Senior Product Manager - Central Gov

Hippo; Leeds; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Contributory Pension Scheme

25 Days Holiday + UK Holidays

Perkbox discounts

Critical illness cover

Life assurance

Volunteer days

Cycle-to-work

Salary sacrifice EV

Season ticket loans

Wellbeing sessions

Flexible benefits

Private health cover

Private dental cover

Additional pension contributions

Extra holidays

Wellbeing contribution

Charity contributions

Tree planting

Job summary

Hippo Digital is seeking Senior Product Managers to lead digital services within the Central Government sector, driving strategy, roadmaps and citizen-focused outcomes. You will shape product visions, guide multi-disciplinary teams through GDS phases, and champion user-centred design across departments such as DWP, MoJ, DfE, MoD and ONS.

You will mentor teams, influence policy, and balance constraints like policy and security to prioritise work while delivering high-value citizen services with

Qualifications

• Proven experience delivering digital public services in Central Government.
• Expert in agile delivery within government and capable coach.
• Experience across departments such as DWP, MoJ, DfE, MoD, and ONS.
• Deep knowledge of the GDS Service Standard.
• Strong ability to influence policy and drive user-centred outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Drive measurable outcomes and deliver value for clients in the public sector.
• Inspire and guide colleagues by clarifying client needs and securing buy-in.
• Provide team leadership and shield the team from distractions to focus on delivery.
• Engage with stakeholders to craft a project vision, roadmap and backlog.
• Communicate confidently with a diverse group of experts to align delivery.
• Lead multidisciplinary teams delivering end-to-end digital services for central government.
• Leverage AI and emerging technologies to improve delivery quality and execution.

Skills

Agile delivery

GDS experience

User-centred design

Stakeholder management

Team leadership

Coaching

Public sector

Job description

Hippo Digital is recruiting for Senior Product Managers to join our growing Central Government Sector. As a product leader in the public sector, you will be instrumental in shaping product visions, navigating complex policy environments, and delivering impactful digital services that meet the Service Standard. You’ll champion strategic product direction, empower multi-disciplinary teams through GDS phases and drive the delivery of high-value outcomes for citizens.

As a Senior Consultant, specialising in Product, you’ll already be an expert in agile delivery within government and a confident coach. You will bring proven experience working across major Central Government departments, such as DWP, MoJ, DfE, MoD, and ONS, and act as an advocate for user-centred design. Hippo will provide exciting opportunities to share your expertise, influence key departmental stakeholders, and continue to develop as a leader in public sector digital transformation.

Your role in a nutshell:

• Driving measurable outcomes and delivering true value for our clients.
• Inspiring and guiding your colleagues by supporting them in understanding the client's needs, explaining the broader context and getting buy-in.
• Provide team leadership and protect your team from unwanted distraction where possible, allowing them to focus solely on delivery.
• Engage with stakeholders to create a project vision and translate into a roadmap & prioritised backlog.
• Communicating with an extremely diverse group of people, including experts in their field.
• Lead diverse, multidisciplinary teams delivering end-to-end digital services on behalf of high-profile Central Government departments.
• Leveraging AI and emerging technologies to enhance delivery, improve quality, and optimise execution.

People are at the centre of everything we do. We’re a diverse and close-knit community united by a love for solving complex problems for public sector clients and citizens.. We take a common sense approach to getting things done. We get things wrong, we learn from experience and we adapt. We stay curious and never stop learning.
We don’t need you to have specific certificates, but we do need strong GDS experience and evidence of your ability to:

• Shape and influence policy to support the delivery of digital services for citizens.
• Lead a team of people that are specialists in their field.
• Identify and use evidence of value to drive decision-making to ensure the user is at the heart of the team.
• Build consensus amongst people with different perspectives, with the confidence to make decisive decisions when consensus is not possible.
• Bridge the gap between stakeholders, policy makers, and multidisciplinary teams to help shape policy and deliver digital services for citizens.
• Find pragmatic and creative ways to balance constraints such as policy and security in order to prioritise work and meet user needs.
• Perform well in a wide variety of delivery disciplines (Scrum, Kanban).
• Communicate confidently and credibly on behalf of the company and the client.
• Lead workshops and group exercises, remotely and in-person.
• Build product and user centric capabilities in others, helping colleagues and clients know what to do when you are not around.
• Demonstrate deep knowledge of the GDS Service Standard and successfully guide products through GDS service assessments across Discovery, Alpha, Beta, and Live phases.
• Leverage experience working within or across key Central Government bodies (e.g., DWP, MoJ, DfE, MoD, ONS) to drive cross-departmental alignment and service integration.

Alongside working with some of the most talented people out there and on-top of a competitive salary, which we’re transparent about from the outset, you can also expect a range of benefits:

• Contributory Pension Scheme (Hippo 6% & Employee 2%)
• 25 Days Holiday plus UK Public Holidays
• Perkbox access for a wide range of discounts
• Critical illness cover
• Life assurance and death in service cover
• Volunteer days
• Cycle-to-work scheme for the avid cyclists
• Salary sacrifice electric vehicles scheme
• Season ticket loans
• Financial and general wellbeing sessions
• Flexible benefits scheme with options of:
• Private health cover
• Private dental cover
• Additional company pension contributions
• Additional holidays (up to an extra 2 days)
• Wellbeing contribution
• Charity contributions
• Tree planting

Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at Hippo

At Hippo, we’re dedicated to creating a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace that works for everyone. We understand that having a diverse team unlocks our capacity for innovation, creativity and problem solving. Only by building a community of diverse perspectives, cultures and socio-economic backgrounds can we create an environment where all can contribute and thrive.

We actively encourage applications from underrepresented groups including women, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+, neurodivergent and people with disabilities. We are committed to providing an inclusive and accessible recruitment process that reflects our workplace culture. We are a registered Disability Confident Employer, Mindful Employer, Endometriosis Friendly Employer and a member of the Armed Forces Covenant. Hippo continually strives to remove barriers, provide accommodations and offer reasonable adjustments to ensure equity throughout our practices.

Hi, we’re Hippo

At Hippo, we design with empathy and build for impact. We do this by combining data-informed evidence, human-centred design and software engineering. We’re a digital services partner who is genuinely invested in helping our clients thrive as modern organisations. Our delivery methodology is truly agile, from concept to reality, supporting innovation and continuous improvement to achieve your desired outcomes.

We firmly believe that technology should serve humanity, not the other way around. We take a human-centred approach to everything we do because we understand that complex problems require a service design approach. This means understanding how users behave and ensuring our solutions work for them in the real world.

Our combination of data, design, and engineering delivers bespoke digital services that make a positive and meaningful impact on organisations and society.

Have a look through our Website at Our Story & Purpose, Our Culture & Values, Case Studies and Our Solutions & Services to find out some more!

Hippo Locations

We are headquartered in Leeds and have offices across the UK in Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham, London and Bristol. We’re on the lookout for top talent nationwide but you need to be located within reasonable travelling distance from one of our offices. Given the dynamic nature of a consulting business, you may be required to work on-site at a Hippo office or at an in/out of town client location for a number of days per week (client dependent) and therefore candidates will need to be open/flexible to travel and working on one of those sites at least 2 days per week. We offer a generous relocation support package of up to £8,000 (please ask for terms and conditions) to help make your move a smooth one.