Lead Software Engineer - AI & Automation

There are Adelaide roles, and then there are Adelaide roles. This one will not ask you to commute across town during school pickup, explain “what AI is” to a committee of 14 people, or pretend that innovation means putting ChatGPT in a PowerPoint and calling it strategy. You’re welcome.

First Focus is one of Australia’s leading Managed Service Providers, with 330+ people across Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines. We help businesses get better outcomes from technology, which sounds very grown-up, because it is. Mostly.

Our AI, Automation & Adoption team is a small internal innovation team with a big remit: build practical AI, automation, tooling, agents, integrations, and internal platforms that actually get used. Not innovation theatre. Not a sandbox that gathers dust. Real things, in production, helping real people do real work with slightly fewer spreadsheets. Humanity may survive after all.

We’re looking for a Lead Software Engineer, AI & Automation to become the engineering backbone of the team.

You’ll take prototypes, AI concepts, and promising ideas from “this might work” to “this is secure, supportable, documented, and nobody is quietly crying in six months”. A noble cause.

Why this role is worth your attention

• You’ll build AI and automation products that actually get used.
• You’ll have real technical ownership, not fake ownership with six approval layers and a steering committee named after a weather event.
• You’ll help shape engineering standards for a small, fast-moving team.
• You’ll work with modern AI-assisted development tools.
• You’ll balance greenfield builds with proper sustaining engineering.
• You’ll be joining a team that cares about outcomes over optics.

What you’ll be doing

• Designing, building, testing, deploying, and supporting production-grade AI and software solutions.
• Taking prototypes and proof-of-concepts into stable operational systems.
• Building internal tools, AI agents, automation platforms, integrations, and supporting services.
• Owning the systems the team builds after launch, including maintenance, bug fixes, enhancements, performance, security, stability, and documentation.
• Helping define practical engineering standards across code quality, testing, secure development, documentation, deployment, source control, code review, and AI-assisted development workflows.
• Reducing technical debt before it becomes a haunted house.
• Working closely with the AI, Automation & Adoption Manager and business stakeholders to turn ideas into useful, deliverable solutions.
• Providing technical leadership across architecture, planning, and delivery.

What you’ll bring

• Strong commercial software engineering experience across modern application stacks.
• Experience delivering and supporting production-grade applications or services.
• Solid understanding of secure development, CI/CD, testing, source control, deployment, code review, and operational readiness.
• Practical experience using AI-assisted development tools and workflows.
• Strong problem-solving skills and a systems-thinking mindset.
• The ability to work autonomously in fast-moving and sometimes ambiguous environments.
• Good communication skills with technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Enough judgement to know when “move fast” is useful, and when it is just a polite way to create future rubble.

Nice to have

• Experience building AI agents or LLM-powered systems.
• Experience with Claude Code, Codex, Lovable, or similar tools.
• Proficiency with Python, TypeScript, React, APIs, cloud-native development, or automation tooling.
• Experience turning experimental systems into production platforms.
• Experience defining lightweight engineering governance.
• Exposure to Microsoft 365, Azure, or MSP environments.

No, we do not expect one person to be world-class in all of that. That would be silly, and probably expensive enough to make Finance raise an eyebrow.

What success looks like

• Prototypes become stable, supportable platforms.
• AI and automation initiatives deliver measurable operational outcomes.
• The systems you help build stay secure, maintainable, and documented after release.
• Engineering maturity improves without slowing innovation to a crawl.
• Internal teams adopt the tools because they help, not because someone sent a “friendly reminder”.
• The team has clearer standards, less rework, and fewer “why did we do it like this?” moments.

About First Focus

First Focus is a stable, growing, people-first technology business. We have been around long enough to know that good engineering needs curiosity, trust, clarity, and the occasional reality check.

We are big on our values, especially Be the Solution and Never Stop Growing for this role. You can read more about them here: https://www.firstfocus.com.au/about-us/

That means we like people who ask why, own problems properly, keep learning, share what they know, and do not need a marching band every time they fix something important.

• Competitive salary package including up to $170,000 + super.

• Free access to Uprise, including 1:1 coaching with qualified psychologists or counsellors.
• Flexible working for work-life balance.
• “Never Stop Growing”: 10 paid study days per year, exam fees paid, and pay rises for certifications, conditions apply.
• Weekly internal training and access to a learning library.
• FastTrack mentoring program.
• MAD, our Making a Difference Council, supporting equality, charity, and environmental initiatives.
• Tesla company car option, conditions apply.
• Regular social events and a genuinely supportive team culture.

Final bit

This is a role for someone who wants to build useful AI and automation products, own them properly, and help shape the standards around them.

Someone who likes pace, but not chaos. Someone who can move fast, then still leave the codebase in a state that does not require an apology note.

If that sounds like you, apply now. If you’re reading this from Adelaide with a Farmers Union in hand and a strong opinion about the Britannia roundabout, even better.

First Focus welcomes applications from Neurodiverse candidates. We recommend & appreciate disclosure along with the application so that a copy of our Neurodiversity Statement can be provided outlining the flexible options we can offer to best showcase your skills.