Technical Lead (AI Engineering) | Melbourne | Build the Future of Enterprise AI

• Own the AI strategy for a major Australian enterprise
• Lead a team while remaining deeply hands-on
• Build production AI systems that solve real customer problems at scale

Most AI jobs today fall into one of two categories.

They're either research-heavy roles where your work never reaches production. Or they're feature teams adding an LLM to an existing product and calling it AI.

This isn't either of those.

This is an opportunity to define how AI is engineered across one of Australia's largest and most recognisable organisations. You'll take ownership of AI architecture, guide technical direction, and lead a team delivering intelligent systems that operate at genuine enterprise scale.

What's in it for you?

• Own the technical direction for AI Engineering across a high-profile product platform.
• Lead a squad of engineers while staying hands-on with architecture and development.
• Build production AI systems that customers interact with every day.
• Work on Agentic AI, RAG, vector search, intelligent automation, and LLM-powered workflows.
• Influence engineering standards, AI architecture, and platform strategy from day one.
• Work alongside experienced engineering and product leaders who value technical excellence.

The Role

This is an AI Engineering role, not a Data Science position. You'll be responsible for taking AI capabilities from concept through to production, ensuring they're scalable, observable, secure, and commercially valuable.

You'll lead a team of engineers while remaining close to the technology, making key architectural decisions and helping establish the engineering practices that will underpin future AI initiatives.

You'll work across areas such as:

• Large Language Models (LLMs)
• Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)
• Agentic AI
• Vector databases
• Prompt and context engineering
• AI orchestration
• AI observability and evaluation
• Production AI platforms

You'll collaborate closely with Product, Engineering and business stakeholders to identify opportunities where AI can deliver meaningful customer and commercial outcomes.

What You'll Bring

You're probably a Software Engineer first, who has evolved into AI Engineering.

You'll bring experience across:

• Strong C#/.NET engineering background
• Python for AI and backend services
• AWS cloud technologies (experience with Bedrock and SageMaker highly regarded)
• Distributed systems and event-driven architecture
• Microservices and API-first design
• Building and operating production AI or ML systems
• RAG, vector databases, AI agents, MCP or similar modern AI patterns
• CI/CD, observability, monitoring and engineering best practices

Leadership experience is equally important. You'll have mentored engineers, influenced architecture, and helped raise the technical capability of the teams around you.

Unfortunately, candidates requiring visa sponsorship or holding temporary work visas cannot be considered.

If you're looking for one of Australia's most impactful AI Engineering opportunities, where you'll shape strategy, remain hands-on, and build AI systems that operate at genuine enterprise scale, we'd love to hear from you.

Apply now or reach out to Karl directly at karl@theonset.com.au for a confidential conversation.

This is a broad technology leadership role, but not a traditional Head of IT job.

The main focus is data governance and responsible AI — helping a growing technology group make better use of its data and move quickly with AI, while putting the right standards and guardrails around it.

There’s plenty happening.

The business has a modern data and MarTech environment across Snowflake, Tableau, Tealium and Braze, with a significant customer data set and more AI use cases emerging across different parts of the group. They’re also exploring some genuinely interesting ways of using their own data with AI.
Your job is to help govern that properly without turning it into a bureaucracy.

You’ll take the lead on how data is managed, accessed, trusted and used across analytics and AI, while building the broader responsible-AI framework around what the business is already doing.

ISO 42001 is on the roadmap, and you’ll play a key role in getting the organisation ready for certification. You don’t need to have implemented ISO 42001 before, but you should have some exposure to AI already and be interested in how businesses can adopt it quickly and responsibly.

There is also a cyber, risk and compliance remit, but this isn’t a cyber-first hire. The existing security and compliance program is mature, including ISO 27001, Essential Eight and SOC 2, with operational support internally and through external providers.

You’ll sit alongside the CTO, with an IT/Ops Manager and operational function reporting into you. They handle the day-to-day technology environment, leaving you to focus more broadly on governance, standards, vendors, data, AI and how the group uses technology.

A bit about you....

You’ve probably worked in a smaller technology, SaaS or platform business where job descriptions aren't particularly neat and you've had to cover a few different areas.

You may currently be a Head of Technology, Head of IT or in a broader technology/cyber operations leadership role.

Ideally, you started with a solid technical foundation and have since moved into broader leadership across areas such as IT and data governance, security, risk, compliance and AI.

You don't need to be the deepest technical person in the room today, but you need to understand the technology well enough to challenge people, make good decisions and set sensible standards.

Just as importantly, this won't suit someone who wants to run governance purely through process.

The culture is energetic and entrepreneurial. They want someone visible, curious and commercially minded — an operator who can create enough structure to manage risk while still helping people move faster.

You’ll become one of the key internal voices around how the business uses data and AI responsibly, with plenty of scope to shape the role as the group continues to grow.

Russell@theonset.com.au / 0438984265

Lead Delivery Manager - Sydney | Hybrid

We're partnering with a growing technology business in the insurance technology space to hire a Lead Delivery Manager who can elevate delivery performance while remaining close to the realities of customer delivery.

This is not a traditional people leadership role.

You'll operate at a senior level — leading complex customer programs, while managing and mentoring Delivery Managers, and helping shape how delivery is executed across the organisation.

Success in this role requires strong commercial judgement, the ability to navigate ambiguity, and the confidence to lead through influence while remaining accountable for outcomes.

What you’ll do

You'll play a critical role in ensuring delivery success across a portfolio of enterprise customers while helping Delivery Managers operate effectively in a fast-moving environment.

This includes:

• Overseeing complex, multi-stream software implementation programs across enterprise customers
• Supporting, coaching, and holding Delivery Managers accountable for delivery outcomes
• Acting as a senior escalation point for customers, delivery teams, and internal stakeholders
• Creating structure, clarity, and momentum when priorities shift or delivery becomes challenged
• Driving consistency, governance, and delivery standards across multiple customer engagements
• Owning delivery outcomes end-to-end, including commercial performance, forecasting, customer satisfaction, and risk management
• Working closely with Product, Sales, Engineering, and Leadership to balance competing priorities and delivery commitments
• Supporting pre-sales activities including customer workshops, scoping, estimation, and solution planning
• Identifying opportunities to improve delivery capability, scalability, and operational effectiveness
• Leading difficult conversations with customers and stakeholders when expectations need resetting
• Helping build a resilient, accountable, and high-performing delivery culture

What we’re looking for

We're looking for an experienced delivery leader who has built their career within software vendors, technology services businesses, implementation partners, or client-facing delivery environments where customer ownership and commercial accountability are core to the role.

You'll likely bring:

• Significant experience leading complex software implementations, SaaS deployments, or enterprise technology programs
• Experience managing multiple customer engagements and balancing competing stakeholder priorities
• Experience leading, mentoring, and managing Delivery Managers, Program Managers, or senior delivery professionals
• Strong commercial acumen with accountability for budgets, forecasts, margins, utilisation, and delivery outcomes
• Confidence making decisions when information is incomplete and priorities are changing
• Experience operating effectively in evolving environments where not every process is already defined
• Strong customer-facing delivery leadership experience, including executive stakeholder engagement and escalation management
• Experience building structure, governance, and scalable delivery practices without becoming overly process-driven
• The ability to influence peers and senior stakeholders while maintaining accountability and delivery focus
• Insurance industry exposure is beneficial but not essential

The type of leader who succeeds here

You're calm under pressure.

You create clarity when others see complexity.

You know when to coach, when to challenge, and when to step in.

You're comfortable making judgement calls, balancing competing priorities, and operating in environments where ambiguity is part of the role.

You build trust through transparency, accountability, and follow-through.

Most importantly, you're not looking for a perfectly mature environment.

You enjoy building capability, creating structure, and helping teams succeed in a business that is continuing to evolve.

Why this role

This is an opportunity to:

• Influence how delivery operates across the organisation
• Lead and mentor Delivery Managers while remaining connected to customer delivery
• Shape delivery standards, capability, and ways of working
• Work across multiple enterprise customers and strategic programs
• Partner closely with senior leadership on delivery performance and organisational growth
• Join a business that values resilience, collaboration, ownership, and accountability

This is a business scaling rapidly. Not every process is fully formed, and priorities can shift quickly. Success comes from being comfortable creating order, making decisions, and helping others succeed in environments where ambiguity exists.

If you're a delivery leader who thrives in customer-facing environments, enjoys developing people, and wants to play a meaningful role in how delivery evolves as a business scales, we'd love to speak with you.

Senior Embedded Software Engineer

Sydney | Hybrid | IoT

The Mission

Build the software behind a new generation of connected consumer products, from early proof of concept through to global mass production.

You’ll work across embedded systems, device connectivity, user interfaces and cloud-connected features, helping turn ambiguous product ideas into reliable, intuitive and commercially successful hardware.

The Challenge

This isn’t a narrow firmware role. You’ll join a multidisciplinary product squad alongside electronics, mechanical, industrial design, quality and product development specialists, owning software across the complete device experience.

Depending on the product, that could include:

• Developing embedded software in C and C++

• Building software for microcontrollers and connected devices

• Contributing to React Native interfaces running on physical products

• Integrating device, mobile and cloud components

• Designing reusable software architectures across multiple product families

• Reading schematics and debugging across hardware and software boundaries

• Prototyping quickly during concept development

• Maturing code through formal release gates into production-quality software

• Supporting manufacturing, validation and occasional factory engagement

• Collaborating with local teams, overseas engineering partners and remote software groups

The engineering lifecycle runs for roughly two to three years, taking products from an initial hypothesis through proof of concept, commercial approval, pilot builds and mass production.

The Bar

You don’t need to arrive as the finished article. You do need to be a strong software engineer who can solve problems, write code and operate comfortably around physical products.

The strongest profiles will include:

• Commercial C and C++ development experience

• Strong programming fundamentals and practical problem-solving ability

• Experience developing software for embedded systems, IoT devices or connected hardware

• An understanding of software architecture, reusable code and clean engineering practices

• The ability to read electronic schematics and debug interactions between software and hardware

• Experience with unit testing, code reviews and structured development processes

• Confidence working through unclear or incomplete requirements

• Clear communication across multiple engineering disciplines

Exposure to React, React Native, JavaScript, Python, cloud platforms or mobile development would be valuable, but not essential.

Experience in consumer electronics, medical devices, robotics, industrial IoT or another product-led engineering environment would translate well.

The Hire

You’re likely a software-first engineer who wants to work closer to the hardware.

You may already be an embedded specialist, or you may have started in full-stack, mobile or application software and developed a genuine interest in electronics, devices and physical products.

You’ll probably enjoy this role if you:

• Prefer tangible products over purely digital platforms

• Can move quickly without sacrificing long-term quality

• Know when a prototype needs to be fast and when production code needs to be robust

• Ask good questions when requirements are unclear

• Work collaboratively rather than treating firmware as an internal service

• Care about the full user experience, not just your individual codebase

• Want broad technical exposure without giving up hands-on development

This team values raw problem-solving ability over a perfect keyword match.

The "Why me?"

You’ll join an unusually experienced software group with significant principal-level capability across embedded systems, connected devices, user interfaces and cloud technologies.

That means genuine access to engineers who have built products at scale and can help you grow across multiple layers of the stack.

There are also several long-term career paths available:

• Remain deeply hands-on and progress toward principal engineering

• Take on technical leadership or architecture responsibilities

• Move toward engineering management as the team continues to scale

• Develop broader capability across embedded, IoT, UI and cloud systems

The "Why this?"

• Work exclusively on new product development

• See your software move from concept to globally manufactured hardware

• Join a growing engineering function with multiple approved hires

• Contribute earlier in the product lifecycle and influence product architecture

• Work across embedded software, IoT, connected interfaces and physical systems

• Build reusable platforms rather than repeatedly starting from scratch

• Learn from a highly experienced, low-turnover engineering team

• Access annual incentives and a long-term equity-style reward

• Gain occasional exposure to international manufacturing operations

This is an opportunity to build software people can physically interact with, and to stay close enough to the product to see exactly how your decisions shape the final experience.

Still reading? Get applying and let's talk.

Product Test Engineer – Embedded Systems | Sydney | up to $120,000 + super

I placed a test engineer at this company seven years ago. He's now Leading the team. If you're looking for similar progression, it's on offer here. 

You'll also do it in one of Sydney's more stable engineering teams, I've placed 12 people here over 7 years, 10 are still there building physical products sold in 70+ countries.

Why people stay:

• Genuine flexibility. No clock-watching, no justifying your day. Late starts, early finish, whatever works for you. 
• A hiring manager who develops people, not just manages them. 
• Variety. Engineers move across product lines and pick up new disciplines as they go.

They're now hiring two more Test Engineers.

You'll test embedded firmware and connected products on real hardware. From prototype through to production. Serial, Wi-Fi, BLE, MQTT. Pytest-driven automation. CI pipelines. Debugging failures that span firmware, fixtures and hardware behaviour.

You'll need:

• Strong Python, ideally with pytest or similar.
• Experience testing physical or connected devices, not just software.
• Comfort with Git, Jira, and CI/CD tools like Jenkins.

You could be a recent grad or a few years in. What matters is you've tested something you can hold in your hand, not just something running in a browser.

Sydney-based only.

Interested? Send me your CV, or just message me if you want to know more first, happy to talk it through before you decide anything.

Julien@theonset.com.au | 0406 158 832

Principal Design Technologist

Our client is hiring a Principal Design Technologist to build and scale an AI native design practice across their product suite.

Here's what we're actually looking for:

You've shipped AI augmented work. Not just used Claude Code or Cursor - actually built with them. Custom Figma plugins, design system tooling, interactive prototypes, component migration helpers. Work that's made it to production and changed how your team works.

You've scaled design at org level. Maybe it was a design system across 30+ products. Maybe you took a design function from zero to a mature team. Either way, you have evidence: adoption metrics, org-wide influence, a track record of making the people around you better.

You think in systems. Conceptual modelling, reusable primitives, reasoning about what's underneath the surface. You turn messy, technical domains into something intuitive without losing the rigor underneath.

You have opinions about AI in design. Not just excitement - critical thinking. You've evaluated tools and walked away from some. You know when to automate and when to insist on the human.

You can reason from code. Front end, data visualisation, ML/OCR experience - something that means you design for what's actually buildable and talk fluently with engineers about trade-offs.

Portfolio bar is high. We're looking at Figma libraries, design systems, speaking gigs, public work that reflects your thinking. Craft matters. Detail matters. Foundation matters.

The role: Hands on and leadership at once. You'll design and ship production work. You'll build the tooling and workflows that let your team design better than they could alone. You'll have a seat at the table shaping what design-technology becomes across the org.

This is for: Staff/Principal level ICs who've also led teams. 

If this resonates, we'd love to talk about scaled AI native design practice, how you'd build it, and what you've shipped.

Apply with your portfolio link and resume. Applications without a portfolio will not be considered.

End User Support Technician / Helpdesk - 12+ Month Contract - Level 1 & 2

Sydney CBD | NV1 Clearance Required | Enterprise IT Environment

Ready to take your IT support career to the next level?

We’re looking for a hands-on, customer-focused End User Support Technician to join a high-performing team supporting critical enterprise technology environments across Sydney, Norwa and occasional visits to Canberra sites. This is your opportunity to work on cutting-edge IT systems in a fast-paced, collaborative environment where no two days are the same.

If you thrive on solving problems, supporting users, and being the go-to technical expert, this role is for you.

What You’ll Be Doing

As the frontline lead for Desktop & End User Support (Level 1 & 2), you’ll play a vital role in keeping operations running smoothly across multiple locations.

Your day-to-day will include

• Supporting enterprise IT devices, systems, and infrastructure

• Troubleshooting desktops, laptops, mobile devices, networks, and AV hardware

• Installing, configuring, monitoring, and maintaining IT environments

• Managing incidents and service requests through ticketing systems

• Performing upgrades, preventative maintenance, and emergency support tasks

• Deploying software and hardware across user environments

• Supporting remote sites when required, as travel may be involved

• Assisting users with onboarding and IT orientation

• Contributing to technical documentation and process improvements

• Ensuring security and compliance standards are maintained

What We’re Looking For

Technical Skills & Experience

• 3-4+ years’ experience in Desktop / PC Support

• Strong experience supporting Windows 11 environments

• Experience with ITSM / ticket management platforms, with ServiceNow highly regarded

• Knowledge of PC hardware, peripherals, LAN networking, Fibre/Ethernet

• Exposure to enterprise IT environments and infrastructure support

• Strong troubleshooting and analytical skills

• Ability to work independently and manage competing priorities

• Certificate-level IT qualification or equivalent experience

About You

You’re someone who:

• Loves solving technical challenges

• Delivers exceptional customer service

• Communicates confidently with both technical and non-technical users

• Thrives in fast-paced environments

• Is proactive, adaptable, and eager to learn new technologies

• Enjoys being part of a collaborative, high-performing team

Security Clearance Requirement

Please note: This role is only open to Australian Citizens with a current Australian Government Security Clearance, preferably at NV1 level.

Why This Opportunity?

• Long-term 12+ month contract with the opportunity for an ongoing or renewable contract

• Enterprise-scale technology environment

• Opportunity to work with global IT teams

• Varied and engaging technical work

• Supportive team culture

• Sydney CBD based and onsite

Apply Now

If you're an experienced IT Support professional looking for your next exciting contract opportunity, we’d love to hear from you.

Apply today or reach out to Christina at christina@theonset.com.au to find out more!

Engineering Manager | Sydney | Lead a High-Growth Product Area

• Hybrid Working - 3 days in office

• High Visibility Business Unit - key investment area of the business

• Hands-On Technical Leadership - Greenfield and Brownfield work

Join one of Australia's leading digital businesses and take ownership of a critical engineering function powering a key growth area of the organisation.

As an Engineering Manager, you will create a team responsible for building and scaling products that millions of Australians use each day. This is a rare opportunity to combine technical leadership, people leadership, and strategic influence while remaining close enough to the technology to make a genuine impact.

You'll be a hands-on technical leader, partnering closely with Product, Design, and Principal Engineers to shape architecture, drive delivery, and develop engineering capability across a business unit that sits at the centre of future growth plans.

You'll inherit an existing technology environment, but will also be given the autonomy to influence future technical direction, improve engineering practices, and help shape the next generation of products used by both B2B and B2C customers every day.

What's in it for you?

• Create a new team working on a strategically important, revenue-generating product area.

• Remain hands-on while influencing architecture, technical direction, and engineering standards. Allowing you to have a direct impact on users. 

• Drive meaningful technical investment, platform improvements, and system evolution.

• Be a technical innovator in the AI space. 

The Role

You'll be responsible for leading a team of engineers, driving delivery outcomes, and ensuring the quality, scalability, and reliability of the systems you own.

You'll balance strategic leadership with technical contribution, helping the team navigate complex engineering challenges while ensuring delivery remains aligned to business objectives.

Working closely with business stakeholders, you'll influence roadmap decisions, guide architectural evolution, and create an environment where engineers can perform at their best and align with key business goals and metrics.

What You'll Bring

• Proven experience leading software engineering teams within modern product organisations.

• Strong hands-on background across C#/.Net and modern frontend technologies.

• Experience designing and evolving scalable cloud-based systems across AWS, Azure, or GCP.

• Strong understanding of distributed systems, APIs, microservices, event-driven architecture, and modern engineering practices.

• Experience balancing product delivery, technical debt, platform investment, and operational excellence.

• Ability to work closely with Product and Design to influence roadmaps, prioritisation, and business outcomes.

• Strong stakeholder management skills with the ability to communicate technical decisions to both technical and non-technical audiences.

If you're looking for a role where you can continue to influence technology while building and leading exceptional engineering teams, we'd love to hear from you.

Apply now or reach out to Karl directly at karl@theonset.com.au

Senior .Net Engineer | Sydney | Azure Cloud SME

• 2-3 Days Office, 2-3 days WFH

• Extremely strong technology stack

• Yearly Bonus paid out

Join an Australian-grown business that’s known for its tech-driven culture and modern .NET stack. As a Senior .Net Engineer, you’ll take ownership of key projects shaping the next phase of the platform giving you the chance to drive the SDLC and deliver work that directly impacts thousands of customers.

Step in at a defining stage of innovation and expansion. You’ll help shape the next generation of a product that’s central to the company’s growth.

You will have autonomy and ownership of customer facing applications that make a genuine impact to the users experience. Helping you take more satisfaction from the impact of your work.

What’s in it for you:

• Work with an established team of highly experienced engineers and drive the full SDLC. 

• Be the Azure cloud SME with opertunity to grow you Azure and IaC skills

• Room to innovate - influence architecture, culture, and ways of working from day one.

• Work with the latest technology and contribute to the AI journey.

If you thrive on building scalable, complex systems, this role lets you take full ownership of hands-on engineering - this position is for you. You’ll write elegant C#/.NET code on Azure, architect robust solutions, and help turn ambitious ideas into tangible outcomes.

What you’ll bring:

• 8+ yrs software engineering experience in hands-on across backend, APIs, etc.

• Expert in C#/.NET, cloud platforms (Azure/AWS/GCP), database work, CI/CD pipelines.

• Product mindset, comfortable with uncertainty, experimentation, high output.

• Passion for building things that scale and delight users.

Make your mark on a platform that matters. Apply now or reach out to Karl directly at karl@theonset.com.au