Head of Engineering

About ASB and the Digital & Engineering Practice

ASB is dedicated to transforming banking through technology, innovation, and engineering excellence. Our Digital & Engineering Practice unites over 1,200 engineers across the organization, providing strategic oversight, enhancing capabilities, and fostering technical excellence across diverse platforms such as customer services, payments, core banking, and enterprise systems. This team supports more than 500 applications in a complex technology environment serving over a million customers in New Zealand.

Role Overview

We are seeking an experienced and visionary Head of Engineering to lead the next phase of ASB's AI-driven transformation within the engineering community. Reporting directly to the General Manager of Engineering & Core Transformation, this strategic leadership position offers the opportunity to shape and elevate engineering practices, driving adoption of automation, AI, and emerging technologies at scale. The role involves partnering with senior technology leaders and stakeholders to align engineering initiatives with business goals and foster an environment that promotes innovation, learning, and high performance.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead initiatives to enhance engineering capability, quality, and delivery effectiveness.
• Champion the adoption and maturation of AI-powered engineering practices across ASB’s engineering teams.
• Develop reusable engineering patterns, frameworks, and standards that support automation and AI-enabled delivery.
• Identify and expand opportunities to integrate AI-powered capabilities into workforce and developer experiences.
• Coach and mentor engineering leaders and supervisors to build strong leadership capacity.
• Influence engineering excellence and guide technical direction across multiple tribes, platforms, and communities.
• Drive talent development, succession planning, and workforce expansion.
• Create a workplace culture where engineers can thrive, innovate, and achieve their best performance.
• Promote knowledge sharing, best practices, and active participation in engineering communities.
• Engage senior stakeholders to ensure alignment of engineering projects with strategic business priorities.
• Support recruitment efforts and further growth of ASB’s engineering culture.

Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is an accomplished engineering leader with strong technical proficiency and extensive experience managing engineering organizations in complex environments. They excel at uniting teams around common objectives, facilitating meaningful change, and navigating challenges associated with new technologies and operational models.

Key qualities and experience include:

• Proven leadership in large engineering organizations and ability to build high-performing leadership teams.
• Strong background in software engineering, technology leadership, or related roles with credible technical expertise.
• Experience driving engineering transformation and capability enhancement on a significant scale.
• Direct involvement with AI-powered engineering tools, automation, developer productivity solutions, and emerging methodologies.
• Understanding of how AI and automation can be practically applied to improve engineering outcomes.
• Capacity to influence senior leadership and secure alignment across diverse teams.
• Skilled in guiding teams through change, including adoption of new tools and working methods.
• In-depth knowledge of modern engineering practices, software delivery models, and technology platforms.
• Track record in talent development, culture building, and fostering high-performance teams.
• Excellent coaching, communication, and interpersonal skills.
• Active participation or leadership in engineering communities or industry initiatives.
• A pragmatic approach balancing innovation, risk, and delivery.

Work Environment and Location

This role is based in Auckland at ASB's C:Drive office in Albany and requires working onsite.

Additional Information

Successful applicants will undergo pre-employment screenings including police and credit checks, Anti-Money Laundering compliance, and qualification verification potentially both domestically and internationally.

Employee Benefits

• Opportunities for career growth through training, courses, and internal mobility.
• An inclusive and values-driven culture celebrating diversity and supporting employee-led communities.
• Comprehensive health and wellbeing support including health insurance, lifestyle leave, and mental wellness resources.
• Meaningful benefits such as discounted banking and insurance services along with generous parental leave top-ups.
• The chance to contribute to a purpose-driven organization impacting millions of New Zealanders.