Principal Engineer

Reports to: COO (or designate)

Type: Full-time, Permanent

Location: Auckland, New Zealand (In-office, 4 days a week)

Principal Engineer

Set the technical bar across Supahuman — and never carry it alone.

The role

This role sits within AI Studio, Supahuman's applied AI practice. We're looking for a Principal Engineer to set the technical bar across Supahuman — architecture, infrastructure, and code quality — while staying genuinely hands-on and billable. You won't do it alone: you'll work as a true peer with our Principal AI Engineer, who owns the AI discipline alongside you. Together you set the standard; separately, you each own your domain.

What you'll own

• Architecture, infrastructure, and code quality standards across the business — cloud (Azure, Google Cloud, and AWS), distributed systems, security, delivery
• Joint leadership of our Technical Authority Group (TAG), partnered with our Principal AI Engineer on anything touching both disciplines
• Hands-on client delivery — you're still building and billable, not just reviewing
• Mentorship of engineers across the business, and a direct line to the COO on how engineering is really going

What's in it for you

• Genuine seniority and autonomy, with a peer to share the load — not a solo mandate
• We're aiming for a rhythm of around 70% billable, 30% protected for leadership and thinking time — and we'll have an open, honest conversation with you about whether that balance is actually giving you room to think, not just react
• Real client work at the frontier of applied AI in the ANZ sector
• Direct visibility with the COO — your read on engineering health matters and gets heard

What we're looking for

• 10+ years of software engineering experience across varied environments and architectures, with real seniority in technical decision-making
• Comfortable owning cloud infrastructure (Azure, Google Cloud, and AWS) and distributed systems architecture
• You don't need deep AI specialisation on day one — bring the curiosity, and you'll build it working alongside our AI discipline lead