Data Platform Engineer

Southern Cross is guided by purpose, powered by people and technology. We’re here to help almost one million members across Aotearoa New Zealand live well for longer - work with real scale, real responsibility, and a real opportunity to make a meaningful difference.

As we grow to be about assurance as well as insurance - a more proactive partner in our members’ health - we’re building a new Data & AI function from the ground up. We’re looking for a Data Platform Engineer to keep the Snowflake platform everything else depends on reliable, secure and trusted.

This is a technical role for someone who wants to own the platform data runs on: building automated pipelines and infrastructure, securing sensitive data by design, and giving teams across Southern Cross a foundation they can act on with confidence.

About the role

Reporting into the Lead, Data Platform Engineering, you’ll manage the Snowflake platform - performance, storage, roles and security access - and run the ingestion pipelines that bring data in at pace and at quality.

You’ll work with a DevOps mindset alongside Analytics Engineers, approving their schema changes into the platform, and partner with the wider Data & AI team to keep governance, lineage and access controls embedded across everything that runs through Snowflake.

This function is still being built, so you’ll help shape how the platform scales - infrastructure as code, shared CI/CD patterns, and the controls that keep member and health data safe and compliant.

What you’ll do

Manage the Snowflake platform - performance, storage, roles and security access

Apply governance controls across access, classification and lineage

Run and evolve the ingestion platform (ADF and its replacement) across APIs, storage and databases

Control database change through DCM, reviewing and approving schema change releases

Maintain shared GitHub CI/CD patterns and checks used consistently across repos

Provision and manage platform infrastructure as code

Safeguard sensitive and health data in line with the Privacy Act and internal policy

Develop and maintain MLOps pipelines for model versioning, testing and deployment

Partner with Analytics Engineers, approving their schema change fixes into the platform

What you’ll bring

5+ years building and operating production data pipelines

Strong experience with Snowflake and Azure, with ADF or similar ingestion tooling

Excellent SQL and modern languages such as Python

Experience with GitHub and shared CI/CD patterns and checks across repos

DCM and schema change-style database deployment, plus infrastructure as code

Platform monitoring, observability and cost-aware operations

A sound understanding of data governance, security and Snowflake role/access design

Awareness of privacy and compliance requirements for sensitive data

A great communicator with strong stakeholder management and a collaborative, solution-oriented style

Why join us

We’re investing - in people, in technology, and in the mission. We're taking a long-term view - investing in our foundations, our people, and the capabilities that will shape the future of healthcare. You’ll join a growing team with the mandate and the tools to genuinely shape data and AI practice at scale.

We’re building something worth joining. Our teams are growing, our employer brand is gaining real traction in market, and the way we show up for our members and each other is being noticed. This momentum has also been reflected externally - in 2026, Southern Cross placed 8th in the Kantar Corporate Reputation Index and 5th in New Zealand for Trust.

Who we are

Ngākau nui. Āhurutanga. Tikanga.

Join a proud, diverse team that’s always there, always real, always true. If you thrive in a caring, honest and open culture, we think you’ll love working with us.

We know our team’s culture and wellbeing drive us forward. That’s why we prioritise not only professional development but opportunities to thrive personally. We offer exceptional work/life balance, and our people are encouraged - and rewarded - for living well.

Southern Cross employee benefits include

Five days of wellbeing leave per year

Health insurance for you and your immediate whānau

Life insurance cover and discounts on pet and travel insurance

Extra parental leave benefits and financial wellbeing support

Participation in our workplace wellbeing programme

The option to purchase flexi leave for study, volunteering, or supporting your whānau

* An annual volunteer day to contribute to a cause with your team

This role is Auckland based. While we appreciate interest from candidates in other locations, we’re unfortunately not able to consider remote options. Have questions? Check out our FAQs for help with the application and recruitment process.