, Playwright or Cypress.
• Evidence of setting technical direction, improving standards and influencing web architecture.
• Practical AI coding tool experience, with clear judgement about review, quality and limits.
• Backend exposure, particularly Kotlin, Java, Spring Boot, PostgreSQL or AWS, would be helpful but is not essential.

Why join Emerge?

• Take true ownership of web engineering in a fintech with foundations in place and a clear growth runway ahead.
• Shape the technical direction for customer-facing web products, embedded widgets and internal tools.
• Work close to product, design, mobile and backend teams building modern financial products.
• Join an AI-forward engineering team that expects people to move quickly while still owning quality.
• Make a visible impact as Emerge expands its product suite and strengthens its New Zealand engineering capability.