About the job

Job summary

Let us tell you a little bit about the role… 

As a Lead Product Manager you’ll champion the delivery and continuous improvement of platforms or suites of products. You’ll define, own and solve complex problems, working with the Product Managers from each workstream. You’ll work with stakeholders and service owners to understand and validate business value. You’ll also understand user needs and risks through the research work of your teams, and communicate them appropriately. You’ll lead your whole team to develop a shared product strategy and roadmap – choosing how to discover, prototype and implement solutions that are viable and sustainable.  

You’ll have the support of the Head of Product and the Chief Product and Delivery Officer, to help shape your product strategy, and to develop your craft. You’ll manage and develop more junior PMs. As well as working with our in-house teams, you’ll be part of procuring teams to work on projects. You’ll lead on communicating your work to ministers and senior Civil Service leadership. 

The successful applicant will be part of the Product and Delivery Leadership team in DDaT. The role includes leading agile teams as well as supporting and facilitating engagement with wider DBT. There is a significant component of working with Service Owners to understand the future needs of the organisation, then supporting teams to validate and deliver against this.  

This role is available in seven UK locations and can only be worked from within the UK, not overseas. Most DBT employees will be working a hybrid pattern, spending 2-3 days a week (pro rata) in the office on average. Changes to these working arrangements are available in certain circumstances but must be agreed with the vacancy manager and in line with the requirements of the role and can only be discussed with successful candidates. Travel to your primary office location will not be paid for by DBT, but costs for travel to an office which is not your main location will be covered. 

Find out about life at DBT, our benefits and meet the team by watching our recruitment video, visiting our website or reading our blog! 

Job description

Responsibilities     

You will be an experienced Product Manager. As the Lead Product Manager for the Data portfolio, you will: 

• work closely with the Head of Product to provide leadership and direction to all products in DBT’s Data portfolio; 
• develop the high-level roadmap for Data products, balancing business requirements, user needs, and the technical art of the possible to make strategic choices and trade-offs. You will partner with Service Owners and Heads of Profession across Data to ensure the products deliver as part of an end-to-end service, in line with departmental priorities; 
• be involved in a range of programme management activities in support of the Service Owner or Programme Lead; and 
• be involved in hiring, line managing and coaching associate product managers, product managers, senior product managers and contractors. 

Person specification

Essential Skills and Experience    

You will need to have demonstrable skills and experience of: 

• Life cycle perspective. You can successfully lead teams through the full product life cycle. You can identify which tools and techniques should be used at each stage. You can coach others. You can contribute to the assessment of other teams, providing guidance and support as they move through stages of the product life cycle.  
• Operational management. You keep abreast of industry best practice and can cascade ways of working. You know how to make operations efficient. You can act as the escalation point for major operational issues and champion operational management across the community. 
• Problem management. You can anticipate problems and defend against them at the right time. You can understand how the problem fits into the larger picture. You can articulate the problem and help others to do it. You can build problem-solving capabilities in others. 
• Strategic ownership. You can develop a long-term vision and objectives. You can take a discerning and disciplined approach to focusing on what is important and most relevant. You can develop the capability of others.  
• User focus. You can give direction on which tools or methods to use. You can demonstrate experience in meeting the needs of users across a variety of channels. You can bring insight and expertise in how user needs have changed over time to ensure they’re met by the business. You can apply strategic thinking to provide the best service for the end user.  
• Working within constraints. You can influence, challenge and coach. You can anticipate how constraints might change and know where to challenge or remove constraints. 

Desirable Skills and Experience   

These are not necessary but would be ideal if you: 

• have experience building professional communities and communities of practice; and 
• have experience assessing services developed against external standards. 

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £62,555, Department for Business and Trade contributes £10,634 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

Interviews for this vacancy will be conducted virtually. We will, however, consider in-person interviews by exception.

Please ensure that you check your emails regularly as all updates from us will be sent to you this way.

How to Apply   

Unless otherwise specified, all interviews are currently being held online. Please ensure that you check your emails regularly as all updates from us will be sent to you this way. 

Sift will take place week commencing: 8th January 2024 

Interviews will take place week commencing: 15 January 2024 

Please notes these dates are indicative and may be subject to change. 

As part of the application process you will be asked to upload a CV and complete a personal statement outlining your experience, skills and fit for the role. 

At the sift stage for this role, we will assess your CV and personal statement against the essential skills and experience listed above, so please ensure these documents evidence these criteria. Your personal statement must be a maximum of 750 words. You can use bullet points and subheadings if you prefer. As well as evidencing the criteria you should also touch upon why you're interested in DBT and in this role.   

If we receive a high volume of applications, we will conduct a ‘short sift’ and read one element of your application. For this campaign a short sift would be conducted based on your demonstration of the essential criteria; Strategic ownership.  

How We Interview  

At the interview stage for this role, you will be asked to demonstrate relevant Technical Skills and Behaviours from the Success Profiles framework. A role-specific list of these can be found below.  

There will be a technical element within the interview where you will be asked questions about your specific professional skills and knowledge relating directly to the job role. 

We will assess you against these Technical Skills during this process: 

• Life cycle perspective 
• Operational management 
• Problem management 
• Strategic ownership 
• User focus 
• Working within constraints 

Detailed explanations of each Technical Skill can be found on the DDaT Framework.  

We will also assess you against the following Behaviours: 

• Leadership 
• Communicating and Influencing 
• Delivering at Pace 
• Making Effective Decisions 

Reserve List  

Appointments may be made to candidates in merit order based on location preferences. Candidates who pass the bar at interview but are not the highest scoring will be held on a 12-month reserve list for future appointments. Candidates who are judged to be a near miss at interview may be offered a post at the grade below the one advertised.   

Further Information  

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

The Department for Business and Trade embraces and values diversity in all forms. We welcome and pride ourselves on the positive impact diversity has on the work we do, and we promote equality of opportunity throughout the organisation. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. Click through to apply and find out more.    

Harmonised terms and conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.

Please note – the successful candidate will be expected to remain in post for a minimum of 18 months before being released for another role.

Any move to the Department for Business and Trade from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Reasonable adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should contact the DDaT Recruitment team before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Our recruitment process is underpinned by appointment on the basis of fair and open competition and appointment on merit, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles. The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with these principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should in the first instance contact DBT by email: ddat.recruitment@businessandtrade.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can contact the Civil Service Commission, which regulates all Civil Service recruitment. Click here to download a PDF about the Civil Service Commission/Complaints.    

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

For further information and to apply please click the link to direct you to the advertisers website.

Security Clearance Details   

All security clearances require you to provide evidence of your UK footprint where you have been physically present in the UK. 

The requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for at least 3 of the last 5 years. 

Failure to meet the residency requirements will result in your security clearance application being rejected. 

If you require SC clearance you will need to provide evidence of the below requirements. 

Checks will be made against: 

• Departmental or company records (personnel files, staff reports, sick leave reports and security records). 
• UK criminal records covering both spent and unspent criminal records. 
• Your credit and financial history with a credit reference agency. 
• Security Services record. 
• Location Details 

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). 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.