Lead Product Manager

Government Digital Service; England; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading government agency in the UK seeks a Lead Product Manager responsible for managing product portfolios and guiding multiple teams. The role involves defining product vision and strategy, engaging stakeholders, and ensuring alignment with organizational goals. Candidates should have experience in product management within digital environments and agile methodologies. This full-time position requires SC clearance and offers an opportunity to influence digital government initiatives.

Qualifications

• Proven experience managing digital products in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to engage effectively with stakeholders and senior leaders.
• Hands-on delivery experience in agile settings.

Responsibilities

• Oversee multiple Platform Product Managers and their teams.
• Own and develop product vision and roadmap.
• Champion products and develop trusted relationships across government.

Skills

Product management in a digital environment

Agile methodologies

Stakeholder engagement

Coaching and mentoring

Cloud-based software knowledge

Job description

Lead Product Manager – Government Digital Service

Join to apply for the Lead Product Manager role at Government Digital Service. The GDS is the digital centre of government, responsible for setting, leading and delivering the vision for a modern digital government.

Job Summary

We are hiring Platform Product Leads across two Directorates:

• GDS’s central Technology & Security team: enabling developers across GDS
• One Login’s platform teams: enabling teams within a flagship programme

Responsibilities

• Be responsible for a product portfolio and will oversee multiple Platform Product Managers and their teams
• Reporting to a Head of Product or a Deputy Director, you will guide prioritisation across products and ensure alignment with the organisation’s goals and strategy
• Own and develop a product vision, strategy and roadmap for your Platform products and product teams
• Own your teams’ “front door”, shaping incoming requests from stakeholders, and ensuring effective prioritisation decisions
• Lead your teams to set clear, measurable, outcome‑oriented goals (OKRs), balancing user‑facing benefits with reliability, security and other service level considerations
• Guide your teams to identify risky assumptions and carry out continuous internal discovery (quantitative and qualitative) to de‑risk product decisions efficiently and ensure that teams release value to users early and often
• Champion your products with internal teams, developing trusted relationships and securing adoption, to drive measurable benefits to productivity, reliability, security and costs
• Help your products move through the product lifecycle (Discovery, Alpha, Beta), setting appropriate goals for user experience, reliability and security (e.g. via SLOs), managing stakeholder expectations, and maturing your products over time
• Partner with Directors and Heads‑of to evolve the overall platform strategy, bringing expert insights from users, thoughtful application of technology (including AI) and industry best practices in order to solve users’ problems
• Coach, line manage and mentor your Product Managers, as well as others in the wider organisation
• Champion our work across government and in the wider industry, providing thought leadership in both Platform product management and the best practices of your users

Person Specification

• Product managing digital products in a fast‑paced environment, working with multidisciplinary, agile teams, – from discovery to delivery, and continuous, data‑led improvement
• Developing and improving a product’s operational maturity as well as ensuring a consistent approach to user and technical operational support – anticipating and mitigating problems before they arise and helping others think similarly
• Engaging with stakeholders, senior leaders and internal teams through a range of channels to identify a common set of needs and priorities, or to explain what you are doing and how you are doing it in clear and compelling ways. Using these skills to develop and agree tactical and long term plans, supporting necessary decisions
• Modern technologies used in delivery of cloud‑based software products (especially AI) – and an ability to explain the purpose and constraints of these technologies to non‑technical people
• Developing and selling a product and commercial strategy to secure funding and support for the product. Ideally you will have been involved in budget planning, forecasting and procurement processes, as well as understanding granular financial costs per sprint to delivered value
• Hands‑on delivery and iteration of products, working with multiple teams in an agile delivery setting – from discovery to continuous, data‑led improvement in a live setting. You should be comfortable using user insights to make strategic decisions to provide the best user experience. Ideally, you will also have experience recruiting, coaching and line management of product managers, identifying learning and development opportunities for individuals and teams

SC clearance required – this role requires SC clearance, which would normally need 5 years’ UK residency in the past 5 years. This is not an absolute requirement, but supplementary checks may be needed where individuals have not lived in the UK for that period. This may mean your security clearance (and therefore your appointment) will take longer or, in some cases, not be possible.

Seniority level

Mid‑Senior level

Employment type

Full‑time

Job function

Product Management

Industries

Government Administration