Job Description

The step up that actually matters

There's a moment in every developer's career where the job stops being "build what the ticket says" and becomes "work out what's actually worth building, then build it well." That's the step we're hiring for.

You can already write solid code. You've shipped features, fixed real bugs, and you understand how things fit together. What's next isn't just more of the same at a bigger scale. It's owning a whole workstream, designing the components and services that sit behind a feature, running a refinement session that ends with clear acceptance criteria, and being the person who can sit in front of a client and frame two or three options with honest trade-offs.

You won't be doing this alone, and you won't be expected to have all the answers. You'll have seniors and leads to lean on, and juniors who'll start leaning on you. But the direction is clear: more ownership, more client contact, more judgement.

And it's happening at a moment when how we deliver is changing fast. We're driving hard into AI-enabled delivery. Not as a gimmick, but because it lets us deliver more value to our clients: more output, higher quality, and outcomes that are far easier for clients to justify investing in. We want developers who see AI the way we do, as a genuine multiplier on the value we create, and who want to be at the front of figuring out how that's done well.

How we're delivering value with AI

This isn't a "we're thinking about AI" role. We're already embedding AI across our delivery: generating and writing code and tests, accelerating discovery and documentation, and reshaping our SDLC so AI-assisted approaches produce trustworthy, production-grade work. We recently sponsored Outstanding AI Implementation at the Aotearoa AI Awards, and we're investing in being one of New Zealand's leaders in AI-enabled delivery.

For you, that means AI is part of the everyday craft, not a side project. You'll use it to take the toil out of the routine so your judgement goes where it matters most, and you'll help us prove, with real before-and-after, that AI-enabled delivery means more value in our clients' hands.

What this role is, and what it isn't

It is a full-stack developer role where the technical bar stays high and the consultancy bar starts rising. You'll be designing and building features end-to-end across the Microsoft stack, from React frontends through to APIs and data, defining how the pieces integrate, writing tests that mean something, and increasingly shaping what gets built, not just executing someone else's design.

It isn't a pure heads-down coding role. We're not hiring someone who only wants to be handed fully-specified tasks. Part of growing here is learning to sit with ambiguity, ask the right questions, and turn a fuzzy request into something concrete.

It isn't a senior or lead role either. We don't expect you to own architecture across services, run client accounts, or carry a team. We expect you to own your workstream well, and to be visibly growing toward the next level.

About Enlighten Designs

We're an award-winning data and software agency, one of New Zealand's leading Microsoft Partners, and proudly at the forefront of AI-enabled delivery. From Waikato to the world, we design and build intelligent technology solutions that create real impact for our clients across local, national, and international markets.

With 25+ years behind us and the energy of a start-up, we combine deep technical capability with a genuinely people-first culture. We recently sponsored Outstanding AI Implementation at the Aotearoa AI Awards. We care about doing great work, building strong relationships, and creating an environment where talented humans thrive.

A week in your life

No two weeks are the same, but here's a flavour:

Monday You're picking up a new workstream. You read the discovery notes, spot a couple of gaps, and ask the questions that need asking before anyone writes code. You sketch a rough component design and run it past a senior.

Tuesday Heads-down full-stack delivery: wiring up a React/TypeScript frontend to a new API you're building with EF Core, with the unit and integration tests alongside it. You lean on AI to generate and write much of the code and tests, reviewing and refining its output rather than trusting it blindly, so you ship noticeably more in the day while your own judgement goes to the parts that actually matter.

Wednesday: You facilitate a refinement session with QA, design, and the PM. You turn a vague request into clear acceptance criteria, flag a dependency early, and capture the decisions so nothing gets lost.

Thursday You're in front of the client for a feature walkthrough. You show how much you've been able to deliver this sprint, present two options for what's next with the time, cost, and risk trade-offs, answer their questions honestly, and leave the session with a clear decision and the client trusting your read on it.

Friday You pair with a junior on a tricky bug, leave constructive PR feedback, and write up a short how-to so the next person doesn't hit the same wall. You close out your workstream's risks and assumptions before the weekend.

What you'll be doing

• Owning a workstream end-to-end, from understanding the requirement through to delivery, managing your own dependencies, risks, and assumptions along the way
• Designing components and services within an existing architecture: API contracts and versioning, sensible SQL design and tuning, and using Azure PaaS services with growing fluency
• Building full-stack: high-quality, well-tested code across React/TypeScript frontends and C#/.NET back-end services, applying secure-by-default patterns (OWASP basics) and improving observability as you go
• Running effective refinement and discovery sessions, turning ambiguity into clear, testable acceptance criteria using techniques like example mapping
• Working directly with clients: leading feature-level discovery, presenting 2–3 options with clear trade-offs, and being trusted for feature-level decisions
• Driving AI-enabled delivery as a core part of the role: using AI to draft specs, generate and write code and tests, and accelerate discovery and delivery, while verifying outputs critically and standardising the prompts and patterns that work for your squad
• Looking for ways AI can deliver more value to the client, whether that's more output, faster delivery, or higher quality that makes the work easier to justify, then helping quantify the uplift so we can prove it, not just claim it
• Contributing to estimation and scoping: breaking down workstreams, mapping dependencies, and being clear about what's in and out of scope
• Mentoring and coaching junior developers through pairing, PR feedback, and patient guidance
• Connecting your work to business outcomes: prioritising by impact, validating assumptions, and caring whether what you built actually gets used

What you bring

You're past the stage of needing every task fully specified. You can take a workstream, ask the right questions, and run with it, and you're hungry to get better at the client-facing and consultative side of the craft.

• 3+ years of software development experience, with solid commercial delivery under your belt
• Full-stack capability: strong fundamentals in C#/.NET on the back end and solid frontend skills with React and TypeScript, comfortable building web services and cloud-based applications, ideally with exposure to the Microsoft stack and Azure
• Good working knowledge of SQL (design and basic tuning) and relational data modelling
• Solid engineering habits: meaningful tests, clean Git/PR workflow, and experience with CI/CD; exposure to infrastructure as code (e.g. Bicep) and identity basics (Entra ID) is a bonus
• The ability to design components and services, not just implement them, and to make sensible integration choices (APIs, queues, events)
• Clear communication: you can write a crisp client summary, explain a technical decision to a non-technical stakeholder, and keep a refinement session on track
• A consultative mindset in the making: genuine curiosity about the client's real problem, growing commercial awareness, and the confidence to frame options rather than just await instructions
• Genuine enthusiasm for AI-enabled delivery: you're already using AI tools in your work (or itching to), and you think critically about how to turn that into real, measurable value for clients rather than novelty
• A willingness to mentor and support those coming up behind you
• A relevant degree (Computer Science, Software Engineering, or similar) or equivalent practical experience

Why you'll want this role

• Step up in a structured way, with seniors and leads invested in getting you to the next level
• Be part of a firm betting strongly on AI-enabled delivery, and help shape how we turn that into real value for clients
• Complex, high-value projects for enterprise clients across a wide range of industries
• Real client exposure early, the kind of experience that's hard to get elsewhere at this level
• Work with an extraordinary group of people who treat talent as the organisation's most valuable asset
• Flexible working arrangements: hybrid from our Hamilton office (at least two days a week)
• A collaborative, geeky environment where fun and technical innovation coexist daily (ask us about regular games sessions, hacky standups, or why all the ducks)

Research shows women and other underrepresented groups are more likely to self-select out of applying for roles unless they match 100% of the criteria. If you are interested in this role and working with us at Enlighten, but your experience doesn't line up exactly, please still consider applying. You could be the right person for us.