The client
Buddy Advisory is proud to be partnering with Propel Ventures, the AI transformation partner for ambitious Australian businesses. Propel rewires how organisations work: operating model, ways of working, capability and governance, so AI changes the work, not just the toolkit.
Founded in 2016, Propel has grown into a 50-strong consultancy with hubs in Melbourne and Sydney. As both strategists and practitioners, they drive both the roadmap and the reality. Their partnerships with Anthropic, AWS, Microsoft and Google give clients access to cutting-edge capability, backed by a team with the expertise to effectively deploy it.
The role
Propel's AI Advisory & Transformation work is increasingly anchored in the AI Product Delivery Lifecycle (AI PDLC); their model for how product and engineering teams ship in an AI-augmented world. Clients are asking Propel to redesign their delivery model around the AI PDLC: structured Delivery Knowledge, the Implement-Measure-Improve flywheel, AI-native ways of working, evals and observability.
We're now on the search for a Principal Engineer whose tech lead experience spans several teams and domains, who knows how to bring stakeholders at every level along with them, and whose take on AI in software development is grounded rather than hyped. This is not a delivery-manager role, it's an engineering role suited to someone who can both advise and build.
The responsibilities
- Lead AI PDLC consulting engagements end-to-end; current-state assessment, target operating model, roadmap and embedded delivery.
- Partner with client CTOs, heads of engineering and platform leads to redesign their software delivery lifecycle around AI agents and the Implement-Measure-Improve flywheel.
- Stand up the artefacts that make the new model real; Delivery Knowledge structures, AI-native ceremonies, evals, observability and governance.
- Upskill development teams on AI-assisted engineering practices, focusing on tools like Cursor and Claude Code alongside patterns like RAG and agentic workflows to maximise developer velocity without requiring deep AI engineering specialisation.
- Stay hands-on: build alongside client teams when that is the fastest path to credibility and adoption.
- Mentor Propel engineers and consultants on engagement; raise the bar across the practice.
- Contribute to Propel's AI PDLC IP; frameworks, playbooks, evals, blog posts, conference talks.
The requirements
- Experience acting as tech lead across several teams, projects and domains, not necessarily on a single senior consulting track.
- Outstanding communication skills: comfortable working with a range of stakeholders, technical and non-technical, and adjusting the conversation accordingly.
- Operated production systems that demand high availability, in genuinely complex domains, and understand what it takes to keep them running.
- Change and transformation experience; whether AI, agile or platform-led, you've driven it within your own team and across the wider organisation.
- A balanced, genuine interest in AI and its role in software development; curiosity and sound judgement matter more than being a daily power user of any one tool.
Why join
- Practitioner-consultant culture: you build, you advise, and you see your work land; not just advise from the sidelines.
- Anthropic, AWS, Microsoft and Google partner; ISO 27001; a decade of product-led delivery behind us.
- 50-strong team, exec access, and genuine input into how the practice grows.
- Work with ambitious clients across wealth platforms, national retailers, energy and education on board-level AI transformation.
Salary banding: $160K - $200K + superannuation.
Apply now! Applications close 5pm, Wednesday July 22.
