Associate Director, Product Owner - Time & Absence

GSK; Bengaluru; Hybrid; INR 4,000,000 - 7,000,000; Full time

Job summary

GSK is seeking an Associate Director, Product Owner for Time & Absence within the HR Digital & Tech function. You will maximise value by translating business needs into a prioritised backlog and leading delivery across the HR product lifecycle within strategic guardrails.

The role partners with stakeholders to define outcomes and ensure usable, secure, compliant solutions. This position operates under GSK's hybrid working approach, typically requiring 2–3 days in the office, with pattern agreed

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree required in Computer Science, IT, or Engineering.
• 15 to 19 years of experience in product delivery, digital solutions, business systems, or process-led technology roles.
• Hands-on experience in relevant domains.

Responsibilities

• Serve as functional and technical SME for Workday Time and Absence configurations.
• Partner with stakeholders to refine requirements and define product outcomes within guardrails.
• Escalate HR product issues and guide decisions within financial, risk, and architecture guardrails.
• Own and manage the Product backlog (e.g. Jira, ADO) with well-defined epics, features, and user stories.
• Prioritize Product backlog based on value, cost, risk, and business continuity.
• Guide delivery teams to ensure solutions are secure, compliant, and aligned to standards.
• Drive operational readiness with a delivery readiness checklist for support, training, continuity, and release notes.
• Define and maintain product performance dashboards to monitor adoption and efficiency.
• Ensure changes follow security controls and data handling policies.
• Support Solution Architects on design options and cross-Product dependencies.
• Contribute to agile delivery improvements and data-led ways of working.
• Lead team in using approved AI tools in line with Responsible AI guidelines.

Skills

Product delivery

Digital solutions

Business systems

Process-led technology

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or Engineering

Job description

About the Team:

Enterprise Systems is the backbone of GSK's internal operations in Digital & Tech, enabling GSK Global Functions teams such as Finance, Procurement, HR, Legal, Compliance, WREF, CGA and Corporate Secretariat to run seamlessly. This team designs and delivers cutting-edge digital platforms that power critical processes, ensuring efficiency, compliance, and scalability across the enterprise.

Our HR Digital & Tech team transforms how GSK attracts, develops, and retains talent through innovative technology solutions. From managing global HR platforms to delivering data-driven insights, this function ensures our people have the tools and experiences they need to thrive. Partnering closely with HR business teams, we create solutions that simplify processes, enhance employee engagement, and enable strategic workforce planning. If you're passionate about technology that empowers people, this is where you can make an impact.

Job Purpose:

The Associate Director, Product Owner -Time & Absence is responsible for maximising the value of their HR Product portfolio by translating business needs into a prioritised backlog and leading delivery across the HR product lifecycle, within strategic and financial guardrails set by the Senior Director People Services & Reward, and VP HR Digital & Tech. They work closely with business stakeholders to define outcomes and ensure delivered functionality is usable, secure, compliant, supportable, and aligned to product strategy. The Time & Absence Product Owner guides delivery and operational support teams to ensure requirements are clear, value-driven, and data-informed, while overseeing iterative delivery that improves product performance, adoption, and operational effectiveness.

This role operates under GSK's "Performance with Choice" hybrid working approach, typically expecting 2-3 days per week in the office, with the specific pattern agreed between the successful candidate and their manager based on role and team needs.

Key Responsibilities:

• Serve as the functional and technical SME for Workday Time and Absence , offering expert guidance on configuration, statutory compliance, and best practice.
• Partner with business stakeholders to understand functional needs, refine requirements, and define product outcomes that support business priorities, within guardrails set by the Senior Director, People Services & Reward, and VP HR Digital & Tech.
• Serve as the escalation point for HR Product teams and business users on functional product issues, guiding decisions within agreed financial, risk, and architectural guardrails set by the Director, Workday, Payroll & Time Product Manager and VP, HR Digital & Tech.
• Own and manage the Product backlog (e.g. Jira, ADO etc), ensuring requirements (e.g., epics, features, user stories) are well-defined and supported by minimum data inputs (e.g., cost drivers, user volumes, risk/sensitivity, process impact, dependencies).
• Make prioritisation decisions for the Product backlog based on value, cost, risk, business continuity, and resource capacity, escalating only where strategic trade-offs are required by the Senior Director, People Services & Reward, and VP HR Digital & Tech.
• Lead the Product team's delivery activities, guiding Engineers, Architects, and Testers to ensure solutions are fit-for-purpose, secure, compliant, supportable, and aligned to architectural standards.
• Drive operational readiness by applying a delivery readiness checklist covering support model requirements, training needs, continuity planning, configuration/runbook documentation, release notes, and user onboarding.
• Define and maintain the Product performance dashboard, tracking adoption, cycle time/throughput, stability/defects, UX signals (e.g., CSAT, SUS, completion rates), and support effort; use performance insights to drive continuous improvement.
• Ensure product changes follow required security controls, risk assessments, data handling policies, and regulated change processes, obtaining approvals from relevant SMEs where required.
• Support Solution Architects to assess design options and manage cross-Product dependencies, contract/interface impacts, and sequencing needs to support interoperability and consistent business outcomes.
• Contribute to the improvement of delivery practices within the Product, promoting agile (i.e. SaFe, Scrum etc), iterative, value-driven, and data-led ways of working, including meaningful measurement of benefits and operational impact.
• Lead your team in using approved AI tools to improve productivity and ways of working, role-modelling responsible use and follow GSK's Responsible AI, privacy and security requirements.

Required Skills & Qualifications:

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in a relevant field (e.g., Computer Science, Information Technology, or Engineering), or equivalent experience.
• 15 to 19 years of experience working in product delivery, digital solutions, business systems, or process-led technology roles.
• Hands-on experi