Principal Systems Engineer

Principal Systems Engineer - Enterprise Services

Shape the future of enterprise platforms at Massey University - join our Enterprise Services team.

Be at the heart of secure, reliable and well-governed digital services that support teaching, research and operations.

Lead standards, mentor engineers and help Massey's enterprise services evolve for the future.

Mō tēnei tūranga mahi | About this role

We're looking for an experienced Principal Systems Engineer to help shape and operate Massey's core enterprise systems - AI Platforms, Data Platform including Microsoft Fabric, Microsoft 365 and Power Platform, identity and access, Azure, databases, and Linux. You'll lead on platform design, security, performance, reliability and operational guardrails, keeping our services trusted, scalable and well governed.

Working alongside architecture, security, applications, infrastructure and digital enablement colleagues, you'll deliver joined-up services that support teaching, research, operations and future AI use cases.

Āu mahi | What you will do

• Lead the technical lifecycle of Massey's enterprise platforms, from design and build through to operation, improvement and retirement.
• Own platform foundations - configuration, access, monitoring, performance, cost, release, resilience and support.
• Set practical standards and guardrails that keep services secure, reliable, compliant and easy to support.
• Partner with technical and business stakeholders to enable trusted collaboration, automation, integration and AI services.
• Mentor colleagues and champion good practice in platform engineering, governance, automation and service reliability.
• Provide strategic technology leadership by defining and communicating a clear long-term direction, aligning investment and delivery priorities with organisational objectives, and ensuring technology decisions support future growth, innovation, and operational sustainability.

Ko koe tēnei | Who you are

• Collaborative and inclusive, able to build trust across technical and non-technical teams.
• A clear communicator who can explain complex platform concepts in practical, accessible ways.
• Generous with your expertise - you mentor, support and lift the people around you.
• Sound judgement and ownership, with the ability to make considered decisions and manage competing priorities.
• Comfortable with ambiguity and challenging change - effective and decisive while direction is still forming.
• Strong influencing skills, bringing people together to build shared understanding and practical decisions.

Technical Skills and Experience

Essential

• A tertiary qualification in IT or business management, or equivalent industry experience.
• Industry-recognised certification at senior practitioner level in systems or platform engineering, cloud, Microsoft 365, Linux or security.
• Minimum 6 years' experience in a senior or principal engineering role across enterprise platforms such as Microsoft 365, Linux, or equivalent enterprise services.
• A track record of designing, building and operating enterprise platforms at scale.
• Hands-on experience across several of: Microsoft 365 (Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Teams), Entra ID / Active Directory, Power Platform, Azure or equivalent cloud services, databases and data platforms such as Microsoft Fabric, Linux and scripting (Bash/Python/PowerShell), and Microsoft Purview or Defender.
• Advanced engineering capability across automation, scripting, monitoring, performance tuning, release practices and production support.
• Strong grasp of enterprise architecture and governance, including security, privacy, compliance, integration patterns and APIs.

Highly Desirable

• Infrastructure as Code, cloud automation, CI/CD or DevOps practices.
• Service ownership, disaster recovery, security hardening, data governance or compliance frameworks.
• Knowledge of strategic IT issues in education, research, public sector or government.
• Microsoft Copilot or similar AI assistants, including enterprise adoption, safe operation and governance.
• Cloud AI services such as Azure AI, with an understanding of data privacy and responsible AI.

Ko ngā hua o te tūranga? | What's in it for you?

• Up to 6.75% employer contribution to the UniSaver Superannuation Scheme.
• Five university holidays per year in addition to your annual leave.
• Subsidised Southern Cross Healthcare plan for you and your family.
• Discounted membership to our fully equipped recreation centre and gym facilities.
• Staff purchasing privileges and discounts at many commercial and retail businesses across NZ.
• Access to on-campus crèche/day care facilities for dependents of staff on our Manawatū and Auckland campuses.

This is a full-time position (1 FTE 37.50hrs p/w) with the following location and work options available to the preferred candidate:

1. Based in Palmerston North, with a minimum of 3 days a week on Manawatū campus.
2. Based in Wellington, with 1 day a week at the Manawatū campus and minimum 2 days a week at Wellington campus.

The salary for this position ranges from $120,000-$150,000 based on skills and experience.

Massey is a Te Tiriti-led university, upholding the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in our everyday practice. We work with mutual respect and care, we are future-focused and results-oriented, and we welcome applications from people of all backgrounds who share those values.

Join us and help shape Massey University's digital future. If you want your engineering to matter well beyond the data centre, we'd love to hear from you.

Applications will be reviewed as submitted and we may interview prior to the role closing on Sunday 01 Nov 2026, 11.00pm.

Appointment to this role is subject to a Ministry of Justice criminal and traffic convictions check, an Equifax credit history check, and validation of qualifications.

Desired Skills and Experience Enterprise Architecture

Platform Engineering

Microsoft 365

Microsoft Fabric

Azure

Entra ID

Active Directory

Power Platform

Exchange Online

SharePoint Online

Microsoft Teams

Linux Administration

PowerShell

Python

Bash Scripting

Microsoft Purview

Microsoft Defender

Cloud Computing

Data Platforms

Identity & Access Management (IAM)

API Integration

Service Reliability Engineering (SRE)

Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

DevOps

CI/CD

Cloud Automation

Monitoring & Observability

Performance Optimisation

Disaster Recovery

Security Hardening

Data Governance

AI Platforms

Azure AI

Microsoft Copilot