Principal Software Engineer

About the role

Transpower owns and operates New Zealand's National Grid, connecting generation with homes, businesses and communities. Its Application Services team builds and supports the real-time operation of the electricity grid and market, and is looking for a Principal Software Engineer to lead technical direction, guidance and expertise across application development, integration services and software engineering practices. This is a hands-on role covering the full software lifecycle, from requirements and design through to development, deployment, operational support and continuous improvement.

Key responsibilities

• Lead the design, development and lifecycle management of business-critical applications and integrations
• Mentor engineers and provide technical leadership across the team
• Drive continuous improvement of development tools, standards, processes and practices
• Champion DevOps, automation, secure development and agile delivery
• Work with architects and solution designers to deliver robust, scalable solutions
• Support the reliability and performance of systems underpinning New Zealand's electricity sector
• Partner with vendors and delivery partners to improve engineering capability
• Occasional third-level support outside normal hours for critical applications

Required profile

• 10+ years of experience in software analysis, design and development
• Experience leading application development initiatives and building engineering capability
• Experience providing technical leadership across projects and operational environments
• Experience working with enterprise stakeholders, vendors and multidisciplinary teams
• Full New Zealand work rights; applications close 3 November 2026

Required skills

• Strong expertise in Java and modern Spring frameworks
• DevOps toolchains, CI/CD pipelines and automated delivery
• Enterprise integration patterns and large-scale system integration
• Practical use of AI-assisted tools across the software lifecycle
• Software architecture, design and development best practice
• Highly regarded: REST APIs, React or Angular, Git, AWS/Azure, Oracle/PostgreSQL/Neo4j, GitLab/Jira/Confluence, integration and messaging technologies

What we offer

• Wellington-based, hybrid working
• Health, wellbeing, flexibility and leave benefits
• A collaborative, inclusive environment focused on engineering quality and continuous improvement