Head of Technology

New Zealand Fine Touring Group (NZFT) is a technology-enabled travel business experiencing rapid growth. We are proud to operate a unique multichannel strategy, facilitating bucket-list touring holidays for international visitors who wish to experience the best of New Zealand and Australia. We are expanding into a fantastic new HQ in Wanaka in the stunning Queenstown Lakes region, and have recently opened our Australian office in Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia.

We are expanding our team and seeking an experienced Head of Technology to lead the nurturing of our technology stack.

As the Head of Technology, you will be responsible for overseeing our technology strategy and operations, ensuring the delivery of high-quality and innovative IT solutions to support the business growth. Deliberate curation of our tech development in partnership with key vendors over the last 20 years has created our point of difference today. You will lead our approach as we embark on a multi-year period of modernising and optimising our tech stack in an orderly fashion, without negatively impacting day-to-day performance, and by retaining control of our own tech roadmap. You will be solutions focused, results orientated and enjoy working in a role with high impact and the ability to roll your sleeves up and get close to the coalface. You will enjoy working as part of a collaborative Senior Leadership Team and help continue to build a culture where our people are set up to do their best work.

Your key responsibilities will include:

• Develop and implement the technology strategy and roadmap aligned with the business goals as we undertake a careful modernisation and optimisation of our highly integrated bespoke technology platforms
• Lead a small team and tight vendor group in technology operations and foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, and high performance.
• Identify and evaluate emerging technologies and trends to drive continuous improvement and competitive advantage
• Oversee the design, implementation, and maintenance of infrastructure, software applications, and IT systems to ensure optimal performance, reliability, and security
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to drive digital transformation initiatives and continually improve operational efficiency. You will work closely with our experienced Technology Product Manager to ensure you can deliver the technology capability which empowers our Sales, Marketing, Supplier and Finance teams to be super successful
• Manage technology budgets and resources, ensuring effective utilization and cost optimization
• Maintain strong partnerships with external technology vendors and service providers
• Stay abreast of industry best practices and standards, and ensure compliance with relevant regulations and data privacy requirements
  
  
  

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in technology leadership roles in small/medium size enterprises, with a proven track record of driving modernisation and optimisation of bespoke technology solutions in a fast-paced operational environment. You will have the battle scars and war stories to be able to plot the best path forward for us, and the know-how to ensure quick successful implementation. You will be able to balance the seriousness of the task with the confidence to know how to smoothly get things done. You will enjoy flexing between high level strategy and fixing a pressing BAU issue impacting our sales and marketing organisation
• In-depth knowledge of enterprise architecture, software development lifecycle, and technology trends in a small/medium sized enterprise with big growth ambition across multiple countries, with experience enhancing custom-built PHP applications and Google suite operations
• Strong strategic thinking and problem-solving skills, with the ability to align technology initiatives with business objectives
• Demonstrated experience in managing technology budgets and resources
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to communicate complex technology concepts to non-technical stakeholders
• Experience in a scale-up environment operating bespoke tech developed by dedicated external vendors is essential. Ability to get things done with a small team of in-house and external capability
• Demonstrated experience in a bespoke itinerary planning travel agency business would be highly regarded, but you must at least have considerable experience in B2C and B2B online lead generation industries, incorporating a large set of supplier relationships and product management. You will have developed solutions for challenges as diverse as marketing funnel optimisation, SEO, SEM, social media and non-digital channel integration, external API development and integration, sales team efficiency, finance processes, mobile user experience optimisation, CRO frameworks, security and risk mitigation, business analysis, email deliverability, VOIP phone integration and tracking, and dev ops and code optimisation. Experience delivering all of this in the context of supportive private equity ownership, and an ongoing focus of ensuring commercial outcomes for our clients, investors, team-mates and suppliers is essential.
• Bachelor or higher degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field
  
  
  

Benefits

• Dynamic, fun and people-first company culture, selling the best of NZ and Australia to the world!
• An opportunity to join a high growth and successful business based in beautiful Wanaka, backed by supportive and successful private equity investors.
• An opportunity to have significant impact
• Competitive salary and company performance incentive
• Hybrid working framework, EAP & discounted travel and experiences.
  
  

By joining NZFT you will be joining a great bunch of people from all over the world who have come together for a shared purpose - to deliver the very best New Zealand and Australian travel experiences to the world!

If you think you have a wealth of technology leadership experience and energy to bring, and are ready to make an big contribution to a high-growth tourism business living in one of the most beautiful parts of the world, please reach out to us now!

Please note: all applicants must have existing rights to work in New Zealand.