NZ AI Hiring Pulse: 165 Roles Across 50 Companies Signal Steady Demand

I'm seeing solid momentum in New Zealand's AI job market. As of early February 2026, a scan of SEEK and LinkedIn yielded 237 raw postings across 40 keyword queries, which deduplicated down to 165 unique AI-related roles across 50 companies. Of those, 103 are high-relevance AI positions.

Here's what's interesting: while Auckland still dominates, other regions are catching up fast. Remote NZ roles are giving flexibility to talent nationwide.

Key Trends Shaping the Market

The data tells a clear story of broadening AI adoption beyond big tech.

• Regional shift underway: Auckland dominates the raw postings, but Christchurch is showing real growth -- nearly double Wellington's count. Remote options are bridging the gap for South Island talent.
• Government goes all-in on AI: Public sector players like ACC NZ (7 roles), Stats NZ (4), and GCSB are hiring aggressively for predictive analytics, fraud detection, and data science. That's a shift from traditional caution.
• Consultancies fueling volume: Deloitte NZ tops with 12 roles across Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch, focusing on GenAI and cloud AI. Firms like Alexander James (16 roles) are placement-heavy, indicating a talent squeeze.
• Freelance rates heating up: Senior gigs command $50-150/hr, like AI Engineer at Mercor ($120-150/hr) or ML freelance at Alignerr ($50-70/hr). Permanent salaries peak at $185K for Senior Data & AI Architect.
• High AI relevance dominates: 103 roles are deeply AI-focused (62%), with medium (29) and low (33) filling out the rest—pointing to genuine ecosystem buildout.

These aren't fluffy postings; they're backed by specific AI focuses like claims processing at ACC and visual AI at Canva.

Standout Companies and Their AI Plays

Deloitte NZ leads the pack with 12 roles in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch. They're hunting Python/ML experts for technical AI engineering, GenAI solutions, NLP, and AWS cloud architectures—classic consultancy scale-up.

Canva follows with 8 remote ANZ roles, all ML-heavy. Expect PyTorch, computer vision, MLOps, and even C++ for their visual AI and on-device ML platform. Here's what's interesting: they're dominating remote ML engineering, pulling in Kiwis without relocation hassles.

ACC NZ is active with 7 roles across Auckland, Wellington, Hamilton, and Dunedin. Predictive analytics, claims ML, fraud detection, and GenAI are the hooks—skills like data science, Python, R, and advanced ML. Salaries shine here: Principal Advisor at $117-166K, Senior Data Scientist $101-143K.

Other notables:

• Alignerr (6 roles): Freelance ML engineers for AI model training and data labeling—$50-70/hr rates.
• Datacom (5 roles): Auckland/Wellington/Christchurch mix for data/AI infra.
• TVNZ (5 Auckland roles): Media AI push, likely content and analytics.
• Kiwibank (4 roles): GenAI strategy and ML implementation in banking.
• Stats NZ (4 roles): Data wrangling at $118-160K, across multiple cities.

Government breadth impresses: GCSB for SIGINT ML, Ministry of Social Development for evidence-based analytics. Startups like AgenticAI (CrewAI, LangChain) and Halter (animal AI) add edge, while big names like Google (2 Auckland roles) dip in.

Surprises? EROAD (26 roles) blends telematics AI with data engineering; Mercor (32) eyes AI recruiting; Leonardo.Ai (26) for GenAI creative tools. ANZ banks (ASB 3-5, Kiwibank) prioritize ML for risk and GenAI trials.

Skills in Demand: Python Reigns, ML Close Behind

Python crushes it with 85 mentions—ubiquitous for everything from data pipelines to LLMs. Machine Learning follows at 72, AI at 65, Data Science 48.

Emerging niches:

• MLOps (12), LLMs (11), PyTorch (9), GenAI (8), Computer Vision (6).

Concrete examples: Canva wants PyTorch/CV pros; ACC seeks R/Stats alongside Python; startups like Comply Copilot demand RAG, embeddings, prompt engineering.

The data shows maturity: core skills (Python/ML/Data Sci) make up 80% of mentions, but MLOps/LLMs signal production-scale needs. No shock—I'm seeing teams build, not just prototype.

Key Stats

• Total unique roles: 165 (from 237 raw postings, 72 duplicates removed)
• High AI relevance: 103 roles
• Salary highs: $185K (architect), $120-150/hr (contract)

Top Companies

1. Deloitte NZ (12 roles)
2. Canva (8)
3. ACC NZ (8)
4. Alignerr (6)
5. TVNZ/Datacom (5 each)

Top Skills

• Python (85 mentions)
• Machine Learning (72)
• AI (65)
• Data Science (48)
• MLOps (12), LLMs (11)

What This Means for NZ Tech Leaders

This scan paints an optimistic outlook: NZ's AI hiring isn't hype—it's $100K+ salaries and 165 roles proving demand outstrips supply. Consultancies like Deloitte absorb overflow, but in-house at ACC, Canva, and banks shows enterprises embedding AI.

Here's the peer advice: if you're a CTO in Auckland, compete on remote perks—Christchurch's 48 roles mean talent is mobile. Founders, prioritize Python/ML fluency; GenAI/LLMs are table stakes soon (11 roles now, climbing).

Risk? Over-reliance on consultancies could slow internal capability. But government momentum (ACC, Stats NZ, GCSB) de-risks the ecosystem—public funding often seeds private wins.

Watch Christchurch: 48 roles vs. historical blips. Remote from Canva pulls nationwide. By mid-2026, expect 200+ roles if trends hold—talent wars intensify.

I'm bullish. NZ's punching above weight in practical AI: fraud detection, virtual fencing (Halter), veterinary diagnostics (IDEXX). Up-skill in MLOps/PyTorch now; the data doesn't lie.

Methodology: Data sourced from a scan of SEEK and LinkedIn job boards on February 5, 2026. 40 keyword queries across 4 NZ locations (Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and NZ-wide remote) yielded 237 raw listings, deduplicated to 165 unique roles across 50 companies. Skills, salary data, and AI relevance classifications extracted via AI analysis of job descriptions. Company categorization is editorial. Location counts reflect raw postings before deduplication; a single role may appear in multiple location searches.