Lead Product Owner
Product
Sydney, NSW, Australia
Employment Hero is on a mission to make employment easier and more valuable for everyone around the world. Our Employment Operating System brings hiring, HR, payroll and benefits into an all-in-one solution.
Since launching in 2014, we've grown from startup to global scale, reaching a valuation of over $2 billion and building a presence across six countries, with even more growth ahead. We now serve over 350,000 SMEs, pay more than 3 million employees, and support a growing pool of job seekers finding their next role through our platform.
The EH Way
At Employment Hero, we’re proud of our unique DNA, which we call The EH Way.
- We are Mission First - everything we do (from what we work on, to how we allocate capital and where we focus) is driven by our Mission
- We are Remote First - we champion a remote environment with a preference for asynchronous communication and a high degree of autonomy
- We are AI First - we are committed to using AI to accelerate our mission; AI is not just a tool, it’s a fundamental part of how we operate, innovate, and scale
- We are Apolitical - we do not take a position on political or social topics, unless it relates to our Mission
- We Live by Our Values - we role model our values 100% of the time
- We Expect High Performance - we set a high standard and we’re not satisfied with being average
This role
This is a hands-on leadership role for a delivery-focused pro who wants to manage a small team (2–3 direct reports) while staying deep in the engine room—unblocking complex dependencies, optimising backlogs, and ensuring we ship scalable solutions across our HR and Payroll domains. You don't need formal leadership experience, if you've coached or mentored others and are ready to take that next step, we'd love to hear from you.
Your key focus areas will be:
1. Leadership & Coaching
- Lead and mentor a team of Product Owners to ensure high-quality delivery and career growth.
- Support your team in refining their backlogs, stakeholder engagement, and agile practices.
- Foster a collaborative and high-performing product culture grounded in user-centric thinking and delivery excellence.
- Partner with Product Managers to align team efforts to overarching product strategy and OKRs.
2. Product Ownership & Delivery
- Drive the end-to-end delivery of strategic product initiatives from concept to launch and continuous improvement.
- Collaborate on the development of product vision and roadmap in your domain, adapting to constraints without losing sight of long-term goals.
- Identify opportunities for optimisation and growth based on business priorities, competitor analysis, customer research and performance data.
- Break down complex problems using structured thinking and frameworks.
- Undertake product discovery, synthesising customer feedback, defining clear KPIs, and validating solutions through a hypothesis-driven approach. Translates insights into a coherent, data-informed roadmap.
3. Backlog Management
- Ensure your team’s backlogs are well-groomed, prioritised, and aligned with cross-functional goals.
- Balance customer needs, business objectives, and technical constraints.
- Champion data-driven decision-making to support roadmap prioritisation and product iteration.
4. Collaboration
- Work with Product Designers to ensure we deliver best-in-class, user-friendly experiences.
- Collaborate closely with Engineers, Architects, and QA to ensure solution feasibility, technical alignment, and quality delivery.
- Support cross-functional collaboration with Sales, Marketing, Support, and Professional Services to ensure successful product launches and adoption.
5. Communication & Influence
- Be a trusted voice of the customer, clearly articulating needs and priorities to diverse stakeholders.
- Share regular updates with stakeholders at all levels, including presenting at leadership meetings and company-wide forums.
- Create clarity for your team and stakeholders by translating complex ideas into actionable plans.
Who you are
To thrive at Employment Hero, you’ll need to embody The EH Way - operating with focus, agility, and an obsession with impact. For this role, you’ll also bring
- Undergraduate qualifications in Business Systems, IT, Engineering, or a quantitative discipline (eg, Mathematics, Statistics, Economics) preferred.
- Up to 4-5 years of product experience, including at least 1 year in a Senior Product Owner or Junior Product Manager working in a delivery heavy focused role.
- Experience working cross-functionally in fast-paced, agile SaaS or start up businesses would be an advantage.
- Proven experience coaching or leading others in an agile product development environment.
- Strong analytical and prioritisation skills, using data and insights to drive decision-making.
- Confidence navigating ambiguity, solving complex problems, and influencing without authority.
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills – you’re a natural storyteller and connector.
- Bonus points for experience working with big data or platform-scale products.
What we can offer
At Employment Hero, we don't just talk about a better way to work. We live it.
Joining Employment Hero means you'll:
- Work in a remote-first environment, giving you the autonomy to do your best work while delivering meaningful outcomes.
- Be trusted to own your work, make decisions, and have a real impact from day one.
- Access cutting-edge AI tools and technology that help you move faster, think bigger, and amplify your expertise.
- Surround yourself with ambitious, high-performing teammates who will challenge, support and inspire you to do the best work of your career.
- Own ESOP (Employee Share Options) in one of the world's fastest-growing technology companies, so you can share in the value you help create.
- Enjoy a comprehensive benefits package, including generous parental leave, subsidised egg freezing, a home office allowance, and outstanding learning and development opportunities to support your growth.
- Connect with colleagues from around the world at our Annual Global Gathering. We've celebrated together in Thailand, Vietnam, Bali and Dubai, and can't wait to meet in the Gold Coast, Australia, in September 2026.
Privacy and AI Notices
- AI Notice: We’re AI-first, so may use AI tools to review your applications and support our early interviewing and hiring process. They help us cut the noise, surface great talent fast and make sure every candidate gets a fair, consistent experience.
- We verify candidate identity and location as part of our hiring process.
- Employment Hero celebrates diverse perspectives and experiences, we invite people of all backgrounds and identities to apply for this position.
- At Employment Hero, we are committed to safeguarding the privacy of your application data. By applying to this role, you acknowledge our Applicant Privacy Policy made available here: employmenthero.com/legals/applicant-policy/.