Product Lead

Job Description

Business Services

Located in Ōtautahi | Christchurch, Aotearoa | New Zealand

• 5 weeks annual leave +5 days university holidays
• Professional development opportunities
• Generous superannuation provisions (up to 6.75% employer contribution)
• Salary p.a, $108,459 - $134,900, based on skills and experience
• Permanent position, 37.5 hours per week

Kia hiwa rā, kia hiwa rā!
He hiahia, he pūkenga nōu ki te mahi a te Product Lead? Nāia te pōwhiri nā Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha kia tono mai i te tūranga nei.

Āu Mahi | What You Will Do

As a proactive and delivery-focused Product Lead you will support and lead the delivery, coordination, backlog management, and stakeholder engagement across UC’s collaboration environment. You will understand and champion the Microsoft 365 eco-system, particularly SharePoint Online and Microsoft Teams, as core components of the Digital Information Management Toolkit for the University of Canterbury.

With an initial focus on the Digital Information Programme, you will make a tangible impact on how the university manages and uses its information:

• Shaping the core platforms and practices that staff rely on every day.
• Influencing how information is structured, governed, and accessed at scale.
• Contributing to improved compliance, better user experience, and more effective collaboration across UC.

This role is pivotal to the execution of the SharePoint Online (Vault) Deliberate Design process, managing this end to end and working with teams right across the university. You will ensure solutions are user-centric, well-structured, and aligned to consistent information architecture and permissions models that support a sustainable and governable environment.

You will coordinate and lead a cross-functional team in this complex, multi-stakeholder project to ensure robust solutions are delivered and adopted across the university. Owning the strategy and plan for each cohort, you will schedule and facilitate meetings, ensure timely and clear communication, capturing and following up on all actions, decisions and risks.

You will work closely with a wide range of stakeholders across the university, working through ambiguity to achieve agreed outcomes as you support and lead the migration from on-premises file storage and unstructured document libraries within Teams sites to SharePoint Online, as part of a substantial change to ways of working.

You'll utilise a user centred mindset, with the ability to balance adoption, simplicity, and customer experience with governance, risk, and compliance requirements.

Committed to continuous improvement, you will support ongoing refinement of ways of working, contribute to retrospectives, and help identify opportunities to enhance processes, tools, and user experience across SharePoint Online and Microsoft Teams.

Mōu | Who You Are

You are highly organised and detail oriented, with strong delivery and stakeholder management skills, you enjoy working with Microsoft 365 at scale. You will also be able to demonstrate experience in:

• 5+ years of experience in product ownership, product delivery, or digital service coordination.
• Strong experience with agile methodologies (Scrum, Kanban) and backlog management.
• Ability to break down business requirements into well-structured user needs and acceptance criteria.
• Excellent coordination and communication skills to align delivery teams and stakeholders.
• Familiarity with user research, product analytics, and iterative product development.
• Ability to anticipate and respond to shifting priorities, demands and timelines through analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
• Intermediate to advanced computer skills across the MS Office suite.
• Familiarity with Agile delivery methodologies and iterative delivery practices.
• An understanding of the Higher Education environment is an advantage.
• An alignment with our organisation's values and culture, promoting a positive and inclusive work environment.

Mahi Ngātahi | Who You Will Work With

Part of UC’s Digital Business Services team, you will be in integral part of the Digital Information Programme project team, working closely with the Project Manager, Change Manager, Technical Leads, Business Analyst, the Information Records Management team, and Vendor. You will engage and build relationships with leaders and teams across UC.

Ngā Painga o UC | Why UC

At UC, being part of our team means more than just a job. We are committed to supporting our kaimahi | staff’s career and wellbeing with benefits designed to help our kaimahi grow and feel connected, supported and valued.

UC’s Benefits approach is shaped by Ngā Uara | Our Values Whanaungatanga, Tiakitanga, and Manaakitanga. They are designed to be relevant, support and inspire our people, they include:

• 5 weeks annual leave +5 days university holidays
• UC Parental Leave (up to 9 weeks paid) + 26 weeks Government paid parental leave and onsite childcare facility
• generous employer contribution to superannuation (up to 6.75%)
• flexible working arrangements
• professional development and study opportunities
• supportive working environment
• a wide range of retail discounts across shopping, entertainment and travel
• on-campus staff discounts including UC RecCentre
• living in revitalised Ōtautahi | Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand
• a unique working environment in a beautiful campus with access to UC facilities such as UC RecCentre and Staff Club at discounted rates plus onsite cafés and eateries, and more.

For more information, please visit us: UC’s Benefits

For more information about Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury, please visit https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/

The closing date for this position is: 24 June 2026 (midnight, NZ time)

Please note, applications will be reviewed as they are received, and interviews may take place before the close date.

Pēhea te tono mai | How You Apply

Applications for this position must be submitted via our careers website and should include a cover letter and resume.

Please note, we do not accept applications by email, however we are happy to answer your queries in relation to the application process, please forward these to WorkatUC@canterbury.ac.nz

You must have Aotearoa New Zealand or Australian citizenship/permanent residency to be considered for this role.

Please note, this is an onsite position.