Product Owner – Digital Infrastructure

As the Product Owner you’ll play a pivotal role in shaping both the vision and execution of your allocated products. You’ll be responsible for managing end-to-end product lifecycles from new ideas, through discovery, and on to change and implementation. You will focus on maximising product value - defining features, setting priorities, and ensuring outcomes meet real user needs while driving business objectives.

• Facilitate discovery and design - lead workshops, design thinking sessions, and user journey mapping to co-create solutions with stakeholders and customers.
• Enable agile delivery - guide sprint planning, backlog refinement, and iteration reviews, ensuring teams remain focused and aligned.
• Measure and improve - track product performance, capture feedback, and continuously adapt to enhance product health and impact.
• Lead change and implementation - plan for adoption, engage stakeholders, and support change activities so that new solutions are successfully embedded.
• Shape and own the product vision - define and communicate clear product goals that align user needs with organisational objectives.
• Foster strong relationships - Acting as primary liaison between business stakeholders, ICT and development team
• Champion the user - apply empathy and user-centred design practices to ensure delivered solutions are intuitive, accessible, and valuable.

Design thinking and facilitation will be at the heart of how you work—whether you’re guiding a discovery workshop, mapping user journeys, or balancing competing priorities. You’ll combine strategic insight with hands-on execution, empowering cross-functional teams to move ideas from concept through to delivery.

Success in this role goes beyond backlog management and sprint planning. We’re looking for someone with strong emotional intelligence who can build trust, listen deeply, and engage authentically with a wide range of stakeholders. You’ll facilitate conversations that bring clarity from complexity, helping teams and partners co-design solutions that deliver measurable value.

• Based Auckland or Wellington
• Strong written and oral communication skills with an ability to translate technical requirements into practical solutions
• Enable change and innovation through product leadership and empathy
• Experience in the infrastructure sector
• A tertiary qualification in software engineering, computer science, business management or a related field
• Demonstrated effective planning, organisational and problem-solving skills in complex environments
• Two to five years’ experience working with products and agile delivery

Our people make KiwiRail exceptional. By fostering a diverse, inclusive, and supportive workplace, we empower everyone to contribute their best. If you’re passionate about innovation and safety, we’d love to welcome you aboard.

• 25 annual leave days
• Competitive remuneration plus 4% employer KiwiSaver contribution
• Access to discounted travel, health insurance & holiday houses across NZ as part of our Staff Welfare Trust