Propellerhead is looking for an experienced Senior Software Engineer to join our core engineering team (reporting to the CTO) to research and define future technical strategies for Propellerhead and our clients. The engineering team provides the core tools, techniques, and software libraries to support service development teams.
You will guide proofs of concept to production, mentoring team members on new technologies and practices. You’ll also help our teams and customers navigate the development of effective, secure enterprise software and deployment architectures in the age of AI.
Your team will consist of like-minded software craftspeople and will operate with a degree of autonomy seldom experienced in other organisations.
Propellerhead operates a hybrid working model (work from our office and from your own home). While you must be based in Auckland for this role, we warmly welcome applications from across New Zealand and internationally who are planning to relocate to Auckland. This particular role requires regular in-person office attendance.
If you are ready to work on real problems with real impact, and help lay the groundwork for what comes next - we would like to hear from you.
Role Responsibilities:
- Define technical solutions through research and team investigation, in line with the vision directed by the CTO.
- Actively participate in the design and construction of software across the full stack - including code structure, deployment architecture, DevOps, automated testing, and integration of third-party systems. This will primarily involve the use of LLMs, with the expectation you will do virtually no hand-coding.
- Collaborate with client stakeholders and fellow Propellerhead team members to ensure a shared understanding of solution design and roadmap delivery in line with agreed budgets.
- Drive the migration of existing polyglot solutions to standardized Rust and TypeScript, towards more standardized and portable deployment architectures, and pass on technical learning to the broader organisation to embed the technical strategies throughout.
Skills and Experience Required:
- 7+ years experience as a Software Developer or Engineer, including experience working with enterprise-level complexity.
High proficiency in at least one enterprise-quality programming language and its ecosystem. For example, C# .NET or Java and Spring. - Must have some experience with a lower-level language for application or systems development such as Rust (preferable) or C++.
- Experience in TypeScript and React or similar front-end frameworks, and a well-developed understanding of web application development.
- Hands-on experience deploying to Azure and/or AWS, including building CI/CD pipelines and using infrastructure scripting frameworks (e.g., Terraform).
- Demonstrable experience in software design for distributed and asynchronous architecture. In particular, you will need to show examples of projects using microservices and messaging where you have been a key contributor to the design and construction.
- You will already have embraced the use of LLMs over hand-coding and be able to articulate how this has improved the speed to deliver and safety of the systems you build.
- With the help of LLMs you can produce clear and concise design documents.
- You have excellent written and verbal communication skills to translate between requirements and technical tasks.
How We Build Software:
We build software by structuring solutions in a product-centric manner and focusing on continuously delivering measurable outcomes into production. Our work starts from real stakeholder needs and the value they unlock, with an AI-assisted pipeline now generating much of the code.As a result, our digital platforms are a mixture of custom components and external services which produce a powerful and engaging experience when combined.
Be part of an innovative team, with a culture of learning and collaboration.
Contribute to interesting, diverse, and commercially minded work for well-respected clients.
Opportunity for professional growth and development.
Fortnightly knowledge sharing sessions, with lunch.
Competitive salary. Employee Share Purchase Scheme offering.
This role is Auckland based, regular in-office attendance is required. Work within our beautifully designed office and from home (hybrid working model).
Propellerhead is an equal opportunity workplace which is free from discrimination.
*Please note - only applications with a cover letter will be reviewed, please do not use AI to write this.
It's very important to us that you include a cover letter with your application - it's your chance to tell us more about who you are and what you value.
At Propellerhead, we use AI thoughtfully as part of our delivery practices - considered integration helps us stay at the forefront of technology and create innovative, valuable solutions for our clients. In recruitment, however, AI isn’t used to assess skills, experience or suitability for a role. Every application is reviewed by a real person to ensure a fair, engaged and thoughtfully human process. Therefore we kindly ask that you refrain from using it in your application. We're excited to learn about your unique experiences and ideas, and want to work with you, so please apply as your authentic self!
Candidates that progress may be asked to agree to a police background check, credit history check, other assessments and provide evidence of qualifications.
Learn more about our company here.
Skills Required
- 7+ years experience as a Software Developer or Engineer, including enterprise-level complexity
- High proficiency in at least one enterprise-quality language and ecosystem (examples: C# .NET or Java and Spring)
- Experience with a lower-level language for application or systems development (Rust preferred or C++)
- Experience in TypeScript and React or similar front-end frameworks
- Hands-on experience deploying to Azure and/or AWS including building CI/CD pipelines and using infrastructure scripting frameworks (e.g., Terraform)
- Demonstrable experience designing and building distributed and asynchronous architectures (microservices, messaging)
- Experience using LLMs to accelerate development and improve safety, and ability to explain outcomes
- Ability to produce clear, concise design documents (often with LLM assistance)
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills to translate requirements to technical tasks
- Must be based in Auckland and attend the office regularly (hybrid working model)
What We Do
In 2002, we founded Propellerhead with a mission to revolutionise software services in New Zealand. Today, we proudly collaborate with some of the nation's largest organisations, crafting innovative and complex technologies that enhance the lives of millions of New Zealanders every single day. For each client, we are a technology partner. We believe continuous advances in technology allow us to utilise newer and better ways of solving problems for our clients and their users. Our guiding principles of anti-fragile design, verifiable information, and user sovereignty inform every layer of our software development process. We build robust applications and platforms that enhance how users interact with technology, secure in the knowledge that their digital experiences are safe, reliable, and empowering. CULTURE & APPROACH: Our company is home to world-class software developers, problem solvers and thinkers. Our work reflects rapid advancements in technology and as a collective we’re drawn to the promise of decentralisation to make the world a better place. We believe the more minds working together, the more innovative the solutions can be and we adopt a pilot-led approach with a focus on creativity and ideas to ensure the solution is fit for future. Our teams are made up of craftspeople, driven to discover the right combination of methodology, architecture, technology, and thinking and our company approach is designed to produce maximum value by stepping out of the way and clearing roadblocks for our people. We take influence from Holacracy, Agile, Lean Startup, and Design Thinking principles to operate, and we deliver solutions in a series of small increments, each iteration providing insights and clarity on user needs. Coding, creativity and thinking operating at the intersection of where philosophy and technology meet.
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