Company Description:
At Summerset, from the moment we start developing a village to when our residents call it home, it’s the passion and dedication of our people that brings our villages to life. We are one team, united by being part of something bigger – bringing the best of life to our residents.
About the role
Summerset is looking for an experienced and solutions‑focused Product Owner – People & Culture (P&C) to translate business needs into actionable system and process enhancements that uplift how our P&C function operates across the organisation.
Reporting to the People Services Manager, this role sits at the heart of Summerset’s digital enablement for P&C. You’ll own and prioritise the product backlog, define requirements, and lead delivery across system improvements, integrations, reporting, and business readiness activities. You will ensure our systems are effectively supporting our people, delivering value, and evolving with organisational needs.
This role is all about ensuring our P&C systems reflect how work is actually done—enabling efficiency, insights and great experiences for our people.
This role can be based in Auckland or Wellington.
Key responsibilities
- Lead product ownership for the P&C systems portfolio, including defining product vision, roadmap and success measures.
- Translate business requirements into user stories and acceptance criteria that reflect real business needs.
- Prioritise the product backlog based on business value, impact, risk and feasibility.
- Plan and coordinate delivery cycles, including sprint planning, release readiness, and end‑to‑end testing (including UAT).
- Own release acceptance, validating deliverables against KPIs and leading post‑implementation reviews.
- Manage vendors and SLA performance to ensure accountability, quality delivery and strong partnership outcomes.
- Support system integrations, including data mapping, testing, validation and ensuring end‑to‑end process integrity.
- Capture and develop reporting and analytics requirements, enabling insights that inform decision‑making across P&C.
- Lead change and business readiness activities, including training, communications and adoption tracking.
- Triage incidents and prioritise remediation, ensuring issues are resolved quickly and effectively.
About you
You are an experienced product owner or systems‑focused P&C professional who brings a practical, business‑centred approach to digital enablement and continuous improvement.
You’ll also bring:
- Proven experience translating business needs into requirements, user stories and acceptance criteria
- Exposure to integrations, data flows and/or ETL processes
- Experience with HRIS/ERP/SaaS platforms
- Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills
- A clear communication style with the ability to simplify technical concepts
- Strong stakeholder‑management and relationship‑building capability
- Experience coordinating testing, implementation, and adoption activities
- A continuous improvement mindset with strong attention to detail
A tertiary qualification in Information Systems, Business Analysis, Computer Science or similar is preferred, along with training or certification in Agile or business analysis (advantageous but not essential).
Why Summerset
At Summerset, we believe diversity strengthens our team and enriches the care we provide. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, experiences, and walks of life—including those with transferable skills from other industries. You may not tick every requirement, and that’s okay; we value what you bring to the table and look at the whole individual.
We’re committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels valued, respected, and supported to thrive.
Summerset is known for excellent benefits and strong values around care, teamwork, and striving for excellence. Some of our standout benefits include:
- Flexible working hours, including two working‑from‑home days
- Free Southern Cross health insurance (covering up to 75% of GP, dental, physio and other costs)
- Professional development and tailored career pathways
- Birthday leave
Next Steps: Applications for this role will close on the 20th of March. This role may close early due to an increased number of applications - apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment!