Title: AI & Data Platform Operations Lead
He aha ai tātou – Why us?
At One NZ we’re not just imagining the future, we’re building it. Our purpose? A better-connected Aotearoa New Zealand. Kia renarena te taukaea i Aotearoa New Zealand.
Our ambition? To become the most AI-enabled telco on the planet. This isn’t just about our technology, It’s about you. We’re investing in our people like never before.... empowering them to grow, lead, and shape what’s next.
Through our AI School, access to world-class learning platforms, or career pathways that evolve with you, we create an environment where your curiosity thrives, and your skills accelerate.
Join us and be part of something extraordinary: connect with purpose and help redefine what’s possible.
Uia mai koe te pātai, he aha te mea nui o tēnei ao? Māku koe e ki atu he tangata, he tangata, he tangata.
“If you asked me, what is the greatest thing in this world, I would say it is people, it is people, it is people.”
Ko tō tūranga – your role
As the AI & Data Platform Operations Lead, you will lead the operational excellence of One NZ’s AI & Data Platforms — driving reliability, scalability, and resilience across AI Ops, SRE, and DataOps. Partnering with Engineering, you’ll champion observability, incident response, governance, and continuous improvement to deliver trusted, secure, and production-ready AI and data services at scale.
Ko tō mahi – what you’ll do
• Lead the operational health and reliability of One NZ’s AI & Data Platform(s), ensuring services are observable, resilient, and supported through clear SLOs, error budgets, and operational runbooks.
• Manage and prioritise the operational backlog across incidents, changes, automation initiatives, and resilience improvements to maintain effective delivery flow.
• Drive consistent AI Ops, DataOps, and SRE practices, including readiness gates, deployment standards, rollback procedures, and post-incident reviews.
• Coordinate managed service partners and vendors to deliver seamless BAU and after-hours operational support aligned to agreed SLAs and escalation pathways.
• Partner closely with the Data & AI Platform Engineering Lead to ensure operational learnings, risks, and requirements inform platform roadmaps and engineering priorities.
• Improve operational performance by reducing incident volumes, improving recovery times, and strengthening deployment safety and reliability.
• Champion continuous improvement initiatives that enhance platform resilience, service quality, and operational efficiency.
• Support operational governance across security, privacy, compliance, and FinOps practices to ensure trusted and cost-effective platform operations.
• Mentor and share knowledge across squads and operational teams to build capability, reduce silos, and strengthen internal expertise.
Na tōu rourou - what you’ll bring
• Proven experience operating mission-critical data and AI platforms with strong knowledge of SRE, DevOps, and operational reliability practices.
• Strong understanding of AI Ops and DataOps, including model monitoring, data quality management, operational readiness, and service reliability.
• Expertise in incident response, observability, change management, on-call readiness, and performance optimisation.
• Solid understanding of cloud and data platform technologies including AWS, Snowflake, Databricks, dbt, Terraform, and observability tooling.
• Strong knowledge of security, privacy, compliance, and FinOps principles, including least-privilege access, encryption, auditability, and cost optimisation.
• Experience managing operational backlogs, prioritising work, and coordinating delivery using agile methodologies and tools.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement and communication skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively across technical and non-technical teams.
• A collaborative leadership style with a passion for mentoring others, sharing knowledge, and driving continuous improvement.
Nā mātou te rourou – what you’ll get
• One New Zealand is leading the way by ensuring you can have a truly balanced life. Most roles allow flexibility to work from home and flex your hours to enjoy work & whānau commitments.
• A fully subsidised Southern Cross health insurance cover for you and your family.
• Lifestyle leave, giving you the option to purchase an extra week or two of annual leave.
• Discounts on One New Zealand products, services and much more!
We are proudly Rainbow Tick certified and champion diversity of thought, perspective and background. Joining our whānau is more than starting a new job - it’s the beginning of a journey that will challenge and inspire you to play a role in something bigger.
Tū hikitia rā, tū hāpainga. Tū hāpainga, tū hikitia rā.
We stand to uplift, to support and to elevate others.
#LI-DW1