Principal Software Engineer
First seen by Alion on Oct 16, 2026.
- Senior technical leadership role within a high-performing engineering team
- Design, develop and evolve mission-critical applications and integrations
- Wellington based, hybrid working, excellent employee benefits
Help power New Zealand's energy future
At Transpower, we own and operate New Zealand's National Grid, connecting areas of generation with homes, businesses and communities across the country. As Aotearoa moves towards a more electrified and renewable energy future, the systems and technology that support the electricity industry have never been more important.
This is an exciting time to join us. Growing demand for clean energy, evolving market requirements, and increasingly complex operating environments are creating new challenges and opportunities for technology professionals who enjoy solving meaningful problems at scale.
About the team
Our Application Services team develops, enhances and supports the critical applications and integrations that help enable the real-time operation of New Zealand's electricity grid and electricity market.
The team manages a diverse portfolio of enterprise and operational systems across market systems, transmission operations, finance, asset management, information management and people systems. We work closely with architects, designers, operations teams and business stakeholders to deliver secure, reliable and scalable technology solutions.
You'll join an experienced and collaborative team with a strong focus on engineering quality, continuous improvement and knowledge sharing. We are continually evolving our practices through modern development approaches, DevOps, automation and cloud technologies while supporting some of New Zealand's most important digital infrastructure.
About the opportunity
As Principal Software Engineer, you'll provide technical leadership, guidance and expertise across application development, integration services and software engineering practices.
This is a hands-on role where you'll contribute across the full software lifecycle, from requirements analysis and solution design through to development, deployment, operational support and continuous improvement.
Working alongside Software Engineering Managers, Architects, Designers, vendors and engineering teams, you'll help shape technical direction, improve development capability and champion modern engineering practices across the team.
You'll be involved in:
- Leading the design, development and lifecycle management of business-critical applications and integrations
- Providing technical leadership and mentoring to engineers across the team
- Driving continuous improvement of development tools, standards, processes and practices
- Championing DevOps, automation, secure development and agile delivery approaches
- Working closely with architects and solution designers to deliver robust, scalable and supportable solutions
- Supporting the ongoing reliability and performance of systems that underpin New Zealand's electricity sector
- Partnering with vendors and delivery partners to enhance engineering capability and outcomes
This role includes occasional third-level support activities outside normal business hours for critical applications.
About you
You'll be an experienced software engineering leader who combines strong technical capability with the ability to influence, mentor and guide others.
Comfortable operating in complex environments, you'll understand how enterprise applications, integrations, infrastructure and operational systems come together to deliver critical business outcomes.
Most importantly, you'll be passionate about engineering excellence, modern software delivery practices and developing the capability of those around you.
What you'll bring
To be successful, you'll bring:
- 10+ years' experience in software analysis, design and development
- Experience leading application development initiatives and building engineering capability
- Strong expertise in Java and modern Spring frameworks
- Experience working with DevOps toolchains, CI/CD pipelines and automated delivery practices
- Knowledge of enterprise integration patterns and large-scale system integration
- Knowledge and practical experience in using AI-assisted tools across the software development lifecycle
- Experience providing technical leadership across projects and operational environments
- Strong understanding of software architecture, design and development best practice
- Experience working with enterprise stakeholders, vendors and multidisciplinary delivery teams
Technical experience across some of the following will be highly regarded:
- Java / Spring Boot
- REST APIs and distributed services
- React or Angular
- Git and modern development toolchains
- AWS and/or Azure
- Oracle, PostgreSQL or Neo4j
- GitLab, Jira and Confluence
- Integration and messaging technologies
Why join us?
Aotearoa is powered by the people who work here. Every home, hospital, school, business and community relies on the electricity network we help enable.
At Transpower you'll find meaningful work, interesting technical challenges, and the opportunity to contribute to the future of New Zealand's energy system. You'll be part of a collaborative and inclusive environment where learning, innovation and continuous improvement are encouraged.
Our benefits package includes health, wellbeing, flexibility and leave benefits designed to support you both professionally and personally.
Next steps
Bring your technical leadership, engineering expertise and passion for building high-quality software to a role with genuine national impact.
Applications close: Tuesday 3rd November 2026. Full New Zealand work rights are required.
Applications will be reviewed as they are received, and initial conversations may take place before the closing date. We encourage interested candidates to apply early.