Associate Project Manager - Hawthorn East

We’ve been proudly serving Australian communities since 1914 and have grown to become a top 30-listed company on the ASX with a portfolio of iconic homegrown brands. At the heart of our continued success is over 115,000 team members working across the country, all contributing to bringing our customers smiles. You’ll not only get to see your work make a difference, you’ll be part of a team working together to help Australians eat and live better every day.

About the team

Our Technology team is the backbone of the business, building and maintaining the information technology infrastructure that support Coles Group. As a part of the Technology team, you get the opportunity to work through complex, challenging, meaningful problems using large data sets and new technologies to expand your skills and experience.

About the team  

Our Product, Engineering, QA, Operations, and DevOps teams work closely together to deliver scalable; customer centric technology solutions used across the country every day.   

About the role 

The Associate Project Manager supports the planning, coordination, and delivery of technology projects that enable the Group’s retail operations across supermarkets, liquor, and group platforms.  

This role assists in supporting and delivering project activities to ensure deliverables and outcomes are achieved efficiently, safely, and in alignment with business priorities and delivery standards.  

Working alongside the guidance of Project Managers / Leads, the Associate Project Manager contributes to scheduling, documentation, risk tracking, stakeholder communication, and progress reporting.  

The role helps coordinate cross-functional teams and ensures that project tasks are executed according to plan, supporting the timely and high-quality delivery of project milestones. The Associate Project Manager is focused on developing core delivery management skills — including project governance, stakeholder engagement, and both waterfall, product and agile delivery practices.  

Through learning, collaboration, and proactive support, the role builds capability in managing end-to-end delivery and plays an important part in ensuring the success of technology initiatives across the Group’s retail brands. 

This role is ideal for someone developing their project delivery capability who brings strong organisation, communication, and coordination skills — and an interest in technology delivery in a fast-paced retail environment. 

As part of this role, you will be required to - 

• Assist with end-to-end project deliverables, including those related to planning, scheduling, documentation, and progress reporting, end to end project delivery, including planning, scheduling, documentation,progress reporting and end to end project delivery, including planning, scheduling, documentation, and progress reporting. 
• Support quality assurance activities including readiness checks, testing coordination, standards enforcement, and risk identification. 
• Work closely with technology practitioners, internal teams, vendors, and store operations to ensure smooth deployment and transition into operations. 
• Track and escalate issues, maintain deployment documentation, and help ensure compliance with security and regulatory standards (e.g., PCI DSS). 
• Support continuous improvement activities, post-implementation reviews, and governance requirements across the project lifecycle. 

You will ideally have experience with corporate systems, particularly SAP, Retek and / or Salesforce. 

IT experience managing technology projects is a must have 

About you and your skills 

• Experience coordinating networking, POS, security systems, cloud services, or hardware rollouts across multiple stores/sites.  
• Understanding of store IT environments, including internet connectivity, wireless networks, and peripheral devices.  
• Familiarity with QA processes for IT infrastructure, including site readiness checks, testing, and documentation reviews.  
• Knowledge of PCI DSS compliance, cybersecurity standards, and IT governance in retail environments.  
• Experience working in project-based environments supporting multiple site rollouts.  
• Coordination stakeholders, including vendors, field engineers, and store managers during technology deployments.  
• Managing / delivering project documentation, checklists, and compliance tracking.  
• Experience collaborating with cross-functional teams (IT, operations, security, vendors, and store staff).  
• Coordinating service providers for equipment installation, troubleshooting, and maintenance.  
• Experience identifying and mitigating deployment risks, such as site readiness, hardware failures, and network issues.  
• Participation in post-implementation reviews to improve deployment processes 
• Certifications (strongly regarded , but not required): 
• ITIL Foundation (for IT service management best practices)  
• PMP, CAPM, or PRINCE2 (for project coordination skills)  
• Network+ or CCNA (for understanding network deployments) 

You’re someone who enjoys bringing structure, clarity, and consistency to complex delivery environments. You work proactively, communicate effectively, and can build strong relationships with technical and nontechnical stakeholders. 

What’s in it for you?

• Flexible working options: We know that work is only one part of your life, so we actively encourage a positive work-life balance and provide hybrid working options to help you achieve it.
• Office perks: Take advantage of our gym facility and fitness classes, free parking, BBQ area, mini-Coles supermarket, fooderie hub where you can sample new products before they hit the shelves, school holiday program and so much more when you come in.
• Discounts: Eligible team members receive 5% discount all year round on your Supermarket and Liquor online and in-store purchases. We also offer additional periods of double discount (10%) at various times throughout the year. As well as hotdeals exclusive to team members that translate into additional savings.
• Reward through recognition: Give and receive recognition, linked to our Coles values, through our digital recognition platform ‘mythanks’. You can accumulate points to redeem in the online shop for exciting gifts and electronic gift cards from an extensive range of retailers.
• Opportunities for learning and development: No matter where you start within our diverse business, you’ll have experiences, exposure, and education to satisfy you. Discover and explore a variety of career development programs and job-specific training.
• Paid parental leave: We understand how important your life outside work is and offer permanent team members paid parental leave to support you in balancing work and family.
• Investment in your future: Our annual team member share plan offer allows eligible team members to make regular pre-tax salary sacrifice deductions to purchase Coles Group shares.

About the recruitment process

We’re continuing to build a gender equitable team, and a culture that is just as diverse, inclusive and welcoming as the communities we serve. We are committed to creating a workplace that is safe and respectful for our team. We encourage applications from people of all ages, cultures (including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples), abilities, sexual orientation and gender identities.

We’re happy to adjust our recruitment process to support candidates with disability. For further information and additional contact details visit the ‘Our Recruitment Process’ section of our careers site or email inclusionrecruitment@coles.com.au

Job ID: 174649

Employment Type: Full time

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