About the Company:
Established in 1982, Southern Cross Travel Insurance (SCTI) is part of the Southern Cross group and is one of New Zealand’s most enduring and trusted brands. They are 100% New Zealand owned and have worked hard to forge a reputation as NZ’s leading travel insurer.
SCTI offers a range of travel insurance products in both NZ and in Australia. They are both an established leadership brand in NZ, and a rapidly growing challenger brand in the Australian market.
SCTI offers competitive prices for award-winning insurance. They are extremely proud to be recognised both locally and internationally for their commitment to delivering quality products, value for money and dedication to customer service which has earned them several competitive industry awards, thousands of great customer reviews, and helped countless people travel with confidence.
About the Role:
This senior leadership role is responsible for aligning project execution with business strategy, fostering governance excellence, and driving operational effectiveness. The successful candidate will collaborate closely with the Executive Leadership Team and may engage with the Board to provide transparency, accountability, and informed decision-making.
Managing the full lifecycle of projects, programmes, and portfolio, ensuring optimal resource utilisation and value delivery, you will be accountable for developing and maintaining appropriate governance frameworks, to provide stakeholder assurance on strategy implementation.
Responsible for fostering a culture of collaboration, continuous improvement, and excellence, a core aspect of this role is the development and leadership of a high-performing PMO team.
Key responsibilities include:
- Strategy & Portfolio Leadership – Translate business strategy into an optimised, high-impact portfolio of projects, ensuring alignment with organisational goals.
- Executive Collaboration – Work closely with the Executive Leadership Team and Board, providing reporting, insights, and recommendations on strategic priorities.
- Project Governance & Risk Management – Oversee enterprise project delivery, governance, and risk frameworks to ensure successful execution and alignment with business objectives.
- Leadership & Team Development – Build and lead a high-performing PMO team, fostering a culture of collaboration, excellence, and continuous improvement.
- Change Management & Continuous Improvement – Drive transformational change, ensuring projects deliver long-term value and organisational success.
About You:
To be considered for this role you will have:
- Proven PMO Leadership – Extensive experience leading PMOs in commercial organisations (ideally financial services) with a strong focus on strategic planning, successfully delivering projects to stakeholder expectations, effective governance and risk management.
- Deep Project / Programme Expertise – Be able to demonstrate programme management best practices with certification in PMO methodologies (e.g., PMP Agile).
- Financial Acumen & Resource Optimisation – Skilled in portfolio analysis, prioritisation, and financial oversight to maximise ROI.
Strong Influencing Skills – Confidently navigate relationships across the organisation to deliver the right commercial outcomes. Engage and influence the Executive Leadership team to deliver value.
- A Change Management Mindset – Lead transformation and innovation from the front.
- Extensive People Leadership Experience – Embed a culture of accountability, collaboration and excellence.
Most of all you will be able to deliver results through balancing strategic vision with pragmatic decision-making.
Apply Now!
To find out more, please get in touch with Sarah White on 027 5053472 for a confidential chat.
To apply for this vacancy you MUST be a New Zealand citizen, resident, or have already secured the right to work in New Zealand and therefore hold a valid visa.
At the appropriate stage we will request your references, we ask that you do not include them on your CV when applying.
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