Lead Data Engineer

Sydney | Hybrid

$200k - $220k + super (depending on experience) 

We’re partnering with a high-growth technology organisation building advanced detection products driven by cutting-edge algorithms and R&D. They are seeking a Lead Data Engineer to take ownership of the data platforms and tooling that underpin their core revenue-generating technology.

This is a high-impact leadership role where you will shape the data ecosystem that enables AI/ML development at scale - influencing architecture, standards, and the overall usability of data across engineering teams.

The Role

You will lead the uplift of data tools and infrastructure that support AI/ML model development and deployment. This includes enabling robust pipelines, lifecycle management, validation, and standardisation practices that allow teams to confidently build and iterate on algorithm-driven products.

A core focus of the role is improving how data is collected, ingested, stored, governed, and ultimately made accessible and usable across the organisation.

You’ll work alongside two other technical team leads within a group supporting algorithm development for detection products and R&D initiatives. As part of this, you’ll build and lead a team of three across data engineering and software engineering.

The scope and influence of this role are significant - you’ll be architecting the tools and data platforms that directly underpin the company’s primary revenue stream.

Ideal Background

We’re particularly interested in candidates who have supported AI/ML or algorithm-driven systems in technically complex environments. Relevant industry experience may include:

• Autonomous systems, robotics, or drone platforms
• Defence, radar, communications, or signal-processing technologies
• Aerospace, satellite, or geospatial systems
• Autonomous vehicles or advanced mobility
• Industrial IoT or edge AI environments

Candidates from similarly rigorous engineering domains will also be considered.

Experience & Skills

• Proven experience designing and delivering end-to-end data tooling and platform architecture
• Strong programming capability in Python, plus at least one compiled language (Go or C++ preferred)
• 5+ years working with AI/ML-based systems and supporting production pipelines
• 3+ years leading or mentoring engineering teams
• Deep understanding of data collection, ingestion, storage, and governance best practices
• Experience enabling scalable, reliable data access for algorithm or model development teams

If this sounds like you and you've got the relevant skills hit apply or reach out to ailbhe@theonset.com.au

You’ll be the only AppSec engineer based in Australia, reporting to the Head of Product Security overseas. Working for a large US eCommerce platform.

That means you’ll own AppSec locally, from spotting vulnerabilities to making sure they’re fixed. It’s hands-on work, not just pointing out problems. If you find an XSS in a web app, you’ll look at the PR, make the fix if it’s simple, or coordinate the change if it requires a bigger architectural update. You’ll also take ownership of tasks like rotating credentials and securing databases.

The role covers traditional web app security (mainly .NET) as well as cloud security in Azure. You’ll work with tools like Wiz, Oligo, runtime protection platforms, and AI-assisted security review tooling. Your job isn’t just to run scans; you’ll dig into the findings, validate true positives, understand the root cause, and turn them into controls.

Compliance is part of the picture too. The company is going through PCI and SOC 2, so you’ll help build and enforce controls that align with these frameworks. 

If you want to talk, call, text or email - russell@theonset.com.au / 0438984265

Senior AI Engineer (AI-Facing Systems)

Join and immediately contribute to a high calibre growing AI team building real, production-grade AI systems.

Senior Backend Engineer (Python & AWS)

North Sydney | Hybrid (3 days in office)

This isn’t a role for someone who just wants to ship tickets.

It’s for an engineer who wants to shape architecture, modernise a real platform, and influence technical direction inside a profitable, globally operating data business.

The company operates at  serious scale, processing and resolving large volumes of identity and data signals used by major international organisations. They are stable, growing (40%+ revenue growth over the past two years), and backed by long-term enterprise contracts.

Now they’re ready to uplift their platform for its next phase.

What You’ll Love About Working Here

1. Genuine Architectural Influence
You’ll act as a 2IC to the Head of Technology. Your thinking will shape direction not just implementation.

2. Real Scale (Not Resume Scale)
Large datasets. Performance-sensitive systems. Complex resolution logic.
You’ll solve meaningful engineering problems, not UI tweaks.

3. Modernisation with Backing
There’s technical debt  and full leadership buy-in to fix it properly.

4. Stability Without Bureaucracy
Profitable. Long-tenured team. Flat structure.
No corporate red tape but strong standards and ISO discipline.

5. Ownership Over Noise
You won’t be one of 200 engineers.
You’ll be one of a small, high-trust team.

What You’ll Get From This Role

• End-to-end ownership of backend architecture decisions

• Exposure to large-scale AWS system design

• The opportunity to uplift engineering standards

• Influence over roadmap and prioritisation

• A stable environment where your work compounds over time

If you want to look back in three years and say,
“I built that platform properly” - this is that role.

What You Need to Have Already Done

This is not a stretch role.

To be successful here, you will likely have:

• 6–10 years backend engineering experience

• Designed and built production systems in AWS

• Strong Python expertise (Django/Flask or similar)

• Worked on systems handling meaningful data scale

• Made architectural decisions not just implemented them

• Improved performance, security, or scalability of legacy systems

• Influenced stakeholders and extracted unclear requirements

You must be able to:

• Think architecturally first

• Communicate with gravitas

• Operate without ego in a flat structure

• Prioritise effectively when everything feels important

Environment

• AWS cloud-native

• Python backend

• Snowflake and large-scale data querying

• Hybrid (Mon, Tues, Fri in North Sydney - weekly team lunches)

• Strong culture, many team members have worked together 10-15+ years

• Investment in learning and conferences

This role suits someone who wants impact over title.Ownership over hierarchy. And long-term influence over short-term noise.

If this sounds like you then apply here or share your resume to Dani - danielle@theonset.com.au

Head of Quantitative

B2B Financial Services Technology | Global Scale | Sydney (Hybrid)

• Greenfield opportunity to define a global quantitative capability

• Direct influence on product strategy and international expansion

• Work with sophisticated institutional clients at scale

A high-growth B2B financial services technology company is appointing a Head of Quantitative in a newly created role to build and lead its next-generation modelling capability.

Operating at the intersection of wealth management, actuarial science and enterprise software, this business partners with tier-one financial institutions across Australia, the UK and Europe to modernise how financial advice is delivered at scale.

This is a rare opportunity to architect stochastic modelling frameworks from first principles, while building and leading a world-class quantitative function with global reach.

The opportunity

The business is at a pivotal inflection point and is poised for continued market traction.

Having successfully deployed deterministic advice models at institutional scale, the next phase of growth requires the introduction of sophisticated stochastic modelling to unlock new markets, new products and materially improved customer outcomes.

As Head of Quantitative, you will:

• Define the quantitative strategy

• Lead the technical uplift to stochastic modelling

• Build and scale a high-performing team

• Act as the ultimate authority on model risk, integrity and regulatory alignment

This is a genuine player–coach role, with significant hands-on technical ownership.

What you’ll be responsible for

• Architect and deliver stochastic modelling frameworks (Monte Carlo, scenario generation, multi-goal optimisation)

• Lead the transition from deterministic Excel-based models to scalable calculation engines

• Translate complex regulatory and advice policy requirements into robust quantitative logic

• Build, mentor and scale a quantitative team across Australia and global markets

• Partner closely with Product and Engineering to productionise models at scale

• Engage directly with tier-one institutional clients, actuarial teams and regulators

• Own quantitative governance, validation and model risk standards globally

What it will take to make an impact

• Deep expertise in stochastic / actuarial / quantitative modelling

• Strong hands-on background in tools such as Excel, Python or actuarial modelling platforms

• Experience operating in regulated financial services environments (wealth, retirement, insurance or advice technology)

• Proven ability to lead technical teams while remaining hands-on

• Confidence engaging with C-level stakeholders, institutional clients and regulators

• Comfort operating in ambiguity within a high-growth, product-led business

• Advanced qualifications in Actuarial Science, Mathematics, Statistics or a related quantitative field are highly regarded.

If you’re motivated by complex problems, real-world impact and global scale, this is a rare leadership opportunity.  Call Michelle Rubinstein at The Onset on 0413 463 043 for a confidential discussion or apply online.

Head of Engineering

This is not a “keep the lights on” Head of Engineering role.

This is a build-the-engine-while-we-scale-it role.

An established, nationally significant organisation is investing heavily in its digital customer experience and they need someone who can define how engineering operates, not just manage what already exists.

The strategy is forming.
The ambition is clear.
Now the question is: who shapes the engineering reality behind it?

The Role

You will lead a multi-disciplinary engineering function (circa 30 engineers, including leaders) responsible for customer-facing digital platforms.

Your mandate is not just delivery.

It is to:

• Define and evolve the engineering strategy

• Modernise and rationalise elements of the tech stack where required

• Establish engineering standards, governance and architectural guardrails

• Lift capability across teams and leaders

• Balance speed, security and reliability

• Partner deeply with Product, Architecture and executive stakeholders
  Turn digital ambition into scalable, sustainable systems
  
  

This role sits at the intersection of strategy and execution. You’ll need to zoom out to define direction and zoom in when things need momentum.

The Tech Environment

The environment includes modern cloud-based infrastructure, API-driven architectures, and customer-facing web and mobile platforms.

There is a mix of legacy considerations and modern engineering practices so experience operating in environments where modernisation is happening in parallel to live delivery will matter.

You don’t need to be the deepest hands-on technologist in the room but you do need strong architectural judgement and a clear point of view on:

• DevOps and CI/CD maturity

• Platform and system design at scale

• Secure-by-design principles

• Observability and reliability engineering

• Build vs buy decision-making
  
  

Industry Alignment That Helps

You will likely have operated in environments where:

• Regulatory, compliance or risk considerations are real (not theoretical)

• Data sensitivity and security are non-negotiable

• Systems must be reliable and available at scale

• Multiple stakeholders influence technology decisions
  
  

This could include financial services, healthcare, insurance, critical infrastructure, government, or other complex enterprise environments. What matters more than the label is your ability to balance innovation with accountability.

The Context

The organisation is at a genuine inflection point.

Digital expectations are rising.
Competitive pressure is real.
The business is investing accordingly.

The engineering group is passionate and capable but earlier in its maturity journey than its potential suggests.This role is about building clarity, confidence and capability.

What This Role Really Requires

You have:

• Have led leaders before (not just engineers)

• Have shaped engineering strategy in complex, multi-stakeholder environments

• Understand governance without hiding behind it

• Can make hard technology trade-offs without needing perfect information

• Know how to build culture without slogans

• Care about outcomes more than architecture diagrams
  
  

Why This Role Is Interesting

• High autonomy

• Executive visibility

• Genuine influence on multi-year digital direction
  A real opportunity to shape capability at scale

This is a career-defining role for the right person.

Social Media and Online Community Manager

San Francisco Bay Area | AI Infrastructure | $130,000–$160,000 + Bonus + Equity

We are currently partnering with a category-defining AI cloud infrastructure company that is powering the next generation of artificial intelligence.

This organisation is a leading AI Cloud Service Provider delivering large-scale GPU clusters for AI training and inference. Its vertically integrated platform spans grid-connected land and data centers across renewable-rich regions in the US and Canada. The company builds, owns, and operates its infrastructure powered by 100% renewable energy enabling responsible, scalable, high-performance compute for some of the world’s most ambitious AI innovators.

Sustainability, long-term thinking, and positive community impact are embedded into its operating model.

They are now looking to hire a creative, technically curious, and community-first Social Media and Online Community Manager to elevate their digital presence and build a high-impact global community around AI cloud and infrastructure.

If you thrive at the intersection of AI, cloud, infrastructure, and developer culture, this is a rare opportunity to help shape the voice of a company powering the AI revolution.

The Opportunity

In this role, you will define and scale the company’s digital voice across social and community platforms, engaging developers, founders, AI-native companies, enterprise customers and infrastructure partners.

You’ll sit at the center of Marketing, Commercial, Product and Investor Relations, translating complex technical innovation into clear, compelling stories that build credibility and trust.

Key Responsibilities

Social Media Strategy & Execution

• Lead global presence across X (Twitter), LinkedIn, YouTube, Discord, Reddit and emerging platforms

• Develop and manage an editorial calendar aligned with product launches, events and investor milestones

• Create technically credible, visually engaging content tailored to enterprise and AI-savvy audiences

• Collaborate cross-functionally to ensure consistency and impact

Online Community Growth and Engagement

• Build and nurture a thriving technical community across Discord and Reddit

• Launch engagement programs such as AMAs, office hours and community spotlights

• Moderate conversations to ensure productive, inclusive dialogue

• Identify and empower early adopters and advocates

Brand Voice and Positioning

• Define and maintain a consistent, authoritative digital voice

• Translate technical roadmap updates into commercially relevant narratives

• Strengthen positioning as a leader in AI infrastructure

Insights and Feedback

• Track analytics, engagement metrics and community sentiment

• Surface insights to Product, Marketing, Commercial and Investor Relations teams

• Provide real-time user feedback to inform positioning and experience

Thought Leadership and Activation

• Amplify launches, campaigns and key event moments

• Engage in timely AI and infrastructure conversations

• Support executive and company-level thought leadership initiatives

Ideal Background

• Deep experience in developer community, technical marketing or social media roles (cloud, AI, or infrastructure preferred)

• Proven ability to grow and engage technical/developer audiences

• Exceptional writing skills and ability to simplify complex technical concepts

• Deep familiarity with X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Discord, Reddit, and analytics tools

• Data-driven, experimental mindset

• Comfortable in a fast-paced, high-growth environment

If you’re excited by AI, energised by developer communities, and motivated to help shape the voice of a company building the infrastructure behind the AI revolution, please apply online or email Michelle Rubinstein at The Onset on 0413 463 043.

Lead Service Designer

6 or 12 month Fixed-Term Contract
Salary circa $190k package (some flex above and below commensurate on experience)
Location: Sydney (hybrid)

We’re partnering with a large, complex organisation undergoing a meaningful shift in how work gets delivered end to end - particularly across marketing, campaigns, content, and supporting operations.

This role has been created to bring clarity, structure and momentum to service and process design, without slowing delivery.

It’s not a greenfield role, and it’s not a theoretical one. The work is live, visible, and already in motion.

Why this role exists:

The organisation is increasingly focused on process as a lever to better serve the business - but today, service design capability is fragmented and inconsistent.
There are strong product, technology and operational teams in place. What’s missing is a human-centred, end to end service lens that helps teams:

• See how work really flows across people, systems and decisions
• Identify friction points before they become delivery blockers
• Design change that teams can actually adopt and sustain

This role is designed to sit alongside delivery - not pause it - and show value early.

What you’ll be working on

You’ll partner closely with senior stakeholders across Product, Marketing, Technology and Operations to:

• Lead deep, qualitative service design work focused on internal and customer facing processes
• Map staff journeys, service blueprints and end to end workflows across marketing and campaign delivery
• Identify opportunities to simplify, optimise and improve how work gets delivered
• Balance human needs, operational realities and technical constraints
• Support teams through change, with a strong focus on adoption and behaviour
• Bring a pragmatic, commercially grounded approach to service design

There is a significant marketing and campaign moment going live mid-year, so this role will run in parallel with delivery, not in isolation from it.

What “Lead” means here:

This is not a people management role.

You’ll lead through:

• Craft excellence
• Influence and credibility
• Coaching and capability building

A key outcome of this role is leaving the organisation with stronger service design capability, not dependency.

You’ll need to be comfortable facilitating senior conversations, challenging assumptions, and helping stakeholders navigate trade-offs.

What success looks like In the first 90 days, you’ll be expected to:

• Partner with key stakeholders to define success criteria
• Narrow focus to one priority process to optimise
• Demonstrate clear value through improved clarity, efficiency or outcomes
• Avoid “artefact only” work that doesn’t drive change

At 6–12 months, success looks like:

• Service artefacts that are actively used, not archived
• Improved end to end visibility across teams
• Tangible efficiency or delivery improvements
• Teams better equipped to think and work in a service led way

AI, automation and tooling

This role is not about building AI solutions.

It is about:

• Identifying opportunities where automation or AI could improve services
• Designing workflows that keep people at the centre
• Supporting adoption and understanding, rather than just implementation

The environment is evolving, and you’ll be helping shape what “AI-native” actually means in practice.

What we’re looking for

You’ll bring:

• Strong experience in service design within large, complex organisations
• Comfort operating in matrixed, enterprise environments (finance, telco, retail, regulated industries, etc.)
• A pragmatic, outcome focused mindset
• Confidence influencing senior stakeholders
• Depth in service design - not just UX or interaction design

We’re particularly keen to hear from people who can balance human-centred design with commercial and operational realities.

What might not be a fit

• UX designers repositioning themselves as service designers without depth
• Highly theoretical profiles with limited real world impact
• Candidates looking for a long discovery phase before showing value

Contract details

• 6 or 12 month fixed-term contract
• Salary circa $190k package (pro rata) (potentially open to a day rate, this would be dependant on budget constraints)
• Sydney-based, hybrid working
• Two stage interview process and you need to be ready to start a new role in the next 4-6 weeks maximum

Senior Backend Engineer (Distributed Systems, Go)

We are partnering with a high-calibre, engineering-led company operating in a live market environment where software correctness has real financial impact. This is a senior individual contributor backend role focused on building and evolving distributed systems at the core of the platform.

If you’ve worked in high-scale environments (think FAANG/MAANG-level engineering standards) but are now craving more ownership, less process theatre, and closer proximity to real-world outcomes - this will resonate.

The stack is primarily Go, with Python across data-intensive components. Engineers work directly with the business - there’s no heavy product layer insulating decision-making - and are expected to own problems end-to-end: architecture, implementation, and production behaviour.

This is where deep R&D meets production every day.

The Role

You’ll be:

• Designing and building distributed systems in Go
  
  

• Turning core research and innovation into production-grade systems
  
  

• Owning architecture, implementation, and operational behaviour
  
  

• Working directly with stakeholders to define and solve problems
  
  

• Operating in a small, low-hierarchy engineering team
  
  

This is not a feature-delivery or ticket-driven environment. It’s a builder’s role.

What They’re Looking For

Strong alignment:

• Deep backend and distributed systems experience
  
  

• Background in high-reliability environments (e.g. financial systems, trading, infrastructure-heavy platforms)
  
  

• Startup exposure preferred
  
  

• Comfortable with ambiguity and defining your own work
  
  

• Motivated by impact and capability over titles
  
  

They are deliberately screening for engineers who want to spend most of their time writing meaningful code. Candidates who lean heavily on hierarchy, rigid process, or title progression as the primary measure of growth are unlikely to thrive here.

Growth is abundant - but it’s capability-led, not title-led.

Compensation

• Good Base Salary
  
  

• Equity dependent on experience
  
  

• 4-year vesting with 12-month cliff
  
  

• Accelerated vesting on exit
  
  

Interview Process

1. Initial technical + culture screen
   
   

2. 90-minute technical deep dive (Q&A + whiteboarding)
   
   

3. Final screen
   
   

If you’re an experienced backend engineer who thrives in low-bureaucracy environments and wants to build high-integrity systems where correctness genuinely matters, I’d love to have a confidential conversation. Send your resumes and queries to reema@theonset.com.au

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