Structural Engineer

Prove our engine right.

Nodey is a first-principles structural design platform for New Zealand and Australian residential engineering. Instead of leaning on prescriptive NZS 3604 tables, Nodey runs full FEA on every member, rafter, roof beam, lintel, wall framing, floor joist, bearer, column and pile and derives the loads automatically, runs ULS/SLS checks to NZS/AS standards, and outputs peer-review-ready calculation reports. The goal: cut residential design time by ~90% and standardise engineering quality at scale.

We’re pre-launch and in the final validation push. That’s where you come in.

The role

We need a structural engineer to be the human ground-truth for Nodey. You’ll run real residential jobs through the platform end-to-end, hand-calc the expected results, and pinpoint exactly where the software and the engineering diverge so we can fix it fast.

This is a hands-on validation/QA role for an engineer who is focused on getting the numbers right. You won’t be drawing consents on deadline. Your deliverable is rigour: reproducible test cases, clean bug reports, and verified expected outputs that become the regression baseline every future build is tested against.

What you’ll do

• Run residential jobs through Nodey end-to-end along the full load path (roof → floor → vertical → foundation) and compare the output against your own hand calcs/spacegass models.
• Build structured test cases per element type — defined inputs, expected ULS/SLS results, clear pass/fail criteria — that become our permanent regression suite.
• Hand-calc expected reactions, member actions, capacities and deflections to NZS AS 1720.1, NZS 3404, the AS/NZS 1170 series, NZS 1170.5 and AS 2870; use NZS 3604 as an informational cross-check.
• Write precise, reproducible bug reports including inputs, expected vs. actual, governing clause, severity - that the dev team can action without back-and-forth.
• Work in fast fix-and-verify loops alongside our QA lead and developer; re-test fixes and close them out.
• Help sharpen the validation framework and “definition of done” as we move to launch.

What you’ll bring

• A structural/civil engineering degree plus 3–8 years of NZ residential structural design experience.
• The ability to independently hand-calc a full residential load path — ULS and SLS, timber and steel — without relying on prescriptive tables.
• Fluency across NZS AS 1720.1:2022, NZS 3404, AS/NZS 1170.0/1/2, NZS 1170.5, AS 2870 and NZS 3604.
• A sharp eye for discrepancies.
• Clear, structured written communication. Your test cases and bug reports are the product.

Nice to have

• Australian residential design experience.
• Exposure to software QA or test-case design, or light scripting (Python, spreadsheet-based checks).
• LVL / glulam / multi-ply and timber connection design experience.
• Hands-on with FEA or commercial design software you can benchmark Nodey against.

Contract

3–6 months fixed-term (through launch), with potential to extend.

Location

Auckland — in-office, working closely with the team through the sprint.

Rate

NZD $45–70/hr + GST, depending on experience.

Start ASAP

Eligibility

You must have the right to work in New Zealand.

Why this role

• You’ll see inside a first-principles engine most engineers only ever see the output of — and your judgement directly shapes it.
• Small team, fast loops, zero bureaucracy: you flag it, it gets fixed, you verify it.
• Your work becomes the regression baseline for every future build — real, lasting leverage, not throwaway QA.

To apply

Send your CV and a short note describing a residential job you’ve designed from first principles — and how you’d verify it — to ***email_hidden***.