Head of Technology

This is a senior technology leadership role in an Australasian distribution business operating across circa. 80 sites in two countries. The organisation builds and runs its own core ERP — a genuine engineering environment rather than a vendor-management function — and is looking for a leader who can bring direction, structure and prioritisation to a capable team that has been operating without dedicated leadership.

The role reports directly to the Chief Executive and carries real mandate. It is equally a people leadership role and a technology one: the successful candidate will set the agenda, build the team's capability and culture, and act as a trusted partner to leaders across a distributed network.

This role should appeal to someone looking for a meaty challenge that will call on your expertise to date and stretch your well-rounded skillset. Our client is looking for someone with the road ahead of them who sees this as the place they make their mark over the next five+ years.

Leadership & Culture

• Lead, mentor, coach and develop a multidisciplinary technology team spanning software development, digital, product, operations and business intelligence.
• Build ethos, capability and a shared culture across teams that have been operating independently with their own processes and toolsets.
• Model a hands-on leadership style in a business where hierarchy carries little weight and leaders are expected to be close to the work.
• Address uneven workload distribution and build a sustainable, well-utilised team.
• Support individuals to take on greater responsibility over time.

Business & Customer Alignment

• Build deep, trusted relationships with commercial and operational leaders across the network.
• Develop a genuine understanding of the business — including how technology decisions affect service, logistics and customer experience at site level.
• Translate business needs into clear technology priorities, recognising that different regions present different problems.
• Establish an enabler mindset within the team, where internal stakeholders are treated as customers.
• Proven experience in connecting with external customers, understanding their needs and developing a solution roadmap to enable them further.

Technology Strategy & Delivery

• Own the roadmap for the core ERP and the surrounding application landscape.
• Continue the decomposition of monolithic patterns within the core system into discrete, well-defined services.
• Drive the API and integration strategy, including maturing the permissions and provisioning model.
• Uphold and defend the architectural principle of a lean core with best-in-class products integrated around it.
• Set direction on the use of AI across the development function and the wider business, including appropriate guardrails.
• Work with an established BI function to strengthen the data foundation and unlock capability currently constrained by legacy data structures.

Governance & Prioritisation

• Establish a single, consolidated view of the technology portfolio, replacing a fragmented mix of spreadsheets and ad hoc tools.
• Introduce clear prioritisation tied to business value and visible to leadership.
• Define project scope, business ownership, responsibilities, expectations and milestones.
• Bring appropriate discipline and rhythm to a business that has consciously avoided corporate bureaucracy — structure without over-correction is central to succeeding here.

Stakeholder & Relationship Management

• Act as a trusted advisor to senior leaders, clearly articulating the rationale behind technology decisions.
• Influence and shape the technology agenda rather than simply receiving and processing requests.
• Communicate decisions — including deferrals and declines — in a way that leaves stakeholders informed and supportive.
• Ensure all sites across the network receive equal focus and support.

Person Specification

• A software development background, with the credibility to connect with developers and a strong command of modern SDLC practice. Depth here matters more than infrastructure or cybersecurity specialisation, both of which are well covered within the existing team.
• Proven people leadership across a multidisciplinary team of up to 50 managing a range of agendas and differing priorities. You will have the ability to bring teams together and follow agreed business prioritisation.
• Experience within a genuinely distributed or multi-site operating environment.
• A substantial chapter of experience — around five years or more — in an organisation of real size and complexity.
• Experience with proprietary, in-house or heavily customised core systems, rather than exclusively vendor-packaged environments.
• A track record of having built something meaningful — a platform, a customer-facing product, a core capability — not solely of buying and configuring.
• Demonstrable ability to influence senior stakeholders, set an agenda and defend technical decisions.
• Comfortable and credible across the full business — as effective on a distribution site as in an executive meeting.
• Calm, even-keeled, and able to build rapport quickly.
• End user, customer facing experience required.
• Auckland-based, with a genuine interest in a long-term appointment.

Candidates from heavily governed or committee-driven environments are welcome to apply but should be prepared to demonstrate a track record of decisive, commercially grounded delivery.

What's on offer

• A direct reporting line to the Chief Executive and a real seat at the table.
• Ownership of a homegrown core platform — a rare opportunity in this market.
• An experienced technology leader currently in place who has offered to support and mentor the incoming appointment.
• Generous base salary plus a short-term incentive of 20–30%.
• Scale and complexity without the bureaucracy that usually accompanies it.

Apply now.
Please note that all applications will be acknowledged electronically unless otherwise specified. Due to the complexity and seniority of this role it may take us a couple of weeks to review your application and respond accordingly.

Visit our website for more opportunities www.auraconsulting.co.nz