Product Practices Manager

Opportunity to work across an innovative multi-agency Product, a first of its kind for the New Zealand Public Sector
- Be a part of making genuine change to how we deliver value to our customers and users
- Flexible working + 3 extra Customs' service leave days

Whakapuakanga Tangata Haere ki Aotearoa | New Zealand Traveller Declaration
The New Zealand Traveller Declaration (NZTD) is the new digital form used to collect information from travellers arriving into Aotearoa New Zealand via air and sea. It helps us ensure that people are only bringing in what they should be into our country; improving the safety and security of New Zealand.
The opportunities for how we can now evolve our product to positively impact these travellers and all the Border Protection agencies involved in their journey is endless. Our vision is for a modern, digital and streamlined border into New Zealand that supports seamless travel by air and sea.
To help us achieve this inter-agency vision, we are seeking a highly skilled and motivated Product Practices Manager / Practices Coach to join our newly established NZTD team. We are looking for a driven leader who can shape the continuous improvement of our inter-agency delivery practices at a tactical and strategic level, drive innovation and a shift in mindset to ensure we're making the right decisions on how to progress our product, and who knows how to adapt practices to add value for Customs and other agencies topologies and constraints.
If you thrive in a complex environment and have a passion for continuous improvement and making genuine change, we want you on our team

**What we value in the NZTD Tower**:

- Being customer / user focused to determine needs versus wants
- Organising around value being delivered
- Leveraging data to make more effective decisions
- Visibility and transparency
- Focusing on delivering value earlier over increasing delivery velocity
- Empowering and enabling our people and teams
- Embracing diversity, inclusion, and belonging for our people.

**Great additions to the NZTD Tower will**:

- Use direct and effective communication and are collaborative in all you do
- Respectfully collaborate, compromise, and work together to achieve shared outcomes
- Do what you say you will, and actively self-evaluate to continually grow and develop
- Value honesty in others and yourself, and in turn are able to hear, adapt, and give constructive feedback
- Care about people's wellbeing
- Understand that everyone has a voice and every voice counts
- Not be afraid to give things a go - even if it is unsuccessful, we have learnt something.

Mō tēnei tūranga mahi | About this role
Reporting to the NZTD Tower Manager, this is a critical role in leading wider Customs, the NZTD Tower, other Government agencies, and our Product Delivery teams to deliver value and meet key business milestones.
Working cross-functionally from within IS and the NZTD Tower, the Product Practices Manager is responsible for establishing a product management and Agile adoption strategy; as well as work with our Product Owners to know how to set the pace and remove blockers that might inhibit teams from delivering smaller, usable value earlier.
In the long term, this role will enable standardisation and alignment of modern delivery practices across Customs (wider IS and our Operations area) and across Government agencies.
To be successful as Product Practices Manager the following knowledge, experience, skills and personal attributes are required:

- Proven experience in establishing Agile and Product fluency across levels of an organisation and across agencies and utilising those data and insights to ensure capability uplift and more effective delivery practices;
- Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal with an ability to understand complex challenges/concepts and articulate these in a simplified, easy to understand manner;
- Exceptional communications and a collaborative working style with the ability influence;
- Highly organised and result oriented with strong detailed planning and facilitation skills;
- Strong stakeholder management skills to guide individuals to early and effective outcomes;
- Experience across the product lifecycle from ideation and discovery, to build and operation.

Mahi ki te Mana Ārai o Aotearoa | Working at Customs
We aim to create a great place to work, where our people have a sense of belonging and the capability and desire to meet our future challenges. We are an organisation that is clear about our mission and this is underpinned by Te Pou Tokomanawa (the Foundations) and our Whanonga Pono (Values). Our work really matters to the safety and success of New Zealand.
We care about well-being, personal growth, and job satisfaction, which is supported through:

- offering on-the-job training, formal courses and leadership programmes, and the chance to move across diverse roles;
- fostering inclusive and supportive team environment with vibrant social a