4d ago , from Illawarra Mercury Job Board

The role

A federal government department is looking for a senior software engineer to join its Innovation team, designing, building and testing digital solutions, prototypes and technology capabilities that support real departmental priorities. You'll apply modern software engineering practice to build secure, scalable, maintainable solutions using .NET, Azure and Python, and you'll help identify and adopt emerging technologies and applied AI capabilities across the organisation.

This isn't a lab role removed from delivery. You'll take promising concepts from proof of concept through to enterprise-ready capability, working closely with architects, engineers and delivery teams to make sure what you build actually fits the department's architecture, security and governance requirements. You'll also contribute to the patterns, frameworks and reusable components that make future delivery faster for everyone else.

About you

- Strong hands-on experience with C# and .NET web applications and APIs




- Practical Python experience for AI/ML prototypes or web frameworks
- Comfortable working in Azure, with infrastructure as code (Terraform or similar)
- Real experience applying AI/ML practices to genuine business problems, not just using an API
- Background in an innovation, start up style, or fast moving delivery environment (side projects, open source, hackathons all count)
- Experience in government or large enterprise IT delivery
- Comfortable mentoring others and documenting what you learn along the way
- Must be an Australian Citizen with ability to obtain Baseline security clearance

The offer

This is a contract role with a strong initial term and genuine extension pathway (up to two 12 month extensions), working hybrid with at least 3 days a week onsite. You'll be part of a small innovation focused team with real scope to research, prototype and validate current approaches before they scale across the department.

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📌 Senior AI Software Engineer (contract) (New South Wales)
🏢 Lookahead
📍 New South Wales