Lead Software Engineer - AI & Automation

There are Auckland roles, and then there are Auckland roles. This one will not ask you to sit in traffic on the Southern Motorway just to explain “what AI is” to a committee of 14 people, or pretend that innovation means putting ChatGPT in a PowerPoint and calling it strategy. You’re welcome. First Focus is one of Australasia’s leading Managed Service Providers, with almost 400 people across Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines. We help businesses get better outcomes from technology, which sounds very grown-up, because it is. Mostly. Our AI, Automation & Adoption team is a small internal innovation team with a big remit: build practical AI, automation, tooling, agents, integrations, and internal platforms that actually get used. Not innovation theatre. Not a sandbox that gathers dust. Real things, in production, helping real people do real work with slightly fewer spreadsheets. Humanity may survive after all. We’re looking for a Lead Software Engineer - AI & Automation to become the engineering backbone of the team. You’ll take prototypes, AI concepts, and promising ideas from “this might work” to “this is secure, supportable, documented, and nobody is quietly crying in six months”. A noble cause. Why this role is worth your attention You’ll build AI and automation products that actually get used. You’ll have real technical ownership, not fake ownership with six approval layers and a steering committee named after a weather event. You’ll help shape engineering standards for a small, fast-moving team. You’ll work with modern AI-assisted development tools. You’ll balance greenfield builds with proper sustaining engineering. You’ll be joining a team that cares about outcomes over optics. What you’ll be doing Designing, building, testing, deploying, and supporting production-grade AI and software solutions. Taking prototypes and proof-of-concepts into stable operational systems. Building internal tools, AI agents, automation platforms, integrations, and supporting services. Owning the systems the team builds after launch, including maintenance, bug fixes, enhancements, performance, security, stability, and documentation. Helping define practical engineering standards across code quality, testing, secure development, documentation, deployment, source control, code review, and AI-assisted development workflows. Reducing technical debt before it becomes a haunted house. Working closely with the AI, Automation & Adoption Manager and business stakeholders to turn ideas into useful, deliverable solutions. Providing technical leadership across architecture, planning, and delivery.