Senior Back-end Engineer

Job description — Senior Back-end Engineer Jan

Our Senior Back-end Engineer plays a crucial role in delivering robust, scalable digital solutions while contributing to our engineering excellence. As both a skilled individual contributor and technical mentor, you ensure we build high-performing systems that enable meaningful digital experiences for our clients.

You bring deep technical expertise to complex projects, support engineering best practices, and help develop our team's capabilities. You combine advanced technical skills, systems thinking, collaborative approach, and modern AI‑assisted development practices to deliver exceptional outcomes that align with our purpose of making the things that matter better.

• Reports to:
  
  Chief Technology Officer
• Direct reports:
  None
• Based in:
  Wellington / Flexible / Hybrid

• Develop and maintain scalable, secure back‑end systems from concept to deployment, models, and system integrations.
• Utilise AI development tools and coding assistants to accelerate development.
• Work with CI/CD pipelines and contribute to
• Apply appropriate, fit-for-purpose technology solutions within approved stack guidelines.
• Solve complex technical challenges using principles, and AI‑assisted approaches.
• Participate in code reviews, providing constructive feedback and learning from code analysis.
• Contribute to technical documentation, code libraries, and shared frameworks.
• Support project estimation and technical planning with accurate assessments and
• Apply security-first principles, following best practices and using AI‑powered security scanning tools.
• Collaborate with Dev Ops to implement and maintain cloud infrastructure solutions, leveraging AI tools for configuration and optimisation, and operational reliability using intelligent monitoring and alerting systems.
• Apply security standards and data privacy requirements across all development work.
• Contribute to system performance improvements and cost optimisation initiatives.
• Help maintain resilient systems that handle growth and operational demands effectively.
• Mentor junior developers through code reviews, pair programming, and technical guidance, including effective use of AI development tools.
• Share knowledge and expertise with team members about both traditional development practices and modern AI‑assisted workflows.
• Support onboarding of new technical team members, including training on AI tooling and best practices.
• Contribute to technical discussions and decision‑making processes about tool adoption and development practices.
• Model Springload's values of collaboration, inclusion, and continuous improvement practices.

and leverages AI tools for problem‑solving, writing clean, well‑tested code that follows established patterns, while consistently applying security best practices and privacy integrates AI coding assistants, automated testing tools, and intelligent development workflows into daily work while maintaining code quality and security standards.

clean, well‑tested code that follows established patterns, using AI tools for optimisation and review while maintaining human oversight and judgement.

effectively within cross‑functional teams, contributing technical expertise while supporting project goals and timelines, and sharing knowledge about effective AI tool usage.

foster an equitable and inclusive client and team environment, working in ways that uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi and engage respectfully with te ao Māori.

• Clear technical communication. Explains technical concepts clearly to team members and stakeholders, including the role of AI tools in development processes and decision‑making.
• Mentoring & knowledge sharing. Supports team growth through constructive code reviews, documentation, and guidance on both technical skills and effective AI tool integration.

• Delivery performance on assigned features > 90%
• System reliability for implemented features +/- 10%
• Billable time > 75%
• Peer feedback on technical contributions > 7/10