AI Engineer

Mai te hiku ki te taurapa, whitikina e te rā 

From the tail of the fish to the tail of the waka, shines the sun 

This whakataukī speaks to our journey across Aotearoa, one waka, one purpose, powered by the natural forces that sustain us. Meridian is Aotearoa’s largest renewable electricity producer, generating energy from the winds of Tāwhirimātea, the waters of Tangaroa, and the warmth of Tama-nui-te-rā.    

Together, our two brands, Meridian and Powershop retail electricity to more than 400,000 homes, businesses and farms across New Zealand. Now that’s a pretty impressive combo!    

Mō te tūranga | About the role 

Meridian are looking for an AI Engineer based from our Christchurch or Wellington offices to partner with the business to design, build, and operate reliable, production-grade AI systems that solve real business problems and deliver measurable value. The role spans the full lifecycle: problem definition, solution design, implementation, deployment and continuous improvement.  

This is not a data science, research, or platform-only role. The right person is a pragmatic builder who can move between bespoke engineering and enterprise platforms depending on context, and who brings strong judgement about when AI is the right answer and when it is not. 

Āu mahi | What you’ll be doing 

• Translating business needs into clear, implementable AI solutions and automation workflows and driving delivery from concept through to production. 
• Selecting and implementing appropriate approaches (custom engineering, low-code or non-AI alternatives) based on problem fit, cost, scalability and risk. 
• Designing & applying appropriate AI system design patterns, including grounding, retrieval and workflow orchestration, to meet quality, performance and reliability expectations. 
• Designing and building production-grade AI systems that integrate LLMs with enterprise systems, APIs and data sources, with appropriate controls for traceability, auditability and human-in-the-loop review where required. 
• Building and deploying end-to-end AI solutions, including multi-step workflows and agent-driven (where appropriate) approaches. 

Ngā pukenga kei a koe mō tēnei tūranga | What you’ll bring 

• You’ll bring software engineering experience in designing, building and maintaining reliable and cloud-native production systems. 
• You’ll be a strong individual contributor with experience writing, reviewing, and owning production code, with strong proficiency in Python (familiarity with TypeScript and/or C# is advantageous) 
• You’ll have the ability to translate business problems into pragmatic, scalable AI solutions, with sound judgement on when to use AI and when alternative approaches are more appropriate. 
• You’ll have practical experience working with LLMs, including prompt and context engineering, with a clear understanding of model behaviour, limitations, and risks. 
• You’ll have strong understanding of AI/LLM system design, including grounding, tool integration, and orchestration, with the ability to adapt to evolving patterns and technologies. 
• You’ll have experience designing, building, and deploying AI/LLM applications, automation workflows, or similar systems beyond proof-of-concept. 
• You’ll be comfortable operating across the full delivery lifecycle: concept, design, build, testing, deployment, and continuous improvement. 
• You may have all of these skills or some of these skills - either way we want to hear from you! 

Ngā painga ki a mātou | What we can offer 

We value work/life balance, so our flexible work options (where possible) make things easier for you and your whānau. We also offer: 

• An attractive and competitive salary package that’s reviewed annually, performance-incentive, plus discounts from several partnerships.  
• Southern Cross Healthcare - Wellbeing one insurance, funded scheme for eligible employees to give you that extra peace of mind    
• Enhanced leave provisions: three company paid days (over the holiday period), enhanced parental leave and options to buy up to 12 days additional leave  
• Life, trauma and income protection insurance (which we hope you won’t need!)  
• Enhanced KiwiSaver contributions  
• Access to the Meridian employee share scheme  
• Excellent learning and development opportunities, we want you to be the best version of yourself and will help you get there!   
• Award winning wellbeing programme that provides support whenever and wherever you need it  
• Employee discounts off your power with Meridian, every bit counts  
• A one-off $400 payment to support your work from home set-up (if needed)  

He aha koe i hono mai ai ki a mātou? | Why join us?      

We’re a great place to work with plenty of opportunities and career development for those that want it. We value and live by three ‘How to Be’s’: ‘be gutsy’, working together by ‘being in the waka’ and doing the right thing by ‘being a good human’. 

We embrace diversity and inclusion and ensure that everyone feels like they belong, are welcomed, feel valued, and feel comfortable to bring their whole selves to work. We want all our people to be the best that they can be, so we make sure that there’s room for everyone to be exactly who they are, and welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and experiences, including individuals with disabilities, diverse health needs, and those who identify as neurodiverse, because we believe our differences make us stronger. We believe that fun is good for you, and we make sure that our office vibe reflects that. We support each other and celebrate our successes. 

Sustainability sits firmly in our DNA – both socially and environmentally – and we’re doing what we can to help Aotearoa reduce their carbon emissions and we’re helping support others in our generation communities to do the same. 

Tono mai ināianei tonu | Apply now 

All in all, we’re a genuinely great place to work, with meaningful work, supportive teams, and a clear purpose. If this role sounds like a fit and you’re keen to make a real impact on New Zealand’s energy future, apply today and tell us what you’ll bring to the role. 

If you’ve got any questions, please email [email protected]. We’re committed to becoming more accessible and providing support if needed. Please get in touch if there are parts of our process you would like assistance with (process found here: meridianenergy.co.nz/careers). 

View the full AI Engineer JD. 

Location: Christchurch or Wellington

Advertising closes Friday 19th June.