AI Data Engineer

JobsCloseBy Editorial Insights

Air New Zealand seeks an AI Data Engineer to design scalable data products and pipelines powering analytics, ML and intelligent automation. You’ll accelerate delivery with CI/CD and DataOps, strengthen governance and ethical AI practices, and partner with stakeholders to translate problems into measurable AI outcomes. This role blends engineering excellence with business impact across marketing, finance, and operations, demanding strong SQL and cloud expertise, exposure to ML integration, and Infrastructure as Code. To apply, tailor your CV to end-to-end pipelines, real-time versus batch work, and tangible outcomes; showcase collaboration and change leadership. Applications close 10 March 2026, onsite in Auckland. Benefits include travel discounts, FlexiLeave, KiwiSaver.

Job Description

Kia ora! 

Help power the intelligence behind millions of journeys. As Air New Zealand accelerates toward becoming an AI-ready organisation, the AI Data Engineering Chapter is building the data foundations that power AI models, intelligent automation, and advanced analytics across the enterprise.  

You will join a cross functional Digital team working across a unique and complex data landscape. Your work will shape enterprise-wide insights across marketing, finance, operations, and product, helping drive performance at scale for one of New Zealand’s most attractive employers. 

The role you will play 

As an AI Data Engineer, you will help transform Air New Zealand from BI-ready to AI-ready by building scalable, AI-optimised data products that support analytics, machine learning, and intelligent automation. 

You will: 

• Design reusable, high-quality data products for analytics, ML training, inference, and AI-driven workflows 
• Accelerate delivery using automation, CI/CD, DataOps, and hybrid (batch + real-time) pipelines 
• Strengthen data quality, observability, governance, and ethical AI practices 
• Integrate AI capabilities (e.g., AI agents, intelligent platforms) into data ecosystems 
• Partner with stakeholders to translate business problems into measurable AI and data outcomes 

In short, you will combine engineering excellence, automation, and business collaboration to deliver trusted, AI-ready data at scale. 

What we’re looking for 

We’re looking for an experienced data engineer with strong SQL and cloud platform expertise who can build scalable, production-ready data pipelines. You should have exposure to ML or AI integration, apply CI/CD and DataOps practices, understand data governance and performance optimisation, and ideally have experience with Infrastructure as Code. 

Strong AI Data Engineers combine technical expertise with business impact. You would understand how AI data products create value, build trusted relationships across teams, support change and AI adoption, collaborate openly within the chapter, and communicate insights clearly to influence decisions and outcomes. 

What Makes This Role Different? 

This role reflects Air New Zealand’s shift from traditional Analytics Engineering to AI Data Engineering. 

We are moving: 

• From reporting-focused models to AI-optimised data products 
• From manual pipelines to AI-assisted automation 
• From KPI outputs to reusable features, signals, and intelligent systems 
• From reporting-only governance to governance that supports AI readiness, lineage, and ethical use 

You’ll help build data platforms designed not just for human analysis, but for machine intelligence and automation at scale. 

Why join Air New Zealand? 

We want our people to live their best lives and access great benefits that support their lives outside work. 

• Discounted travel on Air New Zealand and access to standby travel across a wide range of international airlines 
• FlexiLeave, giving you the option to purchase up to four additional weeks of leave each year 
• KiwiSaver and FlexiSaver with matching employer contributions up to four percent 
• A strong learning culture that supports your growth and development 

Ready for take off? 

If you are motivated by automation, intelligent systems, scalable data foundations, and measurable business impact - we would love to hear from you. 

Help us transform data into AI-ready intelligence. 

Applications close 10 March 2026 

Additional Information

At Air New Zealand, we are proudly committed to diversity, equity and inclusion and believe in creating a truly inclusive workplace where everyone can be themselves and thrive. Our people are our greatest asset – because while everything else we do in our operation can be replicated by our competitors, it is our people that truly set us apart. We are firm believers in celebrating the differences and diversity of thought our people bring to their roles. We encourage candidates from diverse backgrounds, including those with a disability, additional health and mental health needs, and/or are neurodiverse to apply for our roles.

If you have encountered any accessibility barriers and require further information or reasonable accommodations to our recruitment process, please reach out to the recruiter listed on this job advert so they are able to support you to freely participate equitably in our recruitment and selection process.

Whāia te pae tawhiti kia tata. Ko te pae tata whakamaua, kia tina.

"Seek to bring distant horizons closer. Once near, seize them and make them your reality."