Senior Product Owner

About the Role

As a leading New Zealand insurer committed to innovation, we strive to deliver outstanding experiences for our customers and community while protecting the future of Aotearoa. Our focus is on helping people navigate unexpected situations by prioritizing what’s best for our clients, especially during challenging times.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead product initiatives centered around digital tools that enhance customer experience by simplifying quoting, servicing, and supporting partners and frontline teams.
• Define strategic direction for digital projects by translating insights from customers, partners, and frontline employees into prioritized product backlogs and guiding teams towards impactful outcomes.
• Collaborate extensively with digital teams, business stakeholders, and partners to balance priorities, make informed trade-offs, and ensure solutions deliver genuine value to customers and the organization.
• Utilize data analytics, feedback loops, and performance metrics to continuously improve digital offerings, streamline workflows, minimize friction points, and deliver seamless experiences across sales, service, and retention processes.

Success Milestones (First 6-12 Months)

• Form and nurture a high-performing squad that embraces agile methodologies, maintains clear priorities, and establishes effective delivery rhythms to consistently meet objectives and key results.
• Execute an impactful product roadmap by launching features and enhancements that improve experiences for partners, bankers, and frontline staff while achieving business goals.
• Maintain a transparent and well-prioritized backlog that balances new capabilities, platform health, technical debt management, performance improvements, and operational demands to maximize delivered value.
• Embed data-driven decision making and leverage stakeholder feedback to refine priorities, enhance usability, and create measurable business impact.
• Develop trusted partnerships across the organization, influencing strategic direction through delivery success and roadmap leadership.

Candidate Profile

• Minimum five years’ experience in product ownership, project or program management, or leading transformational initiatives.
• Exceptional communication and relationship-building skills to influence stakeholders, coordinate dependencies, and foster collaboration across all organizational levels.
• Proficient working in agile environments with hands-on backlog management experience.
• Familiarity with digital platforms, portals, contact centers, or operational environments; previous exposure to insurance or financial services is a plus.
• Adept at navigating ambiguity, managing change, and balancing competing priorities with pragmatic problem-solving abilities.
• Deep understanding of digital product ownership and a passion for enhancing partner and frontline experiences that drive improved customer and operational outcomes.
• Strong prioritization skills to deliver new features, enhancements, and changes across complex portal systems, balancing stakeholder needs, platform health, delivery capacity, and business value.
• Proven capability to lead cross-functional teams, align goals, and deliver meaningful business results.

Benefits and Perks

• 26 weeks of paid parental leave for primary carers and 4 weeks for partners
• Paid day off for your birthday
• 22 days annual leave plus two additional days and the option to purchase up to eight more
• Wellness leave
• Opportunities for career growth and internal promotions
• Flexible working arrangements in a modern Auckland office
• Discounts on Tower Insurance products
• Complimentary life insurance coverage