About the job

Job summary

You will inspire and lead the Product & Services team to deliver world-leading navigational products and services that delivers value for customers and underpins safe global marine navigation.  You will own our Product and Services offer and work with colleagues across the organisation to deliver world-leading service offering to our Partners and Channel leading the necessary change to achieve UKHO’s Customer Vision.

About the UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO)

UKHO is an executive agency, sponsored by the Ministry of Defence. We work with a wide range of data partners to chart the world's oceans in order to develop and serve world leading software and data solutions to commercial shipping companies, navies and maritime organisations. Our products (found on over 90% of ships trading internationally) ensure safe navigation and global trade efficiency and support other marine activities including economic development, environmental protection, resource exploration and utilisation, scientific research and security and defence.

 

Hybrid Working

Hybrid working is offered in line with UKHO operational requirements, 60% of time is expected to be spent in our Head Office in Taunton. 

[Please note our Policy on informal hybrid working (arrangements available as agreed with the line manager) does not extend to working overseas].  

Job description

As our Head of Product & Services you will: 

• Lead the development of, & ensure the successful delivery of, a sustainable and profitable subscription service offering and a 3rd party navigational streaming portal offering that will add significant and tangible value to mariners globally and underpin the financial security of the UKHO into the future.
• Deliver the revenue and production targets for paper charts, publications and GBENCs and all associated products to the subscription and portal service. Optimise the production teams to achieve delivery timeliness, balancing the utilisation of in-house capacity with 3rd party support.
• Working with colleagues in Marketing, Customer Success and commercial partnerships, you will create a compelling value proposition for customers and drive adoption of new products and services.
• You will own the revenue and margin targets
• To optimise the cost of production for products while maintaining appropriate quality measures including owning and maintaining the high-level roadmap across the Product portfolio. Be responsible for Product life-cycle across the portfolio managing on an Invest:Hold:Exit basis and ensuring the Product-level Business Case meets requirements, reflects Customer needs and informs decision-making.
• Lead on ensuring that the whole UKHO organisation understands and buys-in to the Customer strategy and that we ensure maximum benefits for both Mariners and secures the UKHO’s future viability
• Manage and control costs to meet revenue targets.
• Represent the UKHO, as required, at the SONAC providing assurance to the committee with respect to UKHO SOLAS products and service

Person specification

As our Head of Product & Services you will have: 

• A proven track record in senior leadership in a customer influencing role
• Extensive experiencing of managing product & services teams
• Strong strategic and customer focus with a clear understanding of the wider issues impacting the maritime industry
• Ability to overcome resistance to change and to achieve widespread cultural change and continuous improvement across the UKHO
• Create and implement new services that will affect and influence a global market
• Accountable for the UKHO revenue and for delivering the revenue goals from the new products and services detailed in the Customer Strategy
• Significantly influence UKHO global strategy and policy
• Ability to identify and analyse the implications of future requirements in a rapidly changing business
• Management of key business dependencies to ensure timely and quality delivery of milestones and results
• Obtaining visibility of reliable metrics to support viable options for change and re-prioritisation
• Ability to influence and lead on a culture of pragmatic and timely decision making to drive the change initiatives with pace and purpose
• Ability to manage and prioritise against multiple stakeholders with finite resource
• Excellent communication and negotiation skills.
• Able to adapt and succeed in a changing environment
• Evidence of well-developed leadership skills.

Qualifications:

• Ideally a Bachelors Degree or equivalent gained in a product leadership role
• Proven experience in developing new products an services and bringing them successfully to market
• The ability to manage risk
• Good understanding of product and service management methodologies and how to manage successful teams in this environment
• Personality/ skill to motivate and develop staff to achieve high performance, and to liaise successfully with managers across the organisation
• Communicating clearly long and short term objectives to the UKHO Org and the plans to achieve them
• Analytical and problem-solving skills
• Diplomacy
• Judgement of implications of actions and decisions across whole UKHO and wider maritime landscape

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £71,339, UK Hydrographic Office contributes £19,261 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

How to Apply:  

When you click "Apply Now" you will be asked to attach your anonymised CV and complete a personal statement of up to 1000 words. Please see the criteria set out below.

Timeline:  

• Advert Closes for applications: 17/01/2023
• Shortlisting: week commencing:   22nd January 2024
• Interviews: week commencing:  29th January 2024

We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates change. You will be provided with sufficient notice of the confirmed dates. 

Sift/Shortlist Criteria:  

All applications are processed anonymously. Should we receive a high volume of applications, an initial sift will be completed against the Lead Criteria below. You will be short-listed against the following criteria: 

• Lead Criteria - CV attachment: A Bachelors Degree or equivalent gained in customer leadership experience
  
  
• 1000 word Personal statement criteria: How you meet the points in the above Person Specification 

Interview Criteria:  

You will You will be interviewed against the following criteria: 

Civil Service Behaviours (Level 4): 

• Leadership
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Changing and Improving

Experience: 

• How you meet the points in the above Person Specification - we may assess some of these points through a presentation.

See here for further information: Success Profiles - Civil Service Behaviours (publishing.service.gov.uk)  

Interview Process:   

• Single Stage Interview via TEAMS. You will be contacted to book a suitable slot if you are shortlisted (see our Candidate Pack for further information) 
• Interview will be with a panel of no more than 2 people and will last approx. 60 mins 

Onboarding Checks:  

In the event you are offered a role with us, you will be required to go through Basic Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks which will include Employment and Right to Work Checks.  Please see our attached Candidate Pack for further details and Terms. 

Please note, we are unable to offer visa sponsorship.

Residency Requirements:

BPSS – non reserved: This is a Ministry of Defence non-reserved post and is open to UK, British Commonwealth, and European Economic Area nationals. Successful applicants will be required to pass the Basic Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) and will therefore need to provide evidence if they have resided outside of the UK for a period of 6 months or longer within the last 3 years. This is not a bar to employment, but a successful applicant will be required to provide sufficient evidence to allow the UKHO to conduct meaningful background checks. Please contact the recruitment team on the email address below if you have any concerns regarding this. 

Eligibility 

Due to the secure nature of our work, there may be eligibility restrictions if you hold dual nationality or are not a British Citizen. We will consider each application on a case-by-case basis. We will ask you in our application form to confirm your place of birth and details of any dual or previous nationalities. 

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.