About the Opportunity
We’re partnering with a well-known global consumer brand to appoint a Senior Director, Engineering & Architecture in Auckland. This is a genuinely hands-on leadership role for someone who has built and operated real products in production, at scale. You’ll sit at the centre of a large digital portfolio spanning subscription experiences, multi-platform consumer apps (mobile, web, TV), B2B/partner platforms, content-led systems, and the engineering enablement layer that keeps everything moving (DevOps, quality, delivery practices).
The business is in an active phase of platform modernisation and legacy migration, lifting engineering practices, and adopting AI-enabled engineering in a practical way.
They need a leader who genuinely enjoys staying close to the tools, but who gets just as much satisfaction from growing great people and shaping a healthy, high-performing culture. You’ll be trusted to make clear calls, keep engineering aligned to real business outcomes, and lead from the front. This isn’t a consulting or advisory role. It’s an operator role.
What You’ll Bring
You’ll be a calm, low-ego engineering leader who builds capability and momentum, not noise. This client is clear on the bar and they are selective.
You’ll have:
- Strong technical credibility and confidence going deep with senior engineers
- The ability to lead real architecture discussions (systems thinking, integrations, platform direction)
- Experience running large teams and leading leaders (this remit covers a sizeable engineering function)
- A “systems, not tickets” mindset with an ability to simplify complexity
- The ability to translate technology into business outcomes and influence at exec level
- A pragmatic approach to AI (balanced, practical, not ideologically extreme)
- A track record of improving engineering organisations and operating models, not just shipping software
Experience that fits particularly well:
- Subscription businesses and/or content-led digital products
- Global products at scale
- Platform modernisation and transformation (legacy + new build)
- Product-engineering operating models and modern engineering practices
- Multi-platform delivery across mobile, web, and platform services
Nice-to-haves
- Content/video platforms exposure
- Data platforms familiarity (e.g., Snowflake)
- Engineering effectiveness metrics (DORA, flow, customer impact)
What’s on Offer
- A rare opportunity to step into a senior, high-impact role with broad ownership across a global digital portfolio
- The chance to shape engineering culture and uplift capability through a period of meaningful change
- Modernisation work that is real and visible (platform uplift, legacy migration, improved ways of working)
- A business that values strong people leadership and a low-ego, high-trust environment
- Auckland-based role with hybrid flexibility, with an expectation you’ll be present in the office regularly as a senior culture-setter
- A competitive executive-level package aligned to the seniority and impact of the role, plus potential to support relocation/visa for exceptional offshore talent
Next Steps?
To keep things simple, we ask that all applications are submitted through this advert. We’ll review applications as they come in and be in touch.
For any questions give Teresa Jordan a call on 027 376 4884 and quote Job ID: 18419 for a confidential chat.
To apply for this vacancy, you MUST be a New Zealand citizen, resident, or have already secured the right to work in New Zealand and therefore hold a valid visa.
At the appropriate stage we will request your references, we ask that you do not include them on your CV when applying.
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