About the job

Job summary

GDS exists to help government make brilliant public services that empower people in the UK. We work at the very centre of government to drive digital transformation, focused on users. We build and maintain common platforms, products and tools for others to use and create great public services that are accessible, inclusive and easy to use. We also work with departments to identify patterns, share learning and create change to make government more efficient.

Our teams are organised around delivering on our priorities. These are:

• making it easier for people to find what they are looking for on GOV.UK
• building common service platforms to make it simpler and cheaper to build quality digital services
• promoting agile, user-centred design practices both in the UK and across the world.

Job description

We are recruiting a Lead Product Manager for the GOV.UK Notify team. GOV.UK Notify is a product that is one of the cornerstones of our common service platform offering.

GOV.UK Notify makes it easy for public sector service teams to send emails, text messages and letters. Organisations that use GOV.UK Notify range from government departments to county councils and NHS trusts. It is used for a huge range of public sector communications, such as inviting people to benefits appointments, inviting patients for vaccinations, sharing updates on passport applications and informing prison wardens of their rotas.

GOV.UK Notify has sent over 8 billion notifications and it’s availability is consistently 99.99%. Estimated annual public sector benefits of using GOV.UK Notify are over £65 million.

We want GOV.UK Notify to continue to be the public sector’s first choice for sending messages. As part of this, we need to grow and iterate the live product, provide new functionality and channels for notifications, and integrate it into a wider platform offering.

As a Lead Product Manager, you’ll:

• own and be responsible for your product, developing and articulating a clear vision and achievable goals, developing and iterating the product strategy and roadmap, and ensuring alignment with wider organisational goals and strategies
• lead and support several multidisciplinary product teams, turning that vision into reality, running, supporting and continuously improving your product to better meet user needs
• set and maintain standards for operational excellence, including security, availability, user support and accessibility
• lead engagement with senior stakeholders, users and partner organisations, including suppliers, by running demos, blogging, speaking at conferences and facilitating workshops
• maintain knowledge of the changing digital and technology landscape and the opportunities they provide to improve the delivery of public services in the UK
• coach and mentor other members of the product community, identifying learning and development opportunities for people and teams
• work with other Lead Product Managers and the Head of Product for Digital Service Platforms to design and deliver the programme’s product offering

Person specification

We’re interested in people who have experience in the following areas: 

• product managing high-volume digital products in a fast-paced environment, leading multidisciplinary, agile teams – from discovery to delivery, and continuous, data-led improvement and iteration of a mature, live product
• ensuring a consistent, high-quality and scalable approach to user and technical operational support
• engaging directly with users, including senior stakeholders and coordinating this engagement across a number of organisations to identify a common set of needs and priorities
• high-level understanding of modern technologies used in delivery of cloud-based software products - and able to explain the purpose and constraints of these technologies to non-technical people
• developing and selling a product strategy to secure funding and support for your products, including building and iterating economic and commercial models for products, that cover costs, benefits and pricing
• working in or with public sector organisations, including cross-organisational working and navigating spend control processes and procurement
• strong communication skills that enable you to engage with people through a range of channels and explain what you are doing and how you are doing it, in clear and compelling ways
• recruiting, coaching and line management of product managers, identifying learning and development opportunities for individuals and teams

Benefits

The benefits of working at GDS

There are many benefits of working at GDS, including:

• flexible hybrid working with flexi-time and the option to work part-time or condensed hours
• a Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
• 25 days of annual leave, increasing by a day each year up to a maximum of 30 days
• an extra day off for The King’s birthday
• an in-year bonus scheme to recognise high performance
• career progression and coaching, including a training budget for personal development
• paid volunteering leave
• a focus on wellbeing with access to an employee assistance programme
• job satisfaction from making government services easier to use and more inclusive for people across the UK
• advances on pay, including for travel season tickets
• death in service benefits
• cycle to work scheme and facilities
• access to children's holiday play schemes across different locations in central London
• access to an employee discounts scheme
• 10 learning days per year
• volunteering opportunities (5 special leave days per year)
• access to a suite of learning activities through Civil Service learning

GDS offers hybrid working for all employees. This means that everyone does some working from home and also spends some time in their local office. From February 2024, GDS staff have worked in their office for at least 40% of the time, and this is expected to continue towards 60% in the new financial year. You’ll agree to your hybrid working arrangement with your line manager in line with your preferences and business needs, and taking reasonable adjustments into account.

Any move to Government Digital Service 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

Things you need to know

Selection process details

The standard selection process for roles at GDS consists of:

• a simple application screening process - We only ask for a CV and cover letter of up to 750 words. Important tip - please ensure that your cover letter includes how you meet the skills and experience listed in the “person specification” section above
• a 90 minute video interview with a 25 minute response to a typical Product Management scenario, to help us understand and ask about your product thinking. The scenario for the interview, and instructions on how to prepare a response, will normally be sent approximately three days in advance. No presentation will be necessary, although candidates may choose to create one. Candidates can also refer to notes.
• DDAT video interview for all candidates who have passed the first stage.

Depending on how many applications we get, there might also be an extra stage before the video interview, for example a phone interview or a technical exercise.

In the Civil Service, we use Success Profiles to evaluate your skills and ability. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, increases performance and improves diversity and inclusivity. We’ll be assessing your technical abilities, skills, experience and behaviours that are relevant to this role.

For this role we’ll be assessing you against the following Civil Service Behaviours:

• Changing and Improving
• Leadership
• Seeing the Bigger Picture

We’ll also be assessing your experience and specialist technical skills against the following skills defined in the Digital, Data and Technology Profession Capability Framework for the Lead Product Manager role:

• Product ownership
• Agile working
• User focus
• Strategic ownership
• Financial ownership
• Life cycle perspective
• Operational management
• Problem management
• Working within constraints
• DDaT perspective

Candidates that do not pass the interview but have demonstrated an acceptable standard may be considered for similar roles at a lower grade.

A reserve list will be held for a period of 12 months, from which further appointments can be made.

Recruitment Timeline

Every effort will be made to keep to the timeline but where this is not possible dates are subject to change

Role closes - 14th May 2024

Sift - Week commencing 20th May 2024

Panel Interview - Week commencing 03rd June 2024

DDAT Assessment - Week commencing 10th June 2024

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability status.

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.