Principal Product Manager

NSW Department of Customer Service; Sydney; Hybrid; AUD 167,000 - 201,000; Full time

Job summary

NSW Department of Customer Service in Sydney is seeking a Principal Product Manager to lead strategy and outcomes across a significant product, platform or customer space. You will work across teams to identify opportunities, shape direction and drive measurable improvements in how customers engage with government services.

Based in Sydney with hybrid work (1-2 office days), this role sits in the Transaction Onboarding team and focuses on digitising vehicle registrations and other enterprise

Qualifications

• Experience leading complex digital products or problem spaces characterised by ambiguity, uncertainty, and competing stakeholder needs.
• Success defining product strategy, creating clear roadmaps and delivering measurable outcomes.
• Experience working in cross-functional product teams, partnering effectively with engineering and design to achieve shared outcomes.
• Strong systems thinking, with the ability to understand customer, business and technology considerations and navigate trade-offs.
• Experience influencing stakeholders and aligning diverse views without relying on formal authority.
• A genuine passion for product management and customer outcomes, with a track record of challenging assumptions and identifying better ways to solve problems.

Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end product lifecycle as part of a multidisciplinary product team, from discovery and strategy through to delivery and continuous improvement.
• Define and communicate a compelling product strategy, clear outcomes, success measures and an outcome-oriented roadmap.
• Use customer research, data, experimentation and stakeholder insight to identify, validate and prioritise opportunities.
• Shape and prioritise the product backlog, balancing customer outcomes, public value, risk and technical considerations.
• Partner closely with engineering and design leaders in a product trio model to make evidence-based product decisions.
• Build strong relationships across Digital Services, Service NSW and partner NSW Government agencies to align stakeholders and influence decisions.
• Deliver measurable improvements to customer and business outcomes through iterative product enhancements and new capabilities.
• Act as a trusted adviser on product strategy, investment and prioritisation within your domain.

Skills

Product leadership

Strategic planning

Cross-functional collaboration

Systems thinking

Stakeholder influence

Customer outcomes

Job description

NSW Department of Customer Service – Sydney CBD NSW

• Full-Time (35hpw) Temporary to September 2027
• Salary Range $167,165 - $201,105pa + super
• Sydney City, Parramatta or Gosford with hybrid working arrangements (1-2 office days)

About the team

Digital Services delivers products and platforms that enable customers and businesses to securely and seamlessly access government services online. Our work improves customer experiences, increases digital adoption and helps NSW Government agencies deliver services more effectively and efficiently.

Our focus is on reducing customer effort, improving experiences across digital services, increasing adoption of digital channels and building scalable platform capabilities. You will join a collaborative, multidisciplinary environment where product, design and engineering work together to deliver measurable outcomes for customers, agencies and government.

About the role

As Principal Product Manager, you will lead strategy and outcomes across a significant product, platform or customer problem space. Working across teams and organisational boundaries, you will identify opportunities, shape direction and influence decisions that improve how customers engage with government services.

This role is key to supporting the delivery of several enterprise initiatives across Digital Services. It is suited to a genuine product leader who can bring clarity to complexity, operate confidently in ambiguity and turn customer insight into measurable outcomes. The role sits in the Transaction Onboarding team, which designs, delivers and supports high-volume digital transactions used by people, businesses and frontline staff across NSW. Working across product, design and engineering, the team combines customer-focused delivery with secure, reliable and reusable transaction platform capabilities that can scale across government services. Key priorities over the next 12 months include leading teams to design and deliver ministerial priorities including the continued digitisation of vehicle registrations.

Key responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end product lifecycle as part of a multidisciplinary product team, from discovery and strategy through to delivery and continuous improvement.
• Define and communicate a compelling product strategy, clear outcomes, success measures and an outcome-oriented roadmap.
• Use customer research, data, experimentation and stakeholder insight to identify, validate and prioritise opportunities.
• Shape and prioritise the product backlog, balancing customer outcomes, public value, risk and technical considerations.
• Partner closely with engineering and design leaders in a product trio model to make evidence-based product decisions.
• Build strong relationships across Digital Services, Service NSW and partner NSW Government agencies to align stakeholders and influence decisions.
• Deliver measurable improvements to customer and business outcomes through iterative product enhancements and new capabilities.
• Act as a trusted adviser on product strategy, investment and prioritisation within your domain.

About you

You are an experienced product leader, not simply a delivery manager or backlog owner. You enjoy solving complex customer and business problems where the path forward is not immediately obvious. You combine strong product judgement with curiosity, systems thinking and the ability to influence without relying on formal authority.

You are comfortable working with incomplete information, challenging assumptions and making high-quality decisions. You thrive in a product trio, collaborate effectively across disciplines and remain focused on delivering value for customers.

To be successful in the role you will demonstrate:

• Experience leading complex digital products or problem spaces characterised by ambiguity, uncertainty, and competing stakeholder needs
• Success defining product strategy, creating clear roadmaps and delivering measurable customer and business outcomes
• Experience working in cross-functional product teams, partnering effectively with engineering and design to achieve shared outcomes
• Strong systems thinking, with the ability to understand customer, business and technology considerations and navigate trade-offs
• Experience influencing stakeholders and aligning diverse views without relying on formal authority
• A genuine passion for product management and customer outcomes, with a track record of challenging assumptions and identifying better ways to solve problems

To be considered for roles in the NSW public sector, applicants must:

• Be NSW residents or in the process of relocating to NSW
• Hold appropriate working rights for the type of employment offered - Fixed Term roles require valid work rights for the full duration of the role

You'll be part of an organisation that:

• Delivers services that genuinely impact millions of people
• Invests in modern technology, ways of working and professional growth
• Supports flexible, hybrid working and inclusive practices
• Values collaboration, purpose and continuous improvement

If you're motivated by scale, complexity, and the opportunity to shape meaningful digital outcomes we'd love to hear from you!

Support office roles will be headquartered across McKell, Parramatta or Gosford . We will consider role headquarters outside of the above locations where the role can reasonably be performed from that location taking into consideration the operational, financial and customer requirements of the role, and an ability to attend a NSW Government workplace as required. At the point an employee is notified of our intention to assign them to a role, the relevant leader will discuss headquarter options.

Salary Grade 11/12, with the base salary for this role starting at $167,165 base plus superannuation

Careers at Department of Customer Service

A career at the Department of Customer Service (DCS) gives you the opportunity to help improve government services and be part of reform that benefits people across NSW. We are focused on delivering excellent customer service, digital transformation, and regulatory reform. Come join us and influence the future of our great state.

Belong in our diverse and inclusive workplace

The strength of our workforce lies in its diversity and embracing difference, while the key to our success is leveraging the contributions of employees with different backgrounds and perspectives.

You can view our full diversity and inclusion statement here.

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