Job Description
Mō tēnei tūranga mahi | About this role
- Work anywhere in New Zealand
- Permanent, Full-time
Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is firmly grounded in the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and is dedicated to serving all New Zealanders. Through integration and collaboration, we're building a health system underpinned by partnership, equity, sustainability, whānau-centred care, and excellence.
About the Role
The Senior Data Engineer plays a key role in designing, building, and optimising data solutions and pipelines that enable high-quality analytics and informed decision-making. Operating within the Digital Service team, the role works in close partnership with the Digital Applications & Products team, the Manager Development, and business stakeholders to ensure efficient and scalable data collection, transformation, and storage. The Senior Data Engineer provides technical expertise across projects, champions best practices in data engineering, and actively contributes to data governance efforts. This role also supports the growth of the team's capability by mentoring junior engineers and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
About the Team/Service/ Location
The Senior Data Engineer reports into the Manager Development, which sits within the Digital Applications & Products function. The focus of this function is on reducing duplication and improving alignment across data, application, and product teams, with a strong emphasis on delivering efficient, scalable, and reliable data solutions. Teams are structured around the programmes, projects, and products they support, enabling standardised processes and consistent data outcomes across the organisation. Organised into service portfolios and domains, this structure ensures data engineering delivery aligns with business objectives while driving continuous improvement and data governance standards.
About you
You are a seasoned data engineering leader with a strong technical foundation and a passion for designing and delivering scalable, high-impact data solutions in complex environments. You bring a strategic mindset, a collaborative leadership style, and a commitment to maximising value through effective data management and analytics aligned with organisational goals. You will also have the following skills and experience to support your success in the role:
- 5–7 years of data engineering experience, including at least 2 years in a senior or lead role.
- Proven expertise in designing, building, and maintaining data pipelines using tools such as Spark, Hadoop, Kafka, and cloud-native database services (AWS, Azure, GCP).
- Strong experience with programming languages (Pyton, SQL, Scala)
- Experience with integrating with Snowflake, which is Health New Zealand's data warehouse technology.
- Good knowledge in data engineering tools (dbt, Airlow and Meltano are preferred).
- Strong knowledge of data warehousing, data modeling, ETL processes, and data governance best practices.
- Experience working in Agile environments; health sector experience is highly desirable.
Working for Health New Zealand
Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is ‘the weaving of wellness'. We're dedicated to ensuring excellent healthcare for the people of Aotearoa/New Zealand. The Equity Work Programme at Health NZ focuses on helping everyone in the health system think about equity when they do their work. It also promotes the cultural change needed for the whole system to reach equity in health outcomes.
Our people are at the heart of everything we do. Health New Zealand are committed to being good employers and honouring our equal employment opportunity obligations.
Our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion
- We want to see the real you in your application and welcome the real you on board if you come and work with us. Skills are gained across many areas of our life, not just in formal employment. If you can demonstrate the skills listed in the ad, but the experience was gained through whānau life, community or mahi aroha (volunteering) we encourage you to apply and share your story with us in your cover letter.
- We particularly welcome applications from our diverse Māori, Pacific, disabled, and rainbow communities.
How to Apply
To view the position description and/or apply for the role please click “apply now.” All applications must be submitted through our online careers portal before 11:59pm on Wednesday 13th August. If you have any questions about the role, please contact Chloe-Mary Boothat chloemary.booth@TeWhatuOra.govt.nz.
Whilst Health New Zealand is undergoing change, affected employees will be given preference and priority for this position.