CAREER_LOG.MD

Professional Experience

A timeline of technical leadership, engineering excellence, and digital transformation across major organisations.

Chief Technology Officer

Whānau Tahi Limited
Oct 2025 - Present
Auckland, New Zealand
AI StrategyExecutive LeadershipDevOps TransformationTCO OwnershipGlobal Team Management

Executive leader driving the transformation to an AI-first engineering practice. Accountable for the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of all product solutions and fostering a culture of excellence, innovation, and continuous improvement.

Key Achievements

  • Presented and executing 'Punching Above Your Weight as a Service' strategy to exec, securing mandate for transformation
  • Leading transformation to AI-first engineering, integrating AI into architecture and delivery to accelerate value realisation
  • Driving DORA metrics uplift: increasing deployment frequency from yearly to several times per week
  • Established CI/CD and DevOps practices across NZ and India-based squads, unifying delivery standards
  • Introduced GitHub Copilot and M365 Copilot to enhance productivity and governance
  • Built budget ownership discipline for platform, licensing, and vendor management, optimising operational spend

Head of Engineering - Digital

Whānau Tahi Limited
Nov 2023 - Oct 2025
Auckland, New Zealand
Digital EngineeringInnovationCulture Building

Precursor to CTO role, focusing on digital engineering leadership.

Key Achievements

  • Led digital engineering teams with focus on innovation, delivering key product milestones
  • Cultivated collaboration, accountability, and automation culture, reducing siloed workflows
  • Set vision, mission, and principles to guide engineers towards a unified technical direction

Engineering Manager

Whānau Tahi Limited
Sep 2022 - Nov 2023
Auckland, New Zealand
CI/CDPower PlatformTechnical LeadershipMentoring

Helping Whānau Tahi on their journey to better DevOps, Engineering culture and Power Platform adoption.

Key Achievements

  • Supported and mentored a team of Engineers to greatness, fostering internal talent growth
  • Technical leadership/design and oversight of implementation, ensuring architectural integrity
  • Established effective and safe CI/CD at scale, reducing deployment risk
  • Engaged with customers for requirements translation, bridging the gap between technical and business needs

Chapter Lead of Software Engineering

Westpac New Zealand
Dec 2021 - Sep 2022
Auckland, New Zealand
People ManagementPower PlatformAzure.NETALM

Responsible for people management, growth, and maturity of the Software Engineering Chapter.

Key Achievements

  • Managed 5 direct reports and led strategy for 50-70 Power Platform Engineers, scaling capability
  • Established DevOps/ALM approach for Power Platform at Westpac, standardising enterprise delivery
  • Created enterprise-wide component libraries and automation, reducing duplication of effort
  • Microsoft Power Hour speaker (APAC region), representing Westpac's technical leadership

Software Engineer (Various Roles)

Westpac New Zealand
Dec 2016 - Dec 2021
Auckland, New Zealand
Crisis ResponsePower PlatformAzure AISharePoint.NET

Progressed from Intern to Service Owner and Solution Architect for the Enterprise Platform Services squad. Played a pivotal role in major crisis response initiatives.

Key Achievements

  • Core member of Westpac COVID-19 Crisis Management Team (2020), ensuring business continuity
  • Creator of Westpac's crisis management Power Platform solution, enabling rapid organisational response
  • Service Owner for Enterprise Platform Services Squad, managing critical banking infrastructure
  • Led SharePoint, .NET, and Power Platform engineering for enterprise banking solutions
  • Pioneered early-stage AI implementations (Azure Cognitive Services/OCR) to automate manual processes

Education & Qualifications

Bachelor of Commerce (Double Major)

University of Auckland

2014 - 2019

Majors: Information Systems · Management

Relevant Coursework: Database Systems, Management of Information Systems, Management of Information Security, Business Systems Analysis, Project Management, Managing People, Management in Dynamic Contexts

Advanced Software Engineering Studies

Media Design School

2016 - 2017

Specialisation: C++, Artificial Intelligence, 3D Graphics Programming

Technical Focus: Algorithms & Data Structures, Software Architecture & Design Patterns, Physics Programming, Game Design Principles, 2D/3D Graphics Programming

Auckland Grammar School

Cambridge International Examinations

2011 - 2013

A-Level Subjects: English Literature, History, Accounting, Business Studies, Economics

Professional Certifications

Microsoft Certified

Industry-recognised Microsoft certifications in cloud architecture and enterprise solutions: Power Platform Functional Consultant Associate (PL-200), Power Platform Developer Associate (PL-400), Power Platform Solution Architect Expert (PL-600), ICAgile Certified Professional – Agile Product Ownership.