Software Engineering Team Lead

Fluid Recruitment; Dunedin; On-site; NZD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Fluid Recruitment is seeking a senior Software Engineering Team Lead for a new New Zealand-built peer-to-peer marketplace in Dunedin. You will take technical ownership from day one, driving architecture, code quality and delivery while remaining hands-on and focused on scale.

You’ll coordinate with an external development partner, steer the technical roadmap, and build an internal engineering capability as the platform grows.

Qualifications

• At least 5 years' commercial software development experience.
• Strong TypeScript and React experience.
• Strong React Native or mobile application development experience.
• Solid PostgreSQL, database and API capability.
• Strong frontend and backend development experience.
• Proven experience taking ownership of an existing production codebase.
• Experience troubleshooting live applications and complex integrations.
• Strong understanding of scalable software architecture.
• Proven technical leadership experience.
• Experience guiding developers, external development partners or technical suppliers.
• Confidence setting technical priorities and challenging decisions where required.
• Strong communication skills with technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• A practical understanding of modern AI-assisted software development.

Responsibilities

• Initially collaborate with the external development team to understand the platform, architecture and codebase.
• Take ownership across the product, including live operation, bug fixing, new features and improvements.
• Maintain the mobile application, backend and administration environment.
• Manage APIs and third-party integrations, and support iOS and Android releases.
• Monitor performance, reliability, and scalability; steer technical roadmap.

Skills

TypeScript

React

React Native

PostgreSQL

APIs

Full stack

Technical leadership

Ownership

Communication

AI-assisted development

Tools

Expo

Supabase

Stripe

PostGIS

AWS

Vercel

Sentry

React Admin

Job description

Take technical ownership of a new digital marketplace built to scale.

A new New Zealand-built peer-to-peer marketplace is preparing to launch, with the potential to become something significantly bigger than a typical software product.

Think less internal business system and more the early growth story of platforms such as Uber, Airbnb or Trade Me. The technology is built, the market opportunity is there, and the next phase is about users, transactions, scale and rapid product evolution.

We are looking for an experienced Software Engineering Team Lead to take technical ownership at the point where things could start moving very quickly.

The platform has undergone substantial development with an external software partner, who will remain involved. Your role will be to get across the architecture and codebase quickly, then increasingly take the lead on development, technical direction and delivery internally.

A key part of the role will also be working closely with the external software development team, coordinating priorities, managing technical requirements and ensuring internal and external development activity stays aligned.

This is not a maintenance role, and it is not a management position for someone who has stopped coding.

You'll be expected to remain firmly hands-on while providing the technical leadership needed to take the platform forward.

The Role

Initially, you'll work closely with the external development team to build a thorough understanding of the platform, architecture and existing codebase.

From there, you'll increasingly take ownership across the product, including:

• Supporting the platform as it moves into live operation
• Investigating and resolving bugs, production issues and integration problems
• Developing new features and product improvements
• Maintaining the mobile application, backend and administration environment
• Managing APIs and third-party integrations
• Supporting iOS and Android releases
• Monitoring performance, errors, reliability and scalability
• Making sound technical and architectural decisions as the platform evolves
• Translating user feedback and commercial priorities into development outcomes
• Setting development priorities and helping steer the technical roadmap
• Leading internal development activity while coordinating closely with the external software development team and specialist suppliers
• Managing development delivery across both internal and external resources
• Building and potentially leading an internal software engineering capability as the business grows

You'll be writing code today while helping shape how development is delivered tomorrow.

The Technology

The platform is built primarily in TypeScript, with a common language across the mobile application, backend functions and administration environment.

The current stack includes:

• React Native + Expo
• TypeScript
• Supabase
• PostgreSQL
• PostGIS
• Stripe, Stripe Connect and Stripe Identity
• AWS Location Service
• React Admin
• Vercel
• Resend + React Email
• Sentry

We are deliberately targeting someone already comfortable in this type of modern full stack environment.

Strong TypeScript, React and React Native experience will be particularly important, together with solid capability across databases, APIs and backend development.

Experience with Expo, Supabase, PostgreSQL, Stripe, PostGIS or high-volume marketplace platforms will be highly regarded.

About You

This is a senior appointment, and we need someone capable of getting up to speed quickly rather than learning the fundamentals on the job.

You'll ideally bring:

• At least 5 years' commercial software development experience
• Strong TypeScript and React experience
• Strong React Native or mobile application development experience
• Solid PostgreSQL, database and API capability
• Strong frontend and backend development experience
• Proven experience taking ownership of an existing production codebase
• Experience troubleshooting live applications and complex integrations
• Strong understanding of scalable software architecture
• Proven technical leadership experience
• Experience guiding developers, external development partners or technical suppliers
• Confidence setting technical priorities and challenging decisions where required
• Strong communication skills with technical and non-technical stakeholders
• A practical understanding of modern AI-assisted software development

Most importantly, we're looking for someone who is energised by ownership and scale.

You'll need to be comfortable making decisions, solving difficult problems and taking responsibility for a platform that could become significantly larger, more complex and more visible as adoption grows.

Why This Opportunity?

The heavy initial build has been completed.

Now comes the interesting part.

Real users. Real transactions. Real feedback. Real scale.

You'll be joining early enough to genuinely influence the architecture, product and development direction, but with an established platform already underneath you.

If adoption grows as planned, so will the technical challenge. That creates the opportunity to build an internal engineering capability and establish yourself as a central technical leader within the business.

For the right person, this is the chance to help shape the technology behind a potentially significant New Zealand digital platform rather than simply inherit another mature corporate system.

Location

This is a full-time, office-based position in Dunedin.

Applicants must already be based in Dunedin or genuinely prepared to relocate.

Remote working is not available.

www.fluidrecruitment.co.nz