Senior Manager - Data Engineering

Position Overview

As the Senior Manager of Data Engineering at Auckland Council, you will spearhead the transition to a modern data platform, crafting the strategic vision, technical roadmap, and overseeing the move from legacy systems. This is a pivotal leadership role within a large, complex organisation where your efforts will create scalable, dependable data solutions that empower reliable insights, automation, and innovation.

Key Duties

• Direct the data engineering strategy and establish a roadmap for foundational data assets and pipelines utilizing Snowflake, dbt, Fivetran, and Power BI.
• Oversee the migration from earlier platforms, including the retirement of BusinessObjects, Power BI legacy pipelines, and the WhereScape RED Enterprise Data Warehouse.
• Define and implement technology, methodologies, and quality standards for data ingestion, integration, and transformation aligned with governance policies to ensure data accuracy and reliability.
• Lead and mentor a high-performing team of data engineers, fostering innovation, accountability, and ongoing development.
• Collaborate closely with business stakeholders, IT teams, and external partners to prioritize initiatives, manage deliverables, and discover opportunities in analytics, automation, and machine learning.

Candidate Profile

You will be an experienced technical and strategic leader with a strong track record of enabling data engineering transformations in data-advanced organizations. A deep understanding of modern data tools like Snowflake, Databricks, dbt, Fivetran, and visualization platforms such as Power BI or Tableau is essential. You should be skilled in SQL and Python programming, proficient in designing dependable production pipelines with ETL and ELT architectures, familiar with dimensional and medallion modeling, and experienced in version control plus CI/CD implementations.

An adaptable and inspiring leader capable of handling ambiguity and inspiring teams through transitions, you will prioritize platform stability, observability, governance, compliance, performance efficiency, and cost management while maintaining a holistic strategic view. Your strong commercial insight, agile approach, and communication, negotiation, and influencing skills will be critical in balancing priorities and enhancing organizational service delivery.

Required Qualifications and Experience

• Minimum 10 years of experience in data and analytics roles within organisations renowned for high data maturity.
• At least 5 years in senior or technical leadership roles.
• Demonstrated success leading complete data migration projects from strategy through execution and validation.
• Proven ability managing complex stakeholders and delivering technical programs on time and within budget.
• Relevant degree in computer science, information technology, statistics, engineering, or a related field.

Our Offer

Auckland Council is a major local authority servicing over 1.6 million residents, committed to progressive social, cultural, and environmental advancement. Joining our team means joining a collaborative and customer-focused environment.

We offer a competitive salary, comprehensive training and career development opportunities, diverse employee benefits and discounts as part of the Auckland Council Group.

Additional Information

We embrace and value diversity and inclusion in our workplace. If you require any support or accommodations during the recruitment process, please inform us at the time of application.

Applications close on Wednesday, 16 September 2026.