Software Engineering Team Lead

Younity; Christchurch; On-site; NZD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Younity is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to lead a small engineering team while staying hands-on with the code, ensuring delivery of high‑quality customer‑facing software.

You’ll design, build and deliver features, guide technical decisions, mentor other engineers and collaborate with Product and Design to understand user needs.

This role emphasizes ownership, architectural judgement and a pragmatic approach to testing, deployment and reliability as the product scales.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience leading small teams of software engineers.
• Proven track record delivering customer-facing software products.
• Strong architectural judgement and hands‑on coding experience.
• Ability to mentor engineers and drive best practices.

Responsibilities

• Providing hands‑on technical leadership to a small team of Software Engineers
• Designing, coding and delivering customer‑facing product features
• Helping the team understand customer problems and translate them into effective technical solutions
• Building and improving interactive product experiences that customers actively use
• Guiding the team through complex engineering challenges
• Contributing to architectural decisions and the future direction of the technology platform
• Reviewing code and encouraging high standards across engineering
• Improving development practices, automated testing and continuous delivery
• Ensuring systems remain reliable, secure and scalable as the product grows
• Supporting engineers through technical mentoring, pairing and knowledge sharing
• Working closely with Product, Design and other stakeholders to deliver the right outcomes
• Identifying technical risks, dependencies and blockers early to keep delivery moving

Skills

Hands-on leadership

Senior / Technical Lead

Customer-facing software

Mentoring engineers

Architectural judgement

Agile product environment

Collaboration with Product/Design

Effective communication

Code reviews

System reliability

Tools

Git

CI/CD

Design patterns

Job description

Jora New Zealand will close on 9th September 2026. Thank you for being with us, we are cheering you on as you continue your career journey.

The company:

Our client is a New Zealand SaaS business where engineering has a genuine voice in how the organisation develops its products and improves the experience it provides to customers.

You’ll join a collaborative environment that values ownership, curiosity and continuous improvement. There’s a strong focus on building interactive, customer-facing technology that performs well as the business grows.

Why this role?

If you’re an experienced Software Engineer who enjoys leading others but wants to remain hands‑on with the code, this role offers an excellent balance.

You’ll provide technical leadership to a small team of Software Engineers while continuing to design, build and deliver customer‑facing software. This is not a move away from engineering. You’ll remain close to the code and actively contribute to solving customer and technical problems.

This role will suit someone who is aSenior Software Engineer. You’ll understand customer needs, help turn them into practical product solutions and contribute to interactive, dynamic experiences that customers actively use.

What you'll be doing

• Providing hands‑on technical leadership to a small team of Software Engineers
• Designing, coding and delivering customer‑facing product features
• Helping the team understand customer problems and translate them into effective technical solutions
• Building and improving interactive product experiences that customers actively use
• Guiding the team through complex engineering challenges
• Contributing to architectural decisions and the future direction of the technology platform
• Reviewing code and encouraging high standards across engineering
• Improving development practices, automated testing and continuous delivery
• Ensuring systems remain reliable, secure and scalable as the product grows
• Supporting engineers through technical mentoring, pairing and knowledge sharing
• Working closely with Product, Design and other stakeholders to deliver the right outcomes
• Identifying technical risks, dependencies and blockers early to keep delivery moving

What we're looking for

You’ll be an established Senior Software Engineer or Technical Lead with experience guiding other engineers while remaining actively involved in software development.

You’ll have significant experience building customer‑facing software products. You’ll understand how to explore customer problems, balance technical and product considerations and create intuitive, responsive experiences that people actively engage with.

We’re looking for someone with:

• Strong experience building interactive, customer‑facing software products
• Recent, hands‑on software development experience
• Experience technically leading or guiding a small engineering team
• A product‑focused mindset and a genuine interest in solving customer problems
• The ability to mentor engineers and bring out the best in those around you
• Strong architectural judgement and the confidence to lead technical discussions
• Experience making decisions that affect a wider product or platform
• An understanding of dependable, secure and scalable software
• Exposure to modern automated testing, deployment and continuous delivery practices
• Experience diagnosing and resolving complex technical problems
• Confidence working in an Agile product environment
• The ability to collaborate effectively with Product, Design and other areas of the business
• Strong communication skills and the ability to bring people together around technical decisions

Why you'll want this

You’ll have the opportunity to lead a small engineering team without stepping away from the work you enjoy most.

You’ll remain hands‑on with the code, contribute to important product and architectural decisions and help build software that customers actively use. You’ll also be able to influence how the team approaches engineering, solves problems and delivers reliable software.

For an experienced engineer ready to take greater technical ownership while continuing to build, this could be your ideal next role.