Lead Principal Architect - Cloud, AI & Platform Engineering

We're seeking an experienced Lead Principal Engineer to provide technical leadership on a major Federal Government technology transformation program. This is an exciting opportunity to shape enterprise architecture, influence engineering decisions, and drive the adoption of modern cloud and AI capabilities across large-scale platforms.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership and architectural direction for cloud-native, microservices-based and AI-enabled platforms
• Lead the adoption of AI-enabled Software Development Lifecycle (AI SDLC) practices
• Drive modern engineering practices including DevSecOps, CI/CD, automated testing, observability and platform engineering
• Lead enterprise technology modernisation, including containerisation, reusable architecture patterns and enterprise integration
• Establish engineering governance, standards and capability uplift across multidisciplinary teams
• Mentor engineers and ensure knowledge transfer to support long-term organisational capability

Essential Skills & Experience

Extensive experience designing and delivering cloud-native, microservices and event-driven architectures within complex enterprise environments

Strong experience in AI engineering, including enterprise AI solutions, semantic search, machine learning and responsible AI practices

Deep expertise across modern software engineering including:

• DevSecOps
• CI/CD
• Platform Engineering
• Security by Design
• Automated Testing
• Observability

Proven success leading large-scale technology transformation initiatives and influencing enterprise architecture decisions

Outstanding stakeholder engagement and leadership skills, with experience working alongside senior executives, delivery partners and multidisciplinary teams

Highly Desirable

• Kubernetes, OpenShift, AKS, EKS or GKE
• Site Reliability Engineering (SRE)
• Platform Engineering & Enterprise Automation
• Observability tooling
• Agile leadership and coaching geographically dispersed teams

Role Details

Location: Canberra (Hybrid with flexible working arrangements)

Occasional interstate travel may be required

Start: October 2026

Contract: 12 months +

2 x 12-month extension options

Security Clearance: Baseline

This is an outstanding opportunity for a senior technology leader passionate about AI, cloud engineering, enterprise architecture and modern software delivery to make a significant impact within a large-scale Federal Government transformation program.