"Principal Software Developer"

Job Description:

Te Ratonga Tautoko Hangarau | Digital Services

Located in Ōtautahi | Christchurch, Aotearoa | New Zealand

• Full-time (37.5 hours per week)
• Permanent position
• Generous annual leave provisions and professional development opportunities
• Based on Campus (not remote)

Āu Mahi | What You Will Do

As a Principal Software Developer you will be a hands-on mobile development lead within an in-house software development squad, leading by example in all aspects of mobile development, as well as leading, directing and mentoring a small team of mobile developers.

This is a key delivery role, providing linkage between architecture, design, and delivery teams by:

• Supporting the Product and Project Managers in developing product roadmaps to achieve mobile success
• Translating high-level solution architectures into detailed solution designs that can be used by build teams to implement solutions
• Providing ongoing guidance and steering to technical teams during implementation and deployment
• Providing input to delivery and planning activities such as project and sprint planning, and delivery estimation
• Providing input to product roadmaps to deliver an exceptional mobile experience and enhance the capability of the app.

Please note this role is based on-campus therefore cannot be done remotely.

Mōu | Who You Are

You have 10+ years commercial software development experience, at least 5 years in mobile app development and hold a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or equivalent. You will have experience in managing small teams, including managing delivery and output quality and ideally you will also have experience working with external development teams.

You will have a history of delivering cross-platform mobile applications to production and implementing mobile apps in React Native (and also the Node.js mobile back end) as well as:

• be an accomplished Typescript/React Native developer, with an eye on both code quality and end-user usability.
• experienced in integrating with web services, APIs, and 3rd party libraries, and have a good working knowledge of Git, CI/CD pipelines and the Expo ecosystem.
• proficient in writing code that can be shared across multiple platforms efficiently, while also understanding the trade-offs between cross-platform and native development.
• able to optimize mobile application performance, including reducing rendering and loading times, minimizing memory and battery consumption, and optimising network requests.
• A practical knowledge of mobile-specific security considerations, including secure data storage, encryption techniques, secure network communication, and authentication mechanisms.
• expertise in mobile app testing techniques, including unit testing, integration testing, and UI testing across various mobile devices and operating system versions.
• familiar with the submission to and management of apps to both the Apple & Google stores.
• familiar with deploying and managing containerised components to an Azure cloud environment, including management via Infrastructure as Code.

We work collaboratively as a team, so you will need great written and verbal communication skills, with an understanding of agile ways of working. You will need to support the team by sharing your skills and experience, mentoring, and be prepared to learn from the team as well.

Mahi Ngātahi | Who You Will Work With

Building world-class digital capability is crucial to the University of Canterbury's ongoing success. Digital Services is a large team, striving to provide a modern dynamic foundation from which the University (UC) can explore new business models and ways of working. Digital will transform how we work, behave, and the expectations of the communities we service.

Ngā Painga o UC | Why UC

Ngā Uara | Our Values of manaakitanga, whanaungatanga and tiakitanga guide our decisions and behaviour and provide a roadmap for how we do things at UC, affirming our commitment to pastoral care and support for our ākonga and staff. They challenge and inspire us to be the best we can, and make UC a great place to work and study. For more info on Ngā Uara | Our Values visit us here.

We are committed to accessible higher education, service to the community and the encouragement of talent without barriers of distance, wealth, class, gender or ethnicity. The University explicitly aims to produce graduates and support staff who are engaged with their communities, empowered to act for good and determined to make a difference in the world.

We offer a range of fantastic benefits including flexible work practices, study opportunities and generous superannuation and leave provisions. For more information, please visit us: https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/about-uc/work-at-uc/benefits-working-uc . For more information about Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury, please visit https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/

The closing date for this position is: 6 December 2025 (midnight, NZ time)*Please note applications will be reviewed after the close date.*

Pēhea te tono mai | How You Apply

Applications for this position must be submitted via our careers website and should include a cover letter and resume.

Please note, we do not accept applications by email, however we are happy to answer your queries in relation to the application process, please forward these to WorkatUC@canterbury.ac.nz

You must have Aotearoa New Zealand or Australian citizenship/permanent residency or hold a valid NZ work visa to be considered for this role.

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