Senior AI Engineer

Kia ora

At Air New Zealand, we're reimagining the future of travel by embedding AI at the heart of how we serve our customers and empower our people. We are looking for a Senior AI Engineer to contribute to the design and delivery of AI applications that unlock new possibilities across the business.

In this role you'll use Python and the latest LLM APIs to design, ship, and scale business-changing Generative AI solutions. You will collaborate with data scientists, product managers, and software engineers to turn cutting-edge models and proof-of-concepts into robust, production-ready systems that integrate seamlessly with our digital platforms.

This is a hands-on role where you'll balance coding and cutting-edge AI. You'll help drive the engineering of reliable, secure, and high-performing AI services, while mentoring others and influencing Air New Zealand's AI strategy. Your work will directly support innovations such as personalised digital experiences, smarter operations, and AI-assisted employee tools that make travel simpler, smarter, and more sustainable.

The Role You'll Play

As a Senior AI Engineer, you will:

• Design, build, and maintain Generative AI services and applications in Python, from proof-of-concept to production.
• Design and implement robust retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipelines, integrating vector stores and enterprise data securely.
• Implement safeguards, guardrails, monitoring, and governance for responsible AI usage.
• Collaborate with business teams to identify opportunities where Generative AI can deliver value.
• Stay ahead of emerging GenAI technologies and bring innovative approaches into practice

What You'll Bring

You're a Senior Engineer who solves real-world problems with AI and data, and has experience developing and deploying safe, scalable GenAI applications from proof-of-concept to production. You're equally comfortable architecting agentic systems, writing clean production code, and guiding others to deliver high-quality AI-centric solutions.

• Proven expertise in Generative AI: LLMs, agents, embeddings/rerankers, vector databases, and prompt design/evaluation.
• Strong software engineering fundamentals including at least 3 years developing in Python, including experience with asynchronous frameworks (FastAPI), testing & mocking, and CI/CD.
• Strong data engineering & MLOps fundamentals including designing and querying relational (SQL) and NoSQL databases, feature stores, model/registry versioning, offline/online evaluation, and golden datasets.
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS - preferred, Azure, or GCP) and containerisation (Docker, Kubernetes). Experience with IaC (Terraform/CloudFormation) advantageous.
• Security, privacy, and compliance in enterprise settings; comfort working with sensitive data and regulated environments.
• A growth mindset: curiosity, experimentation, and the drive to turn ideas into robust, maintainable systems.

What You'll Get in Return

• A chance to work on industry-leading, high-impact platforms that support Air New Zealand's digital products.
• A respectful, diverse, and inclusive team culture where you'll be supported and valued.
• A collaborative environment with continuous learning and career development opportunities.
• Competitive salary and unique staff travel benefits to help you explore the world.
• Flexibility and support to bring your authentic self to work — we embrace individuality and creativity.

Additional Information

At Air New Zealand, we are proudly committed to diversity, equity and inclusion and believe in creating a truly inclusive workplace where everyone can be themselves and thrive. Our people are our greatest asset – because while everything else we do in our operation can be replicated by our competitors, it is our people that truly set us apart. We are firm believers in celebrating the differences and diversity of thought our people bring to their roles. We encourage candidates from diverse backgrounds, including those with a disability, additional health and mental health needs, and/or are neurodiverse to apply for our roles.

If you have encountered any accessibility barriers and require further information or reasonable accommodations to our recruitment process, please reach out to the recruiter listed on this job advert so they are able to support you to freely participate equitably in our recruitment and selection process.

Whāia te pae tawhiti kia tata. Ko te pae tata whakamaua, kia tina.

"Seek to bring distant horizons closer. Once near, seize them and make them your reality."