Software Technical Lead

Company Description

Founded in the Queensland outback in 1920, Qantas has grown to be Australia’s largest regional, domestic, and international airline. Qantas has a range of subsidiary businesses that support the overall operations of the Group. The Qantas Group’s main business is the transportation of customers and freight using two complementary airline brands — Qantas and Jetstar — operating regional, domestic, and international services.

Job Description

• At Qantas, our teams come together to create new and unique experiences for our customers.
• A fantastic opportunity to lead a team that focuses on cutting-edge technology and engineering principles.
• Full-time and permanent position based at our new Product Innovation Centre in Adelaide.

Join Qantas in our brand-new Product Innovation Centre located in Adelaide by ensuring consumer needs are met, guiding the development of high-quality, scalable digital solutions that deliver real customer value, leveraging deep technical expertise and strategic alignment with user-centric goals.

The Software Technical Lead oversees a technical domain and manages the engineers within it, combining deep software development expertise with leadership responsibilities. They guide teams through the full development lifecycle—from problem discovery and system design to deployment and maintenance of live code. While involved in day-to-day delivery, they also focus on strategic planning and team leadership. Collaborating closely with Product Managers, they ensure software solutions deliver strong business and customer value aligned with strategic goals. Beyond their immediate teams, they contribute to the organisation’s broader technical vision and operational effectiveness as part of the Engineering and Delivery Leadership teams, helping shape the direction of digital products and services across the enterprise.

You’ll have:

• 10+ years’ experience in systems development and 3+ years in technology development leadership roles
• Strong experience building and operating high‑traffic, customer‑facing web platforms
• Expert in Kotlin or Java for backend services and APIs, with modern frameworks and patterns
• Strong proficiency in JavaScript / TypeScript with deep experience in React.js and modern frontend architectures
• Experience designing scalable, resilient distributed systems, including API‑first and event‑driven approaches
• Hands‑on experience with cloud platforms (e.g. AWS, Azure or GCP), including containerisation and CI/CD pipelines
• Experience using observability and monitoring tools (e.g. Splunk, Datadog, or similar) to support production systems
• Passionate about clean code, quality, and continuous improvement with strong accountability
• Ability to recommend frameworks, libraries, and tools that improve performance and scalability
• Demonstrated ability to motivate and mentor developers, fostering team growth
• Experienced in collaborating with technical and non-technical stakeholders, with strong influencing skills
• Embrace a test-and-learn mindset, driven by curiosity, collaboration, and care
• Proven experience with delivering customer facing conversational AI or chatbots will be highly regarded

Why Qantas?

At Qantas, your career can take you further than you imagined. You’ll join a team where creativity and passion drives success. Together we dream big and deliver even bigger.  

You’ll find diverse opportunities to grow, personally and professionally. From day one, you’ll be supported with hands-on training, coaching, and formal learning programs designed to help you excel. Your development is our priority because we know that when you thrive, so do our customers.

And while this role is your starting point at Qantas, it’s just the beginning. We have a proud history of helping our people explore new paths and reach new heights - the destinations are endless.

The Qantas employee benefits program offers amazing benefits that extend well beyond travel.  

We love to travel: Enjoy heavily discounted air travel within Australia and across the globe, both for you and your family and friends, as well as exclusive deals on accommodation and holidays.

We have flexible leave options: Make use of leave and flexible working opportunities including 18 weeks paid parental leave and the option to purchase additional paid leave for eligible employees.

We’ll give you access to thousands of rewards: Through our partnerships we can offer you discounts across shopping, food and wine, insurance, health and wellbeing, leisure and entertainment. You can also take advantage of our salary packaging program including motor vehicles, eligible portable electronic devices and professional memberships.

We’ll support your wellbeing: Whether it’s learning to better support your own and others’ mental health, our interactive wellbeing app or your very own tailored nutrition plan.  

Why South Australia?

Discover a place where life is balanced and rewarding, and where innovation thrives. In South Australia we value collaboration, genuine connections, and supporting each other to succeed. That spirit of teamwork is at the heart of our new Product Innovation Centre, a hub dedicated to creating world-class digital experiences for our customers.

Adelaide offers the best of both worlds. A vibrant city with cutting-edge tech opportunities and world-class food, wine, and arts, surrounded by stunning beaches, national parks, and green spaces. Getting around is easy, and the cost of living means you can enjoy more of what matters. From celebrated wine regions and fresh produce to our innovative industries, South Australians take pride in doing things well, with care and integrity. That same commitment drives our approach to digital innovation: building solutions that matter, with creativity and purpose.

If you’re looking for a place where your career can grow, your ideas can shape the future, and your life can flourish, South Australia is waiting for you.

Applications close by the 2nd of June

Qantas is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing a working environment that embraces and values diversity and inclusion. By coming to work for us, you’ll be part of an organisation that encourages diversity, supports charities and environmental initiatives. We encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, and people of all backgrounds to apply. If you have any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at time of application. Your personal information will be kept confidential in compliance with relevant privacy legislation.