Product Director - Early Years Modernization

Product Director - Early Years Modernization

Competition # :49516

Department:Cyber Security & Digital Solutions

Location:HALIFAX

Type of Employment:Term

Union Status: Exclusion - Non Union - NSPG

Closing Date:13-Aug-26 (Applications are accepted until 11:59 PM Atlantic Time)

About Us

At CSDS , we prioritize people — both within our team and in the communities we serve. Our mission is to redefine how Nova Scotians engage with government by creating accessible, reliable digital solutions centered around user needs. In today’s tech-driven world, CSDS empowers government departments with essential digital solutions to meet Nova Scotians’ expectations. As a trusted partner across government, we enable departments to fulfill their mandates with secure, user-friendly services. From healthcare and education to public safety, we collaborate to transform how services are designed and delivered. We don’t just implement technology; we modernize outdated systems and reimagine processes. Our agile, data-driven approach ensures that digital services are both efficient and adaptable to Nova Scotia’s evolving needs. Joining CSDS means contributing to work that makes a real difference. From providing vital tech support to healthcare professionals to strengthening cybersecurity and developing scalable digital platforms, you’ll play a key role in building a more inclusive, responsive government for Nova Scotians. Together, we’re setting new standards for digital public service, delivering resilient solutions that meet today’s needs—and anticipate tomorrow’s challenges.

About Our Opportunity

The Early Years Modernization Project is helping shape a more modern, connected, and user-centred digital solution to support the Early Learning and Child Care system in Nova Scotia. By improving how families, educators, operators, and government connect and share information, the project will support better access, affordability, quality, planning, and decision-making across the system. The Early Years Modernization Project is seeking an experienced Product Director to provide strategic product leadership for a major, multi-year digital transformation initiative. In this role, you will work with program partners to identify, assess, and advance digital transformation opportunities; define the product vision and roadmap; lead product management activities in an agile delivery environment; work closely with internal and vendor partners; and provide leadership for the service design function. This role will play a key part in identifying, shaping, and advancing digital transformation and modernization opportunities. Working with business partners, service designers, delivery teams, and technical specialists, the Product Director will use research, service design, data insights, and partner engagement to reduce administrative burden, improve service experiences, support digital adoption, and deliver practical, measurable improvements for families, operators, educators, internal staff, and government partners.

Primary Accountabilities

• Partner with program leaders to identify and advance digital transformation and modernization opportunities, using evidence, user research, operational data, and policy objectives to improve outcomes, reduce administrative burden, and create measurable public value.
• Define and maintain the product vision, roadmap, objectives, and success measures, ensuring decisions align with program goals, user needs, business priorities, delivery capacity, and government standards.
• Lead and supervise the service design function, using research, journey mapping, usability testing, and current-state analysis to improve the user experience and service delivery across internal and citizen-facing digital services.
• Work collaboratively with the project team to translate research findings, policy intent, operational requirements, and technical constraints into clear, feasible, user-centred, and sustainable product decisions and digital service requirements.
• Lead key product management activities within an agile delivery structure, including leading product discovery; documenting design requirements; supporting sprint planning, reviews and retrospectives; supporting accessibility, privacy and security validation; and managing dependencies, issues, and risks.
• Support testing, validation, and product readiness for major delivery milestone, including creation of deliverables to support training delivery and user guides, operational handover, release readiness, and continuous improvement.
• Use product metrics, post-launch evidence, user feedback, and service data to assess outcomes, benefits realization, and continuous improvement opportunities.
• Work with digital teams across CSDS to integrate Early Years digital services with existing government platforms and shared services, including My NS Account and novascotia.ca.

Qualifications and Experience

• Completion of a relevant bachelor’s degree.
• Several years of progressively responsible experience leading digital product, service design, or business transformation, that includes product management or product delivery experience in a digital services or major IT project setting, including product discovery, roadmap development, agile delivery, and iterative release planning.
• Experience leading or supervising service design, user research, human-centred design, UX design, accessible and inclusive design practices, or a related function.
• Experience working with business and program partners to assess services, identify digital transformation opportunities, evaluate options, and translate policy, operational, and user needs into practical digital service requirements.
• Experience using data, user feedback, and performance measures to assess service outcomes, support benefits realization, and guide continuous improvement.
• Proven leadership skills, with experience supervising, coaching, and supporting both direct staff reports and multidisciplinary teams that may include product, service design, delivery, technical, vendor, and business partner resources.
• Excellent communication, facilitation, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build trusted relationships, influence decisions, resolve competing priorities, and communicate complex product, service design, and technical information clearly to different audiences.
• Strong strategic thinking and problem-solving skills, with the ability to make sound product decisions in complex policy, operational, technical, and partner environments.

We will assess the above qualifications and experience using tools such as assessments, presentations, interviews, reference checks, etc.

Equivalency

Applicants relying on education and experience equivalencies must demonstrate such equivalencies in their application.

Working Conditions

• Normal work week is 35 hours/week, 7 hours/day
• May be required to work overtime on occasion

Additional Information

This is a TERM employment opportunity with an anticipated end date of January 31, 2030.

What We Offer

• Career development where you have access to career guidance, tools, resources, and ongoing training for every stage of your career
• Engaging workplace: our employees feel valued, respected, connected, and tuned in, we have forward-thinking policies and strategies
• Countless career paths
• A dynamic, client-focused office environment where service excellence and teamwork are our focus.

Pay Grade:EC 13

Salary Range:$4,322.15- $5,402.66Bi-Weekly

Employment Equity Statement: Our goal is to be a diverse workforce that is representative, at all job levels, of the citizens we serve. The Government of Nova Scotia has an Employment Equity Policy, and we welcome applications from Indigenous People, African Nova Scotians and Other Racially Visible Persons, Persons with Disabilities and Women in occupations or positions where they are under-represented. If you are a member of one of these equity groups, you are encouraged to self-identify on your electronic application.

Accommodation Statement: We are committed to providing an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. Candidates may request accommodations based on any grounds protected by the Human Rights Act.If you require an accommodation throughout the recruitment process, please contact us at competitions@novascotia.ca.

Current government employees may access this posting through the link below:

PLEASE NOTE: Candidates will not be considered for an interview if applications are incomplete or are missing information.

If you are receiving a pension from the Nova Scotia Public Service Superannuation Plan (PSSP) or any related plans, you cannot receive pension payments while contributing to the same plan. If you accept a position that requires PSSP contributions, your pension payments must be stopped. Please contact the Nova Scotia Pension Services Corporation for more information.

Offer of employment is conditional upon the completion of all applicable background checks and confirmation of credentials, the results of which must be satisfactory to the employer. We thank all applicants for the interest, however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted. All questions and concerns may be directed to Competitions@novascotia.ca.

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