Principal Software Engineer - Data Engineering

Job Description

Do Yourself a Power of Good

Vector is collaborating with AWS and other leading global technology firms right here in New Zealand to work on projects that are leading the way in some of the biggest global energy challenges. In 2020, an alliance was formed between Vector and Amazon Web Services (AWS) to co-develop a cloud-native data platform: Diverge. This team has evolved to become Vector Technology Services (VTS), a subsidiary of Vector, New Zealand's largest distributor of electricity and gas.

Through our strategy of delivering commercially valuable cloud-native platforms that solve real problems today while being primed for rapid evolution in the future, we work to deliver on our vision of creating a new energy future with the following considerations:

 • Decarbonisation, Decentralisation, Democratisation, Digitalisation

The Role

We’re a team on a mission to revolutionise the way energy data is managed, accessed, and used globally. Due to our continued success and growth, we’re looking for our first key leader to build out our Data Engineering capability at VTS.

In this role, you’ll lead the design and implementation of cutting-edge energy data platforms, driving data science and engineering excellence.

You will:

• Lead the design and implementation of large-scale, serverless data architectures to ingest, process, and analyse energy data from smart meters, DER telemetry, and network performance data.

• Bridge data science and software engineering by developing and operationalising energy analytics models supporting demand forecasting, asset optimisation, and grid flexibility.

• Drive AWS cloud cost efficiency through best practices in Glue, Athena, S3, DynamoDB, and event-driven architectures.

• Ensure high data quality, security, and compliance through automated validation, lineage tracking, and governance embedded in data pipelines.

• Mentor junior engineers and foster a high-performance culture aligned with Diverge’s long-term vision.

Who Are We Looking For?

You’ll be able to demonstrate the following skills and experience:

• Experience leading large-scale data engineering initiatives, with expertise in structured and unstructured data, data processing at scale, feature engineering, and model operationalisation.

• Extensive experience working with AWS services like Lambda, DynamoDB, S3, Glue, Athena, and IAM. Proficient in architecting and implementing serverless solutions using AWS cloud technologies.

• Proven experience in driving data science innovation, operationalising energy analytics models, and optimising data pipelines for efficiency, scalability, and security.

• A strong background in DevOps and CI/CD practices, with the ability to use tools for continuous integration and delivery.

• A passion for mentoring and developing engineers, helping them grow both technically and professionally.

• Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to manage stakeholders and influence decisions across teams.

Education and Technical Expertise:

• Advanced degree (PhD preferred) in Computer Science, Data Science, or a related technical field.

• Enterprise-level experience on large-scale data science and engineering projects, particularly in the energy or cloud sectors.

Why VTS?

Whether it’s the opportunity to work on challenges on a truly global scale in collaboration with leading technology firms, to build a legacy for Auckland and New Zealand, to work in an innovative and transformative sector, or our commitment to supporting your development, there are many reasons to choose a career with VTS.

The Diverge Platform:

• A customisable managed software-as-a-service platform for energy data ingestion, processing, insights generation, and data delivery.

• Cloud-native, composed entirely of AWS serverless services, which bring cloud-native scalability, reliability, and resilience to this mission-critical enterprise system.

• Deployed and managed through infrastructure-as-code, automated software release, and service orchestration.

• Performs streaming data processing in state, temporal sequence, and data dependency-aware pipelines.

Find out more about working at VTS [here].

What Else Do We Offer?

• An engineer-led culture that emphasises eXtreme Programming (XP) techniques like TDD and pair programming.

• Meaningful, complex challenges that solve real-world problems.

• Stable, product-focused teams.

• Flexibility, including the option to work from home a couple of days a week, and flexible start and finish times to balance work and life.

• Health and wellbeing support.

• Great benefits that reflect the importance of family.

Apply With Us Today!

Interviews may be held as applications are received, so don’t hesitate to apply.

Vector engages a workforce made up of people and teams with diverse skills, values, backgrounds, and experiences. We respect and value people who are different from each other, including gender, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation, race, and religion.

We are proud of what we’ve achieved so far:

• First corporate Living Wage Accredited employer

• First Accessibility Tick employer

• Rainbow Tick accredited

If you require assistance or accessibility support during the application and selection process, please get in touch with us at 09 213 0268.