About the job

Job summary

Organisation Summary

Government Digital Service (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 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.

The GOV.UK strategy is focused on growing the reach and impact GOV.UK has for users. You can read more about how we’re .

Job description

We are recruiting for a Lead Product Manager for the GOV.UK App to create a personalised product experience for users. As the Lead Product Manager, you will lead a cross-functional team across the personalisation of the GOV.UK app.

Lead Product Manager - Personalisation

You will lead the development and delivery of the personalisation that powers the GOV.UK app experience, working across GDS, other government departments and third party partners to realise the benefits of government content and services personalised to users' context.

Additionally, as a Lead Product Manager, you will also be joining the Senior Leadership group within the App and Ai directorate as well as the wider leadership group within GOV.UK, representing your area, and ensuring that the delivery aligns with relevant and appropriate delivery across GOV.UK and GDS

As a Lead Product Manager, you will:

• work with the Product Director to design and deliver the programme’s product offering
• 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
• 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

Person specification

For this role we are interested in people who have demonstrable experience in the following areas: 

• experience of delivering personalised App experiences  
• demonstrable experience of working in an environment where teams are personalising content, goods or experiences to a user. 
• product managing high-volume public-facing app products in a fast-paced environment
• deep understanding of data, data protection and regulatory frameworks of personalised experiences.
• delivery of products in a complex environment, on time and meeting / exceeding customer expectations
• leading multidisciplinary, agile teams – from rapid 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

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. You’ll agree to your hybrid working arrangement with your line manager in line with your preferences and business needs.

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 for you to answer 2 application questions. Please note, if your CV length exceeds that of 2 pages on a word document, we will not review your application.
• a 75 minute in person or hybrid interview including 10 minute verbal presentation.

Whilst we value the use of AI technology to enhance our daily work, we also value the personal touch and urge applicants to write responses without the use of AI to emphasise their own unique experiences.

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 event we receive a high number of applications, we will conduct an initial sift on the lead criteria which is:

• Please describe a time where you have been a Lead Product Manager for a public-facing product.

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:

• making effective decisions
• leadership
• communicating and influencing
• managing a quality service
• delivering at pace

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:

• agile working
• financial ownership
• government Digital and Data perspective
• lifecycle perspective
• operational management
• problem management
• product ownership
• strategic ownership
• user focus
• working within constraints

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.

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service D&I Strategy.

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.