System Owner

Tēnei tūranga – About the role

The System Owner is responsible for all technical governance of the assigned systems, including: its underlying platforms, strategy, operation, integrations, maintenance, and enhancement; working closely with the Business Product Owner role who works in the business, and plays a vital role in the success and services delivery through product delivery lifecycle. This is a key role, managing the end-to-end system lifecycle, working across – and representing the views of - the Digital, Data and Insights (DDI), and alignment to the customer. This includes working with the Product Owner, product, and system governance to ensure that:

• change is delivered through system configuration as opposed to customisation, which should be undertaken when all other options are exhausted.
• key non-functional requirements such as availability, disaster recovery, security, performance, and flexibility are preserved and enhanced, where appropriate, to ensure the ability of the dependent services to deliver and rapidly adapt to changing business circumstances.
• backlog dependencies on other INZ system changes - primarily AMS, IGMS and IHS – are identified, prioritized, and managed to ensure successful completion of ADEPT backlog items.

This role also ensures the quality and consistency of advice to the ICT Systems Manager, Head of Digital and Programmes – Immigration, and key stakeholders including: the Product Owner, Product Manager, National Managers – roles that report into the business.

Ngā herenga – Requirements of the role

Personal specifications

• Proven experience of end-to-end system operation, maintenance, enhancement, and support across the system lifecycle.
• Ability to understand and articulate technical complexity in a form easily understood by technical and non-technical audiences.
• Proven ability to make decisions of authority to preserve or restore system operation, and support enhancement/maintenance activities, provide technical backlog prioritization calls, including asking the right questions and make decisions quickly where required balancing risk, cost and impact considerations.
• Proven ability to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes and benefits by balancing the needs of multiple parties and influencing without line management accountability.
• Ability to interpret strategic and business plans to ensure that future opportunities are aligned.
• Demonstrable experience in communicating effectively at all levels including running workshops and demonstrations.
• Proven experience working with senior leadership teams and providing high level strategic and operational advice.
• Technical design thinking skills and understanding of business process.
• The ability to deliver successful outcomes in a demanding, dynamic environment.
• The ability to gain and maintain a national security clearance as required.
• Must be a NZ citizen or hold a residence class visa.

Takohanga tuhinga o mua – Key accountabilities and deliverables

System Management and Advice

• Collaborate and communicate internally and externally, elaborate the system vision and desired end state roadmap in verbal and written forms.
• Understand communicate system operation and technical enhancement/maintenance opportunities, risks and issues and advocate for solutions, return on investment and business benefits realisation to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Work within system governance framework to ensure that the system is maintained and improve, where feasible, alignment with system non-functional requirements.
• Prioritise the technical system work programme and ensure these are captured and prioritised alongside delivery of business features, as well as policy and legislative change requirements. Work with the Product Owner on overall product backlog prioritisation and delivery. 
• Define acceptance criteria; work with delivery team to determine what needs to be tested or demonstrated to prove that the features are acceptable. Accept or reject work delivered by the team.
• Determine which features are ready to release to deliver value to customers.
• Report to ICT Systems Manager and stakeholders on priorities and progress, ensuring regular and open communications.
• Authority to make decisions in line with the ICT Systems Manager requirements or direction.
• Delivers technical advisory services to the ICT Systems Manager, and wider DDI leadership team, in order to strengthen the overall capability of INZ and DDI and ensure the quality and consistency of service provision and practices across the business.

Team and Stakeholder Management

• Participates as an active team member and contributes knowledge and expertise needed to achieve MBIE’s outcomes.
• Develops effective working relationships with other MBIE managers and staff in order to transfer knowledge and learning from the team to the wider organisation.
• Able to build effectives relationships within DDI and from the business to ensure that needs and requirements are understood, captured and trade off decisions can be made where prioritised calls are needed.
• Builds and maintains effective relationships and partnerships with internal and external stakeholders, as necessary, in order to identify and share best practice information and to promote the Ministry, its products and services.

Wellbeing, health and safety

• Displays commitment through actively supporting all safety and wellbeing initiatives.
• Ensures own and others safety at all times.
• Complies with relevant safety and wellbeing policies, procedures, safe systems of work and event reporting.
• Reports all incidents/accidents, including near misses in a timely fashion.
• Is involved in health and safety through participation and consultation.

Tō tūranga i roto i te Manatū – Your place in the Ministry

The System Owner position reports into the ICT Systems Manager for Immigration New Zealand (INZ) within the Partnerships and Programmes branch. The branch sits within the Digital, Data and Insights (DDI) group.

The Partnerships and Programmes Branch helps the MBIE business meet their strategic objectives and solve business problems using technology, data, people and processes as an enabler.

More information about MBIE’s structure

To mātou aronga – What we do for Aotearoa New Zealand

Hīkina Whakatutuki is the te reo Māori name for the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. Hīkina means to uplift. Whakatutuki means to move forward, to make successful. Our name speaks to our purpose, Grow Aotearoa New Zealand for All.

To Grow Aotearoa New Zealand for All, we put people at the heart of our mahi. Based on the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi / The Treaty of Waitangi, we are committed to upholding authentic partnerships with Māori.

As agile public service leaders, we use our breadth and experience to navigate the ever-changing world. We are service providers, policy makers, investors and regulators. We engage with diverse communities, businesses and regions. Our work touches on the daily lives of New Zealanders. We grow opportunities (Puāwai), guard and protect (Kaihāpai) and innovate and navigate towards a better future (Auaha).

Ngā matatau – Our competencies

Cultivates innovation We create new and better ways for the organisation to be successful by challenging the status quo generating new and creative ideas and translating them into workable solutions.

Nimble learning We are curious and actively learn through experimentation when tackling new problems by learning as we go when facing new situations and challenges.

Customer focus We build strong customer relationships and deliver customer-centric solutions by listening and gaining insights into the needs of the communities we serve and actively seeking and responding to feedback.

Decision quality We make quality and timely decisions that shape the future for our communities and keep the organisation moving forward by relying on an appropriate mix of analysis, wisdom, experience, and judgement to make valid and reliable decisions.

Action oriented We step up, taking on new opportunities and tough challenges with purpose, urgency and discipline by taking responsibility, ownership and action on challenges, and being accountable for the results.

Collaborates We connect, working together to build partnerships with our communities, working collaboratively to meet shared objectives by gaining trust and support of others; actively seeking the views, experiences, and opinions of others and by working co-operatively with others across MBIE, the public sector and external stakeholder groups.

Te Tiriti o Waitangi

As an agency of the public service, MBIE has a responsibility to contribute to the Crown meeting its obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Te Tiriti). Meeting our commitment to Te Tiriti will contribute towards us realising the overall aims of Te Ara Amiorangi – Our Path, Our Direction, and achieve the outcome of Growing New Zealand for All. The principles of Te Tiriti - including partnership, good faith, and active protection – are at the core of our work. MBIE is committed to delivering on our obligations as a Treaty partner with authenticity and integrity and to enable Māori interests. We are committed to ensuring that MBIE is well placed to meet our obligations under the Public Service Act 2020 (Te Ao Tūmatanui) to support the Crown in strengthening the Māori/Crown Relationship under the Treaty and to build MBIE’s capability, capacity and cultural intelligence to deliver this.

Mahi i roto i te Ratonga Tūmatanui – Working in the public service

Ka mahitahi mātou o te ratonga tūmatanui kia hei painga mō ngā tāngata o Aotearoa i āianei, ā, hei ngā rā ki tua hoki. He kawenga tino whaitake tā mātou hei tautoko i te Karauna i runga i āna hononga ki a ngāi Māori i raro i te Tiriti o Waitangi. Ka tautoko mātou i te kāwanatanga manapori. Ka whakakotahingia mātou e te wairua whakarato ki ō mātou hapori, ā, e arahina ana mātou e ngā mātāpono me ngā tikanga matua o te ratonga tūmatanui i roto i ā mātou mahi.

In the public service we work collectively to make a meaningful difference for New Zealanders now and in the future. We have an important role in supporting the Crown in its relationships with Māori under the Treaty of Waitangi. We support democratic government. We are unified by a spirit of service to our communities and guided by the core principles and values of the public service in our work.

What does it mean to work in Aotearoa New Zealand’s Public Service?(external link) — Te Kawa Mataaho The Public Service Commission