Lead Principal Engineer - QA & Automation

Our MissionAt Datacom, we are driven by a commitment to empower organizations and communities throughout Australia and New Zealand, harnessing technology to foster innovation and growth.Role OverviewIn the rapidly evolving landscape of software development, the challenge lies not in writing code but in validating its functionality. As the Lead Principal Engi…

Our Mission At Datacom, we collaborate with organizations and communities across Australia and New Zealand to create meaningful change in people's lives, empowering them to harness the potential of technology for innovation and growth.About the Opportunity Join our Datapay product team as a Principal Engineer – Data, a pivotal technical leadership role where you will be responsible for designing and developing the data platform that supports our next-generation payroll solution. You will define the technical vision for data ingestion, storage, transformation, and accessibility — encompassing real-time event pipelines, lakehouse storage, embedded analytics, and enterprise data access.This is an exciting greenfield project; we are reconstructing our data platform from the ground up, transitioning from outdated batch architectures to a modern, composable stack built on open standards. Your contributions will be foundational in enabling AI-driven features, seamless integrations, and significant enhancements in reporting performance for our clients. You will influence architectural decisions, shape platform strategies, and enhance the data engineering capabilities within the team. Key Responsibilities As the Principal Engineer – Data, you will:Design and develop a contemporary, composable data platform utilizing open standards — selecting optimal patterns for data ingestion, storage, transformation, and querying to accommodate various analytical and operational workloads.Construct real-time streaming data pipelines that ensure rapid data freshness from source events to query-ready datasets.Establish the data infrastructure that enables AI capabilities — on-demand computing, isolated query environments, and semantic layers that render data accessible to both users and intelligent systems.Facilitate secure access for enterprise customers to their payroll data within their own BI tools, eliminating data duplication and minimizing operational overhead.Implement granular authorization across the data layer — ensuring multi-tenant isolation, role-based access, and sensitive data management compliant with strict payroll privacy regulations.Create layered data transformation models to support reporting and analytics — from raw event streams to curated, business-ready datasets.Define and enforce data contracts across domain teams, treating data as a product with designated ownership, quality benchmarks, and service level agreements (SLAs).Advocate for data sovereignty, immutability, and point-in-time query capabilities for audit and compliance purposes.Lead the technical collaboration with external data platform partners, ensuring effective knowledge transfer and enhancing internal capabilities.Mentor engineers, establish robust data engineering practices, and contribute to architectural decisions across the broader platform.We prioritize agility and innovation in our work environment...

Our PurposeAt Datacom, we collaborate with organizations and communities throughout Australia and New Zealand to positively impact lives and empower organizations to harness technology for innovation and growth.About the RoleJoin us as we evolve our Payroll services. With over 50 years of expertise in payroll processing, the Principal Full Stack Engineer will lead the development of our next-generation SaaS Payroll Product, Datapay. This role is pivotal as we modernize our customer experience built on a robust foundation. Ideal candidates will have extensive hands-on engineering experience across all software development phases, including architecture, technical design, implementation, and customer interaction.As a key technical leader, you will work closely with the Product and Design teams, Tech Leads/Architects, and Development teams to optimize our delivery pipeline within our Agile framework. Your leadership will be vital in shaping the design, development, and implementation of our payroll solution platform while mentoring engineers, setting coding standards, and ensuring comprehensive quality control.ResponsibilitiesGuide development teams through influence, including planning, monitoring, and reporting on progress.Steer the technical direction of our platform across the full stack, including .NET, React, event-sourced architecture, and cloud-native infrastructure. Architect solutions that utilize domain event streams, mentor engineers, and drive engineering excellence.Design, develop, and maintain event-sourced systems with state derived from immutable streams of domain events. Ensure the platform supports replayability, temporal queries, and projections for state reconstruction and auditing.Architect integration events across bounded contexts to allow independent domain evolution while ensuring overall system consistency. Address challenges inherent in distributed event-based systems.Implement CQRS patterns to differentiate read and write concerns, designing bespoke read models and projections for diverse platform consumers.Promote system-level thinking in an AI-accelerated software environment, driving strategic initiatives.

Our MissionAt Datacom, we bridge the gap between people and technology to tackle challenges, create opportunities, and unveil new possibilities within our communities.About the RoleAs we navigate a transformative AI uplift, we're looking for passionate Senior/Tech Lead Developers to join our Digital Engineering team. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to groundbreaking AI-driven software solutions that are reshaping the New Zealand market. Your extensive software development experience, particularly in AI, will be crucial as we collaborate across teams to design and implement innovative solutions. If you are eager to push the boundaries of AI and help showcase New Zealand's technological prowess on the global stage, we want to hear from you!

Our MissionAt Datacom, we are dedicated to bridging the gap between people and technology to address challenges, unlock opportunities, and explore new horizons for our communities.About the RoleAs we navigate a transformative AI uplift, we are on the lookout for talented Senior Developers and Tech Leads eager to embark on a groundbreaking AI journey with us. Our innovative service solutions are capturing the attention of our clients, and we need passionate individuals who are ready to push the limits of AI development. In this pivotal role within our Digital Engineering team, you will focus on crafting advanced AI-driven software solutions, collaborating with diverse teams to design, develop, and implement state-of-the-art AI models that tackle intricate business challenges. Join us now and make a mark on the global stage with a New Zealand company!What You BringEssential QualificationsOver 7 years of professional software development experience, preferably with Python and Typescript, and a strong foundation in production ML/AI.Proven track record of delivering at least one generative AI solution in a production environment (e.g., chatbot, summarizer, code assistant).Extensive knowledge of transformer architectures and orchestration frameworks like LangChain v0.2+, LlamaIndex, or Semantic Kernel.Hands-on experience deploying or fine-tuning models on Azure OpenAI / AI Foundry or AWS Bedrock / SageMaker.Familiarity with RAG patterns, vector databases, and evaluation metrics such as BLEU, ROUGE-L, and GPTScore.Expertise in cloud-native engineering, including Docker, Kubernetes (AKS/EKS), infrastructure as code, and automated testing.Preferred QualificationsExperience with agent frameworks (AutoGen 0.2/0.4, CrewAI) and tool-using agents.Proficiency in multimodal model workflows (image-text with GPT-4o, GPT-4o real-time API).Familiarity with embedding models and workspace automation using agentic frameworks.Knowledge of advanced RAG variants, including LongRAG, Self-RAG, GraphRAG, and their trade-offs with leading vector stores (Pinecone, Qdrant, FAISS, Azure AI Search).Experience delivering real-time GPT-4o or Gemini 2 Ultra use cases (image to text or speech) and cross-modal embeddings.Why Choose Datacom?As one of the largest providers of Information Technology professional services in Australia and New Zealand, Datacom prides itself on fostering a vibrant and inclusive workplace where innovation thrives. Join us and be part of a team that is shaping the future of technology!

Role overview Contact Energy seeks a Protection Engineer to support the Generation & Trading team in Tauranga. This role is central to keeping power systems reliable and safe across the company’s generation assets. What you will do Design, implement, and maintain protection systems for power generation assets Work with other engineering teams to promote safe and reliable operations Apply technical expertise to help achieve strong system performance Location This position is based in Tauranga.

We are seeking a skilled Senior Mechanical Engineer specializing in hydro systems to join our dynamic team. In this role, you will leverage your technical expertise and innovative thinking to enhance our hydro generation projects, ensuring they meet the highest standards of performance and sustainability.You will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, participate in design reviews, and lead engineering studies to optimize our hydro infrastructure. Your contributions will be vital in driving advancements in our generation capabilities.

Our Mission At Datacom, we collaborate with organizations and communities throughout Australia and New Zealand to create meaningful impacts in people's lives, harnessing technology to drive innovation and growth. About the Position As an Engineering Manager at Datacom, you will play a pivotal role in our Product and Technical Leadership team. Your primary responsibility will be to ensure the delivery capabilities of your squads, focusing on achieving predictable, high-quality outcomes while maintaining a sustainable pace and fostering healthy, engaged teams. You will work closely with Product Managers, ensuring that product vision translates into actionable delivery plans, while also partnering with Principal Engineers to manage engineering health and cross-domain dependencies effectively. This leadership role empowers you to build capabilities, advocate for AI-enabled practices, and cultivate an inclusive, high-trust culture that embodies Datacom's core values.Drive ownership of delivery, people management, and engineering health across your squads. You will promote AI-enhanced delivery practices, develop high-performing teams, and collaborate with Product and Principal Engineers to deliver reliable, high-quality software rapidly. You will set the standard for responsible adoption of AI tools within your teams. Key Responsibilities As an Engineering Manager, your focus will include:Overseeing end-to-end delivery accountability for assigned squads, ensuring commitments are realistic and met.Translating product intents into actionable delivery timelines and organizing work for concurrent execution.Facilitating sprint and delivery planning sessions; tracking progress, identifying risks, and addressing blockers.Managing capacity planning, balancing workloads, and providing reliable delivery forecasts.Championing engineering health, including sustainable work pace, team morale, service reliability, and quality investments.Advocating for responsible AI-enabled software delivery practices with established guardrails and human validation processes.Leading engineers through hiring, onboarding, coaching, development, and retention of top talent.Addressing cross-squad dependencies, managing risks, and promoting continuous improvement in processes.Collaborating daily with Product Managers and Principal Engineers to align on project scope, sequencing, capacity allocation, and quality standards.Ensuring compliance of delivery practices with security, compliance, and Datacom policies.Datacom is a dynamic organization that adapts quickly to the evolving needs of customers, technology, and internal stakeholders, which means our roles may evolve accordingly. What We Expect from YouEssential Experience:A minimum of 10 years in the IT/software industry.3 to 5 years of experience leading engineering practices or managing multiple squads simultaneously.Proven track record of owning delivery outcomes, timelines, and capacity management.

Our MissionAt Datacom, we collaborate with organizations and communities across Australia and New Zealand to enhance people's lives and empower organizations to leverage technology for innovation and growth.About the PositionJoin our Local Government Product Engineering team as an Application Engineer. In this role, you will play a crucial part in the development, configuration, testing, and support of our ERP product, Datascape.This position is ideal for individuals who take pride in crafting solid, reliable solutions and enjoy delivering high-quality technical work. As part of our collaborative product engineering team, you will transform business requirements into effective, maintainable solutions that are designed to last.We are particularly interested in candidates who are not only technically proficient but also curious about the evolving landscape of software engineering, including areas like AI-assisted development, automation, and innovative working methods. While deep experience isn't necessary, a genuine interest in these advancements will be highly valued.Experience with ERP platforms and familiarity with the local government sector would be advantageous. Most importantly, we seek individuals who are passionate about creating quality products and continually improving their work practices.We encourage in-person collaboration when possible but also recognize the importance of work-life balance, allowing flexibility in working arrangements based on team preferences.Note: This position is available in both Auckland and Tauranga.Key Responsibilities:As an Application Engineer, your focus will include:Solution Development and Configuration – Design, build, configure, and maintain product changes that align with business and customer needs.Quality Assurance and Testing – Ensure changes are thoroughly tested, reliable, and ready for deployment.Deployment and Release Support – Assist in the transition of changes across environments in accordance with established practices and change controls.Documentation and Knowledge Sharing – Maintain up-to-date technical documentation and contribute to team knowledge and improvement.Continuous Improvement and Emerging Practices – Foster enhancements in engineering methods, including automation and AI-assisted development.We are an agile organization that adapts to the changing needs of customers, technology, and internal stakeholders, meaning that roles may evolve over time.