Senior DevOps Engineer

Overview

New Zealand Traveller Declaration | Whakapuakanga Tangata Haere ki Aotearoa

The New Zealand Traveller Declaration (NZTD) is the digital declaration used to collect information from travellers coming to Aotearoa New Zealand via air and sea. It helps us identify and manage customs, immigration, biosecurity, and health risks to the border.

The opportunity to evolve and enhance the NZTD product to positively impact travellers and Border Protection agencies involved in their journey is endless. Our vision is for a streamlined digital border that supports seamless travel by air and sea.

To help us achieve this multi-agency vision, we are seeking a highly skilled and motivated Senior DevOps Engineer to join the NZTD team. A driven technical leader who can help shape the future direction of this product.

If you thrive in a complex environment and have a passion for continuous improvement and making genuine change, we want you on our team!

An exciting opportunity to join NZ Customs as a Senior DevOps Engineer is now available. This role is a full-time permanent position based in our Wellington Customhouse.

About This Role…

Reporting to the Manager Engineering, this is a key role in providing DevOps practise leadership whilst building and supporting Products that deliver value to our customers, ensuring that they are secure, fit-for-purpose, stable and low maintenance.

As a senior member of a wider Engineering Team, the Senior DevOps Engineer is quality driven, always looking to not only improve the customers' products, but to also grow themselves, their team and Customs. You will also provide mentoring, coaching to other engineers to improve their technical skills, champion the implementation of new technologies and methods within the team, and support team members in their adoption.

To be successful in this role the following knowledge, experience, skills and personal attributes are required…

• Experience working in a technical role within product driven software development teams within a complex and fast paced environment across a wide range of technologies.
• The ability to support, mentor, influence and lead people.
• Hands-on experience with all stages of the product life cycle and all aspects of operational support of business-critical services including Shared Services.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal with an ability to understand complex challenges / concepts and articulate these in a simplified, easy to understand manner.
• The proven ability to work well in a highly collaborative manner.
• The ability to work flexibly, delivering change and support across multiple products and services.
• Able to adapt to and learn innovative technologies and methodologies as required.
• 5 years+ of relevant experience of developing software and / or infrastructure engineering.
• Strong knowledge of relevant software development topics, including development languages, databases, methodologies, DevOps, build pipelines, automation, API's, cloud concepts, as well as an understanding of other related areas such as UX design, product development, networking, security compliance, capacity management etc.
• Willingness to be part of an on-call roster.

What We Would Offer You

Working for New Zealand Customs

To join Customs in any role you must be a New Zealand citizen or New Zealand permanent resident and be able to obtain and maintain an Organisational Security clearance to Confidential level.

OR A New Zealand Citizen or New Zealand Permanent Resident who has resided continuously in New Zealand for the last five years, (including five years ago from the date of this application) and resides in New Zealand at time of application who has travelled out of New Zealand for short periods of time i.e. >

6 months in one of the following countries : Australia, United Kingdom, United States or Canada and can provide police certificates from those countries for the period of absence.

Because of the nature of Customs' work you must have a clear Police record. Organisational security clearances are mandatory and are conducted by Customs. You will also be required to pass a drug test.

You must have a background history that is verifiable and can be assessed by the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service towards a recommendation of suitability for security clearance at a higher level.

How To Apply

To express your interest, please apply online by submitting a CV and cover letter that demonstrates your ability to meet the competencies required for the role as outlined in the position description.

Please note that Customs will not accept any applications sent to an email address. All applications are required to be submitted online via our website.

Please note Customs will be managing this recruitment independently in-house and will not be engaging with recruitment agencies at this stage.

Candidates who applied for this position in July / August 2025... please note, we are not progressing with your candidacy for this role, so there is no need to reapply.

Deadline for applications is 11pm, Monday 6 October 2025.

New Zealand Customs Service | Te Mana Ārai o Aotearoa is a member of Diversity Works New Zealand and is committed to developing a diverse workforce and an inclusive workplace. It provides equal employment opportunities and welcomes applications from everyone who can meet the requirements of the role.

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