Product Owner

QBE Insurance; Auckland; Hybrid; NZD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid Working

Wellbeing coaching

Life Leave

Job summary

QBE Insurance in Auckland is seeking a Product Owner on a 12-month parental leave cover contract. You will shape priorities, manage the product backlog and translate strategic initiatives into clear outcomes across product, underwriting, and digital transformation.

You will collaborate with Product, Pricing & Analytics, Delivery Leads and Technology teams to enable continuous improvement and successful change delivery.

Qualifications

• Experience in the commercial insurance industry is preferred.
• Strong knowledge of product lifecycle management, requirements gathering and backlog prioritisation.
• Hands-on experience with Agile delivery methodologies (SAFe experience preferred).
• Familiarity with Jira, Confluence and Azure DevOps.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate business needs into actionable requirements.
• Ability to present recommendations, priorities and progress updates to senior stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Own and maintain the product backlog, prioritising work to deliver business objectives, customer outcomes and strategic goals.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to define requirements and drive continuous improvement across products and processes.
• Lead delivery of product, system and regulatory changes, ensuring readiness and adoption.
• Manage BAU product activities, including incidents, defects, maintenance and releases.
• Lead quarterly and PI planning activities, including roadmap development and prioritisation.
• Monitor product performance and business outcomes, providing insights and governance reporting.

Skills

Product Backlog Management

Product Roadmapping

Prioritization

Stakeholder Management

Team Development

Portfolio Management

Process Improvements

Communication

Confluence

Jira

Tools

Jira

Confluence

Azure DevOps

Job description

Primary Details

Time Type: Full timeWorker Type: Employee

Role Highlights

• Auckland based, 12-month parental leave cover contract, full-time hours
• Shape digital underwriting change and help keep priority work moving across product, delivery and technology
• Hybrid role, happy to talk flexible working

The Opportunity

We have an opportunity for a Product Owner to join our Product team, playing a key role in the delivery of product, underwriting and digital transformation initiatives across multiple business and technology teams.

Working across several teams, you'll be responsible for shaping priorities, managing the product backlog and ensuring strategic initiatives are translated into clear, actionable outcomes. You'll play a critical role in balancing business objectives, customer needs and delivery constraints to support continuous improvement and successful change delivery.

About QBE

At QBE, we get to the heart of what matters for our customers. And we do it all with a human touch.

• We’re an international insurer with more than 13,000 people working across 26 countries – which means we’re big enough for your ambitions, yet small enough for you to make a real impact. It’s an exciting time.
• We’re building momentum towards our vision to become the most consistent and innovative risk partner.
• What if you could have a positive impact – at work and in the world? As part of the QBE team, you’ll get to spend every day working with people who are passionate, talented and kind.

Your new role

Reporting to the National Product Manager, you'll play a key role in supporting and evolving QBE's range of product and technology initiatives.

Working closely with Product, Pricing & Analytics, Delivery Leads, Business Analysts, Underwriters and Technology teams, you'll help shape priorities, manage the product backlog and ensure initiatives are well defined and ready for delivery. You'll act as the bridge between business and technology, balancing strategic priorities with operational needs to drive continuous improvement and customer outcomes.

While this role has no direct reports, you will lead through influence, helping define priorities, shape business outcomes and build stakeholder alignment before partnering with delivery teams to progress implementation.

What you’ll do

• Own and maintain the product backlog, prioritising work to deliver business objectives, customer outcomes and strategic goals.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to define requirements, shape solutions and drive continuous improvement across products, digital capabilities, processes and customer journeys.
• Lead the delivery of product, system and regulatory changes, ensuring business readiness, implementation support and successful adoption.
• Manage BAU product activities, including incidents, defects, maintenance, wording updates, operational improvements, testing and release coordination.
• Lead and support quarterly and PI planning activities, including roadmap development, backlog preparation, prioritisation, dependency management, and presenting plans, priorities and progress to stakeholders and governance forums.
• Monitor product performance and business outcomes, providing insights, recommendations and governance reporting while partnering with business and technology stakeholders to successfully deliver change initiatives.

More information and the full job profile can be shared with applicants during the interview process.

About You

You may be an experienced Product Owner, Product Specialist or Business Analyst or similar with a strong understanding of insurance products, underwriting processes and technology-enabled change. You bring:

• Experience working within the commercial insurance industry is preferred.
• Strong knowledge of product lifecycle management, requirements gathering and backlog prioritisation.
• Hands-on experience with Agile delivery methodologies (SAFe experience preferred).
• Familiarity with tools such as Jira, Confluence and Azure DevOps.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate business needs into actionable requirements.
• The ability to prepare and present recommendations, priorities and progress updates to senior stakeholders and governance forums.
• Experience contributing to PI Planning, roadmap development, dependency management and release planning activities.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence outcomes and build relationships across underwriting, operations, risk, technology and delivery teams.

Benefits

We offer a range of benefits to help provide holistic support for your work life, whatever your circumstances. As a QBE employee you will have access to and benefit from:

• ‘Hybrid Working’ – a mix of working from home and in the office to enhance your work/life balance
• Free holistic wellbeing coaching, nutritional, confidential counselling, financial and legal advice
• Life Leave, supporting the life events we all experience, leaving your annual leave for rest

To learn more about benefits of working with us, click here .

Awards & Recognition

• 2025 Winner of Excellence in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Award at the Insurance Business Australia Awards for our Respect@QBE program
• 2023 Most Inclusive Workplace at the Australian HR Institute (AHRI) Awards
• Ranked in the top ten in the AAGE Top Graduate Employers 2026 for small sized program as voted by graduates

To learn more about our achievements, click here.

Skills

• Business Case Development
• Communication
• Critical Thinking
• Digital Marketing
• Innovation
• Intentional collaboration
• Managing performance
• Portfolio Management
• Prioritization
• Process Improvements
• Product Backlog Management
• Product Portfolio Management
• Product Roadmapping
• Stakeholder Management
• Team Development

Application Close Date: 02/10/2026 11:59 PM

QBE recognises the value of diverse perspectives and experience. We are committed to an inclusive workplace where everyone feels valued and respected for who they are. If we can provide support with access requirements, alternative work arrangements or you would like to connect with one of our networks please contact us at [e-mail] .

Equal Employment Opportunity

QBE is an equal opportunity employer and is required to comply with equal employment opportunity legislation in each jurisdiction it operates.