Director of Programme Management

About this position Reporting to the COO, our Director of Program Management is responsible for coordinating, documenting and maintaining visibility and performance against expected milestones across the key product and business projects at Utility Fleet Vehicles that touch our customers. This role sits across the business, rather than within any one function. Engineering, Operations, Technical Services, Sales and Marketing own the delivery of their respective areas. Your role is to connect those pieces, making sure the work moves effectively between teams and ultimately delivers what our customers need.You’ll create a clear view of what’s underway, what’s coming next and how we’re tracking, including the dependencies, handovers and decisions that could impact delivery to our customers. When priorities compete, resources are stretched or milestones are at risk, you’ll bring the right people together and make sure issues are visible early. This is a hands-on role for someone who loves connecting the dots across an entire programme, bringing structure to complexity and keeping teams focused on the bigger picture: delivering great outcomes for our customers.For this position, you’ll need to have permanent rights to live and work in New Zealand. What you'll be doing - Create the business-wide view of the key product and business projects that touch our customers, keeping progress against milestones clear and visible. - Connect the moving parts between teams, making sure dependencies, handovers, priorities and risks are understood as work moves from one function to another and ultimately through to our customers. - Keep ownership and accountability clear, working alongside functional leaders to ensure their parts of the programme come together at the right time. - Spot gaps and risks early, particularly where a delay, decision or change in one area could impact another team or the end customer. - Give the COO and leadership team clear visibility of progress, risks, competing priorities and the decisions or trade-offs needed to keep customer-impacting work moving. - Bring consistency to how we track delivery, through clear milestones, documentation and reviews that help the business deliver together without creating unnecessary process. Essential skills and experience We’re looking for someone with: - 10+ years’ experience working across complex, cross-functional programmes or projects where delivery relies on multiple teams working together. - A proven ability to make complex information clear, communicating effectively across technical teams, functional leaders, senior leadership and customer-facing teams, and adjusting the level of detail for the audience. - Strong experience connecting multiple workstreams, milestones, dependencies and handovers, ideally through the full journey from product development through to delivery and customer. - The ability to see how decisions or delays in one function can flow through other teams and ultimately impact the customer. - Confidence working alongside functional leaders and subject matter experts, influencing and challenging where needed without taking ownership of their functional work. - The ability to turn a lot of moving pieces into a clear picture of progress, priorities, risks and decisions. - A practical, hands-on approach, strong commercial judgement and a genuine focus on successful customer outcomes. - For this position, you’ll need to have permanent rights to live and work in New Zealand. Nice to have - Experience in automotive, vehicle manufacturing, heavy equipment, industrial products or another complex engineered product environment. - Experience with NPI, ECR and product lifecycle management, particularly where products move across multiple functions from development through to customer. - Experience supporting international product launches or market expansion. - Project or programme management qualifications such as PMP, PRINCE2 or Agile, or equivalent practical experience. About Us We’re Utility Fleet Vehicles, a small, passionate team based in Mount Maunganui, building electric utility vehicles that are made to work. Our roots go back to UBCO, and we’ve carried forward the best of that legacy: innovation, grit, and a drive to make things better. Our team is a powerhouse of talent and passion. We combine deep technical expertise with entrepreneurial spirit and practical problem-solving. This mix lets us rapidly prototype, test, and deliver real-world solutions. We work closely with our customers to understand how they operate and what they’re trying to achieve, then deliver the right tools to help them get there. Continuous development is in our DNA. We use customer feedback, learn fast, and constantly push the boundaries of what’s possible with electric utility vehicles. Every upgrade improves performance, reliability, and usability, always with sustainability in mind. We focus on creating tough, reliable vehicles for fleets. We support industries like conservation, law enforcement, tourism, agriculture, postal services, defence, and delivery. Our vehicles are utility-first: safe, quiet, easy to use, and ready to handle whatever the outdoors throws at them. Why Join Us - Help shape something real. Our products are essential tools for people doing tough, meaningful work, from park rangers to delivery riders, postal workers to defence teams. - Grow by doing. We’re a high-trust, hands-on environment where people lead, try and learn. There’s room to stretch, take ownership and work on what matters. - Move fast and stay curious. We solve real problems in real time. If you thrive on pace, change and practical challenges, you’ll fit right in. - The freedom to live well. We offer true flexibility and trust our people to do great work while managing life outside of it too. - Work with good humans. We’re collaborative, inclusive and low on ego. We back each other and celebrate the wins, big and small. If you are passionate about the role but don’t tick every box, we still want to hear from you. At Utility Fleet Vehicles, we believe diverse teams create stronger, more creative, and resilient products. We celebrate different perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences and are committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels welcome and valued. We encourage applications from people of all genders, sexual orientations, ethnicities, abilities, ages, and cultures. Please let us know if you need any help or accommodations during the hiring process. We want to make sure everyone has a fair chance.