Senior Product Manager - Government Digital Service - G7

Manchester Digital; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

The Government Digital Service (GDS) is seeking a Senior Product Manager to set the vision, strategy and roadmap for cross-government products and initiatives.

You’ll lead multidisciplinary teams, work across departments to understand needs, and use evidence to prioritise work that delivers measurable outcomes for citizens.

Qualifications

• Product management: defining vision, strategy and prioritised roadmaps to deliver measurable outcomes
• Strategic ownership: aligning product direction with user needs, organisational priorities and government objectives
• User-centred product development: using user research and data to inform decisions and ensure services are inclusive and accessible
• Innovation and user-focused problem solving: applying creative and strategic thinking to identify opportunities, challenge assumptions and develop effective solutions that meet end user needs and improve outcomes
• Managing product outcomes: defining success measures and using evidence to evaluate performance and drive improvement
• Product leadership: leading multidisciplinary teams, influencing stakeholders and championing product-led ways of working
• Stakeholder relationship management: building consensus, influencing decisions and managing competing priorities across organisational boundaries
• Agile and Lean practices: applying appropriate delivery approaches to maximise learning, value and delivery outcomes
• Life cycle management: managing products through discovery, delivery, continuous improvement and retirement
• Creating value for money: balancing user needs, cost and benefits to inform investment and prioritisation decisions

Responsibilities

• Set the vision, strategy and roadmap for OCTO products and initiatives.
• Lead multidisciplinary teams to deliver products and services addressing cross-government challenges.
• Use evidence, insight and user needs to prioritise work and guide product decisions.
• Collaborate across cross-functional teams to translate priorities into measurable outcomes.
• Build stakeholder alignment and influence decision-making across government.
• Develop business cases, roadmaps and recommendations for senior leaders.
• Measure outcomes and use data to drive continuous improvement.
• Champion product management and user-centred ways of working across OCTO.
• Make evidence-based prioritisation and investment decisions balancing user needs, policy, tech constraints and value for money.

Skills

Product management

Strategic ownership

User-centred development

Innovation and problem solving

Managing product outcomes

Product leadership

Stakeholder relationship management

Agile and Lean practices

Lifecycle management

Job description

Location
Bristol, London, Manchester

About The Job

Job summary

The Government Digital Service (GDS) is the digital centre of government. We are responsible for setting, leading and delivering the vision for a modern digital government.

Our priorities are to drive a modern digital government, by:

• joining up public sector services
• harnessing the power of AI for the public good
• strengthening and extending our digital and data public infrastructure
• elevating leadership and investing in talent
• funding for outcomes and procuring for growth and innovation
• committing to transparency and driving accountability

We are home to the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence (I.AI), the world-leading GOV.UK and at the forefront of coordinating the UK’s geospatial strategy and activity. We lead the Government Digital and Data function and champion the work of digital teams across government.

We’re part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and employ more than 1,000 people all over the UK, with hubs in Manchester, London and Bristol.

The Government Digital Service is where talent translates into impact. From your first day, you’ll be working with some of the world’s most highly-skilled digital professionals, all contributing their knowledge to make change on a national scale.

Join us for rewarding work that makes a difference across the UK. You'll solve some of the nation’s highest-priority digital challenges, helping millions of people access services they need.

Job Description

Within the Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO), you will act as a Senior Product Manager, setting the vision, strategy and roadmap for products and initiatives that support government's digital transformation ambitions.

OCTO sits within the Digital Transformation Group and is responsible for enabling change and growth across the public sector’s digital estate. In this role, you will work across departmental and organisational boundaries to understand user and stakeholder needs, align priorities and deliver products, services and capabilities that drive measurable improvements across government.

We’re looking for an experienced product manager who can lead a complex, high-risk or sensitive product, or a group of related products, through the full product life cycle. You will be comfortable setting direction, making evidence-based decisions and working across organisational boundaries to deliver valuable outcomes for users and government.

As a Senior Product Manager, You Will

• set the vision, strategy and roadmap for products and initiatives that support OCTO's priorities
• lead multidisciplinary teams to deliver products and services that solve cross-government challenges
• use evidence, insight and user needs to prioritise work and guide product decisions
• collaborate across cross-functional teams to turn strategic priorities into measurable outcomes
• build stakeholder alignment and influence decision-making across government
• develop business cases, roadmaps and recommendations for senior leaders
• measure outcomes and use data to drive continuous improvement
• champion product management and user-centred ways of working across OCTO
• make evidence-based prioritisation and investment decisions, balancing user needs, policy intent, technical constraints, delivery risks and value for money

Person specification

We’re Interested In People Who Have Experience Of

• Product management: defining product vision, strategy and prioritised roadmaps to deliver measurable outcomes
• Strategic ownership: aligning product direction with user needs, organisational priorities and government objectives
• User-centred product development: using user research and data to inform decisions and ensure services are inclusive and accessible
• Innovation and user-focused problem solving: applying creative and strategic thinking to identify opportunities, challenge assumptions and develop effective solutions that meet end user needs and improve outcomes
• Managing product outcomes: defining success measures and using evidence to evaluate performance and drive improvement
• Product leadership: leading multidisciplinary teams, influencing stakeholders and championing product-led ways of working
• Stakeholder relationship management: building consensus, influencing decisions and managing competing priorities across organisational boundaries
• Agile and Lean practices: applying appropriate delivery approaches to maximise learning, value and delivery outcomes
• Life cycle management: managing products through discovery, delivery, continuous improvement and retirement
• Creating value for money: balancing user needs, cost and benefits to inform investment and prioritisation decisions