Data Platform Engineering Lead

Southern Cross Health Insurance is shaping a healthier Aotearoa New Zealand. Our purpose is simple: empowering our members to live well for longer. We're here to give peace of mind through timely access to quality care, inspire healthier living, and lead positive change across the health system. As a New Zealand-owned, member-based organisation, we're building a future where wellbeing is at the heart of everything we do -- delivering exceptional value for our members and creating an environment where our people thrive.

Now is an exciting time to join us. You'll be part of a high-performing, values-driven team where people are at the heart of everything we do -- and in return for your talent, you'll have the opportunity to grow, make an impact, and be proud of the difference your work makes.

About The Role

Southern Cross is guided by purpose, powered by people and technology. We're here to help almost one million members across Aotearoa New Zealand live well for longer - work with real scale, real responsibility, and a real opportunity to make a meaningful difference.

As we grow to be about assurance as well as insurance - a more proactive partner in our members' health - we're building a new Data & AI function from the ground up. We're looking for a hands-on technical leader to own the platform everything else in the function will run on.

This is a senior engineering leadership role for someone who wants to build a modern data platform from first principles - designing it, hardening it, and setting the standard for how Southern Cross builds and operates on Snowflake.

About The Role

Reporting to the Head of Data & AI, you'll own the design, build and evolution of our Snowflake data platform - the infrastructure that analytics engineering, machine learning and AI all depend on. You’ll be building the engineering standards, automation and operational discipline the rest of the function will run on.

You'll lead and grow a platform engineering team, with the technical authority to shape architecture, security and operational practice as both the platform and the team scale.

What You'll Do

• Design, build and maintain the Snowflake platform and its supporting infrastructure
• Own ingestion, orchestration, monitoring, metadata and observability across the data ecosystem
• Build CI/CD pipelines and Infrastructure-as-Code frameworks, and champion DevOps principles for safe, rapid delivery
• Improve platform reliability, scalability and cost efficiency through automation and optimisation
• Implement access controls, security and governance so the platform meets Southern Cross's compliance requirements
• Ensure backup, recovery and disaster recovery capability is fit for purpose
• Lead design reviews, mentor engineers, and set the standards other teams build against
• Partner with Analytics Engineers, Data Scientists, Architects and Technology teams to deliver the wider Data & AI roadmap

• 10+ years in enterprise data platforms, engineering and analytics
• Proven delivery of cloud-native data platforms at scale (Snowflake, Azure etc)
• A track record of defining engineering standards, patterns and best practice - not just following someone else's
• Deep platform operations expertise: performance, cost, monitoring, reliability
• Modern data tooling: Snowflake, dbt, Azure
• Advanced SQL and Python, with strong CI/CD, testing and deployment practice
• Data architecture, modelling and secure, compliant warehouse design
• Experience leading and mentoring engineers, and leading through influence
• Comfortable operating with ambiguity and pace - this platform, and this team, is being built as you go

We're investing - in people, in technology, and in the mission. At a time when the market is hesitant, we're continuing to invest in strengthening our foundations and building our capabilities. You'll have executive sponsorship, a clear mandate, and the opportunity to genuinely shape data and AI practice at scale.

We're building something worth joining. Our teams are growing, our employer brand is gaining real traction in market, and the way we show up for our members and each other is being noticed. This momentum has also been reflected externally - in 2026, Southern Cross placed 8th in the Kantar Corporate Reputation Index and 5th in New Zealand for Trust.

Who We Are

Ngākau nui. Āhurutanga. Tikanga.

Join a proud, diverse team that's always there, always real, always true. If you thrive in a caring, honest and open culture, we think you'll love working with us.

We know our team's culture and wellbeing drive us forward. That's why we prioritise not only professional development but opportunities to thrive personally. We offer exceptional work/life balance, and our people are encouraged - and rewarded - for living well.

Southern Cross Employee Benefits Include:

• Five days of wellbeing leave per year
• Health insurance for you and your immediate whānau
• Life insurance cover and discounts on pet and travel insurance
• Extra parental leave benefits and financial wellbeing support
• Participation in our workplace wellbeing programme
• The option to purchase flexi leave for study, volunteering, or supporting your whānau
• An annual volunteer day to contribute to a cause with your team

We are proud to have taken the Pride Pledge, reflecting our commitment to inclusion and belonging. We also facilitate an active, employee‑led Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Forum, which includes our Rainbow Network, Māori Network, Pasifika Collective, and Neurodiversity and Whānau Support networks.

If you share our commitment and passion, we'd love to hear from you.