AI Engineering Team Lead

You’ll join Technology & Transformation in Auckland as a AI Engineering Team Lead, where you’ll  work with clients to shape, change and influence the way New Zealand's most recognisable companies work. 

Here, you’ll do meaningful work with talented people while building a career shaped around your ambitions. As New Zealand's leading professional services firm, we combine local expertise with global capability to create impact that matters for our clients, communities and country. 

We invest in our people through learning, development and professional growth opportunities, while offering flexibility and wellbeing support to help you thrive both professionally and personally. No matter your career stage, you'll be part of a values-led organisation committed to inclusion, innovation and making an impact that matters. 

Our people benefit from: 

• Flexible ways of working 

• Ongoing learning, development and career progression 

• Support for professional qualifications and certifications 

• Wellbeing initiatives and employee support programmes 

• Additional leave and community impact opportunities 

• An inclusive and collaborative culture where you can be yourself 

About the role and team  

As an AI Technical Lead within Deloitte's Engineering practice, you will provide technical leadership across generative and agentic AI engagements. You will be responsible for solution architecture, delivery governance, technical decision-making, stakeholder engagement, and mentoring engineering teams while remaining close to the technology. 

You will lead the design and implementation of enterprise-scale AI solutions that combine foundation models, modern cloud platforms, enterprise data ecosystems, and responsible AI practices. 

Working closely with Directors, Partners, architects, data specialists and client stakeholders, you will help shape AI strategies, establish delivery standards, and accelerate the adoption of AI across Deloitte and our clients.   

A week in the life of a AI Technical Lead might look like:  

• Engineering end-to-end projects and developing sprint deliverables in generative and agentic AI, developing innovative solutions using existing digital platforms and foundation models from concept to deployment, in a fast-paced dynamic environment.  

• Collaborating with cross-functional Deloitte teams to identify technical requirements and architecting and deploying AI solutions in complex environments that meet those requirements.  

• Identifying patterns and best practices for AI solutions that can be repeated across domains and platforms. 

• Leading the technical design and architecture of generative and agentic AI solutions for Deloitte and client engagements. 

• Acting as the technical authority across multiple workstreams, providing guidance on architecture, model selection, engineering approaches and platform decisions. 

• Engaging with senior client stakeholders to understand business challenges and translate them into pragmatic AI solutions. 

• Leading technical teams through discovery, design, delivery and deployment phases. 

• Establishing engineering standards covering AI governance, observability, responsible AI, security, scalability and operational support. 

• Providing technical oversight of LLMOps practices, including evaluation frameworks, monitoring, testing, prompt management and optimisation. 

• Contributing to proposals, solution estimates, technical assurance reviews and client presentations. 

• Developing reusable assets, accelerators and reference architectures that can be leveraged across Deloitte engagements. 

• Coaching engineers, architects and consultants while fostering a collaborative, high-performing culture. 

• Remaining hands-on with emerging technologies where required while maintaining awareness of evolving AI capabilities and market trends. 

Enough about us, let’s talk about you. You are someone with:  

• Significant experience leading multidisciplinary technology delivery teams in consulting, professional services or technology organisations. 

• Proven experience architecting and delivering cloud-native solutions using Azure, AWS, GCP or OCI. 

• Demonstrated experience designing and deploying generative AI, agentic AI or intelligent automation solutions in enterprise environments. 

• The ability to balance strategic architecture decisions with pragmatic delivery outcomes. 

• Experience establishing engineering standards, governance frameworks and delivery best practices. 

• Strong understanding of modern software engineering practices including DevOps, CI/CD, infrastructure as code and cloud-native architectures. 

• Experience working directly with senior stakeholders and translating business objectives into technical roadmaps. 

• Excellent communication, facilitation and stakeholder management skills. 

• A passion for developing people, growing capability and contributing to a positive team culture. 

• A commitment to continuous learning and staying current with emerging AI technologies. 

• Preferred 

• Experience leading AI programmes or AI capability development initiatives. 

• Experience contributing to proposals, pre-sales activities and solution shaping. 

• Experience defining AI governance, risk and responsible AI frameworks. 

• Relevant AWS, Azure, GCP or AI-related certifications. 

Additional Information 

Making an impact that matters, together: 

Our shared values are at the heart of everything we do. Living these values is essential to ensuring everyone feels included at work and able to reach their full potential. For us to succeed and thrive as an organisation, we understand the importance of creating a culture where diverse perspectives matter and where everyone is given an equal opportunity to thrive, grow and make an impact that matters. 

You can find out more about our recruitment process here. 

To be considered for this role, you must be legally entitled to work in New Zealand. Visa sponsorship is not available for this position. 

 For this permanent position you will be rewarded with a competitive salary, healthcare insurance subsidy, and mobile phone benefit. Flex-working available in a 37.5 hour work week and a range of other benefits that you would expect from one of the world's leading professional services brands.  

Does this sound like the sort of role and organisation for you? Then apply now 

Join us. But be you. At Deloitte, you’ll do more than just join something, you’ll add something.  You’ve found a place that values your curiosity, passion, and desire to work alongside brilliant people on the things that really matter. There really is only one question: What impact do YOU want to make? . 

We believe the strongest teams are made up of diverse individuals and we are proud to be an equal opportunities employer. We recognise that women and individuals from under-represented backgrounds may hesitate to apply if they don't meet all criteria. If you're passionate about this role and believe you have the skills, we encourage you to apply, even if your experience, ideal working hours or qualifications aren't a perfect match.

Please be aware of phishing attempts posing as Deloitte recruiters. Official communications from Deloitte New Zealand will come from “@deloitte.co.nz,” “@smartrecruiters.com,” or our video interview platform Deloitte<interviews@hirevue.com>. If you receive a suspicious email, verify its authenticity by contacting us at NZinfo@deloitte.co.nz.