Product Owner - Data Platform

Skipton Building Society; Skipton; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading financial institution in the UK is seeking a Data Platform Product Owner to lead the evolution of their cloud-native data platform. You will manage the product backlog, drive stakeholder engagement, and ensure business value delivery through innovative data solutions. The ideal candidate has robust product ownership experience in data-driven environments and excellent communication skills. This role offers flexible working and a variety of employee benefits.

Benefits

Annual discretionary bonus scheme

25 days standard annual leave

Matching employer pension contribution

Private medical insurance

Discounted gym membership

Qualifications

• Proven experience as a Product Owner or similar role within a data-driven environment.
• Strong knowledge of data architecture, platforms, and governance.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills.

Responsibilities

• Define and manage the product vision, strategy, and roadmap for the Data Platform.
• Own and prioritise the product backlog and manage work types.
• Lead stakeholder engagement and translate requirements into technical requirements.

Skills

Product Ownership

Agile Methodologies

Stakeholder Management

Data Architecture Knowledge

Analytical Thinking

Education

Relevant certification (SAFe POPM or Scrum PSPO)

Tools

Git

dbt

SQL (Spark SQL)

Python (PySpark)

Job description

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We’re on the lookout for a visionary Data Platform Product Owner to help lead the evolution of our cloud-native data platform and deliver real business value through data.

Who We Are

You’ll be joining our rapidly expanding Engineering team, collaborating with talented Data and Software professionals, and engaging closely with stakeholders across our Technology function and wider business. Your role is pivotal in driving innovative solutions forward and aligning with our ambitious change agenda.

Together, you’ll help shape the organisation’s future by pushing boundaries and transforming ideas into reality. Join us on this journey of growth, creativity, and collaboration as we set new benchmarks in data engineering excellence. Your contribution is key to our shared success.

What Will You Be Doing

As Data Platform Product Owner, you will join a high-performing team responsible for accepting, prioritising, and managing all types of work within the Data Platform-including business projects, internal initiatives, change requests, and unplanned work. You will gather feature requests, agree sprint goals and objectives, and distil business value and goals into actionable roadmaps while refining the product backlog. Your primary responsibility is to ensure measurable business benefit and value are delivered effectively and efficiently.

Key Responsibilities

• Vision & StrategyDefine and manage the product vision, strategy, and roadmap for the Data Platform, ensuring alignment with business goals and evolving data needs.Champion a product-centric, value-driven approach, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
• Backlog & Work ManagementOwn and prioritise the product backlog, ensuring efficient delivery of features, improvements, and technical enhancements.Manage and balance all types of work: business projects, internal projects, change requests, and unplanned work (e.g., incidents, technical debt, urgent fixes).Employ robust planning methods to ensure colleague deployment is agreed, monitored, and evaluated for maximum effectiveness.
• Stakeholder Engagement & CommunicationLead stakeholder engagement, maintaining strong relationships across all levels of the Society to drive engagement and alignment in an agile change environment.Gather and translate business requirements into clear, actionable technical requirements, enabling development teams to create impactful features.
• Value Stream & Systems ThinkingVisualise and optimise the end-to-end value stream for the Data Platform, identifying and addressing bottlenecks to maximise flow and reduce lead times.Apply systems thinking to ensure changes are made with awareness of their wider impact across teams and processes.
• Metrics, Measurement & ReportingDefine, track, and report on key success metrics, including:DORA metrics: Deployment frequency, lead time for changes, change failure rate, time to restore service.Data product metrics: Data quality (accuracy, completeness, timeliness), adoption and usage, user satisfaction (NPS/CSAT), business value delivered, and operational health.Governance & compliance metrics: Data lineage completeness, access control effectiveness, compliance rates.Use these metrics to drive continuous improvement, inform prioritisation, and demonstrate value delivered.
• Data Governance & ComplianceEnsure the Data Platform adheres to data governance, privacy, and security standards, coordinating with compliance teams as needed.
• DevOps & Automation CollaborationWork closely with DevOps and engineering teams to enhance automation, deployment, and reliability of the Data Platform, supporting CI/CD practices and rapid, safe delivery.
• Continuous Improvement & FeedbackEvaluate and report value post-delivery, supporting ongoing improvement of the Data Platform.Gather and act on user feedback to ensure delivered features meet real business and customer needs.
• Leadership & CollaborationProvide support and guidance as a senior member of the Engineering department, acting as a point of reference/expertise for peers, team members, and other functions.Foster a collaborative, trusting environment, encouraging diversity of thought and creative solutions that benefit customers and colleagues.

What Do We Need From You

We’re looking for someone who is not only technically proficient but also a strategic thinker with strong leadership and communication skills. Ideally, you’ll bring:

• Proven experience as a Product Owner or similar role within a data-driven environment.
• Strong knowledge of data architecture, platforms, and governance.
• Experience working in Agile methodologies, managing product backlogs, and coordinating sprints.
• Excellent stakeholder management, with the ability to translate complex data needs into clear objectives.
• An analytical mindset, focused on delivering business value through data solutions.
• A deep understanding of the internal and external data landscape, influencing the strategic roadmap to meet future needs.
• A focus on service delivery, ensuring continuous improvement and innovation within the Data Platform.
• Strong people and communication capabilities, fostering collaboration and engagement across teams.

Key Technology (awareness of)

• Experience with source control systems, such as Git
• dbt (Data Build Tool) for transforming and modelling data
• SQL (Spark SQL) & Python (PySpark)

Certifications (Ideal)

• SAFe POPM or Scrum PSPO

What’s in it for you

Skipton values work/life balance and we are proud to support hybrid and flexible working, where possible. We have a newly refurbished head office which offers a vibrant and collaborative working space.

We have a range of other benefits available to you including:

• Annual discretionary bonus scheme
• 25 days standard annual leave + bank holidays + rising 1 day per year of service to a maximum of 30 days.
• Holiday trading scheme allowing the ability to buy and sell additional annual leave days.
• Matching employer pension contribution (up to 10% per annum)
• Colleague mortgage (conditions apply)
• Salary sacrifice scheme for hybrid & electric car
• A commitment to training and development
• Private medical insurance for all our colleagues
• Diverse and inclusive colleague networks available for you to join.
• We care about your health and wellbeing – we provide a range of benefits that support this including cycle to work initiative and discounted gym membership.