Strategic Projects Lead
Fulltime, permanent
Tēnā koutou katoa
Ko wai mātou | About us as an organisation
At Te Kura Matatini ki Otago/Otago Polytechnic, we are committed to attracting, developing and retaining kaimahi (staff) who are passionate, creative, future-focused and dedicated to help set the direction for quality vocational and applied learning to meet tomorrow’s needs.
We are guided by our values and we are proud to be Rainbow Tick certified. We aspire to create a working environment that is inclusive and meets the aspirations of mana whenua ensuring equity for Māori and increasing access for all.
Mō te tūraka mahi | About the role
We’re looking for an experienced and commercially minded Strategic Projects Lead to help turn some of Otago Polytechnic’s key priorities into action.
Reporting to the Deputy Executive Director: Operations, you’ll work across Otago Polytechnic to lead and support strategic projects that improve organisational performance, support growth, build capability and deliver tangible financial and operational value.
This is a hands-on role for someone who enjoys taking complex or evolving initiatives, bringing structure and momentum to them, and working with people across an organisation to get things delivered.
You’ll be responsible for establishing clear project scopes and plans, coordinating stakeholders and dependencies, maintaining strong governance and reporting, and keeping projects moving towards successful implementation. You’ll also help identify opportunities for improved efficiency, service quality, revenue generation and cost control.
Your key responsibilities will include:
- Leading and supporting priority strategic projects across Otago Polytechnic
- Developing roject scopes, plans, timelines, milestones and reporting
- Coordinating activity across different areas to keep projects moving and deliverables on track
- Supporting business cases, decision papers, implementation plans and benefits realisation
- Identifying and managing project risks, issues, dependencies and barriers
- Building strong relationships and engaging stakeholders across Colleges, service areas and enabling teams
- Facilitating working groups, workshops and project meetings
- Providing clear, concise reporting, dashboards and analysis to support decision making
- Identifying opportunities to improve efficiency, service quality and organisational performance
- Helping translate project activity into measurable financial and operational benefits.
Ko wai koe | About you
You’re collaborative, pragmatic and comfortable working in an environment where not everything comes neatly defined.
You enjoy bringing clarity to ambiguity, connecting the right people and information, and finding practical ways forward. You’ll be confident building relationships at different levels of an organisation and able to communicate complex information in a way that makes sense.
Most importantly, you’ll have the drive to take strategic priorities beyond planning and turn them into outcomes that create real value for Otago Polytechnic.
You’ll be someone who can see the bigger picture while still getting into the detail needed to make things happen.
You’ll bring:
- Leadership experience, including the ability to lead and influence across teams
- Strong project management and change management experience
- Experience working with cross-functional stakeholders
- Commercial acumen, ideally including exposure to procurement, contracts or supplier-related processes
- Strong data literacy and the ability to use evidence, metrics and financial information to support decisions
- Excellent communication, relationship-building, negotiation and influencing skills
- Strong reporting and documentation capability
- Experience with CRM, SMS and workflow tools
- Process analysis and continuous improvement capability
- Experience supporting organisational change, commercial improvement, new service development or strategic transformation
- A Bachelor’s degree
Experience in sales, customer service or leading interdisciplinary teams would be an advantage.
The successful applicant will uphold our organisation’s commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi by continuously developing and upholding your understanding of our obligations and connection with Te Tiriti as an individual and as an organisation
Through recognition, empowerment and inclusion, you will give greater acknowledgement to the unmet needs of Māori, Pasifika and disabled people and their whanau.
You will have demonstrable health and safety best practices and enjoy being part of a team who support each other. You will easily be able to build and maintain relationships and communicate well via email, phone and face-to-face.
Tono ināianei | Apply now
For specific information contact Max Sims 0800 762 786 or max.sims@op.ac.nz
For a position description or to apply click on the link.
Applications close 5pm, Thursday 12 November 2026. Applications will be reviewed as they are received, so we encourage you to apply early.