About the job

Job summary

Are you passionate about leveraging digital innovation to revolutionise health and care and drive positive change? DHSC is dedicated to empowering individuals to lead independent, healthier lives for longer. If you thrive in an inclusive, dynamic environment where constant improvement and innovation are valued, we want to hear from you.

At DHSC, we believe in harnessing the power of digital delivery to transform both the Department and the broader health and care system. By delivering improved services, supporting innovative care models, and driving efficiencies, we aim to allocate more time and resources to those who need it most. The Strategy and Data unit's work is critical to achieving the department's high-profile outcomes for adult social care, hospital discharge, and integration. In December 2023, we delivered the department's first data strategy for adult social care – Care Data Matters. This groundbreaking strategy outlined an ambitious long-term vision to revolutionise the data landscape and instil a culture of data-driven decision-making in adult social care.

Job description

As a Senior Product Manager, you'll be at the forefront of delivering our ambitious data and digital strategy for adult social care. You'll lead the scoping, prioritisation, and delivery of key data projects, collaborating closely with policymakers and multidisciplinary agile teams in Social Care Group, the wider department and NHS England to create innovative solutions that meet user needs. Drawing upon your expertise in Product Ownership, user research, and business analysis, you'll drive transformative change within a unique and highly diverse private and public sector environment.

To achieve this, you will:

Have proven experience: Demonstrated experience overseeing the end-to-end delivery of user-focused digital or data products, with a track record of leading effective multidisciplinary agile teams.

Be an influential communicator: Ability to influence stakeholders across the adult social care system, Ministers, Government Digital Service, and other relevant bodies, with strong interpersonal and communication skills.

Be a strategic thinker: Capable of developing and executing compelling product strategies that drive buy-in and momentum for our data strategy.

Have a passion for impact: A commitment to leveraging digital innovation to drive positive outcomes in healthcare and make a tangible difference in people's lives.

Person specification

Project Leadership: Lead the development of data products, including a solution to improve access to data across the adult social care sector, ensuring they align with user needs and best practices such as the Government Service Standard and Tech Code of Practice. This will include jointly working with strategy and policy professionals and reporting on progress to Ministers.

Transformation Support: Provide guidance and support to other transformation projects within the data strategy, elevating the standard of digital delivery across the Department.

Advocacy for User-Centred Design: Communicate the benefits of user-centred design and product thinking to drive the creation of better services and solutions.

Cultural Change: Help define and drive a digital and data-led cultural change within the Group, fostering a mindset of innovation and continuous improvement.

Key skills and experience required for the role

Essential skills and experience 

Product Ownership: Captures and translates user needs into deliverables.

Problem Ownership: Understands and identifies problems, analysing and leading teams to identify the appropriate solution.

Strategic Ownership: Focuses on outcomes, not solutions and can turn the overall vision into tangible goals.

User focus: Understands users and can identify who they are and what their needs are based on evidence.

Digital and data perspective: Understands the range of technology choices available in a digital and data context.

Agile working: Understands and can apply agile methodology and agile mindset to all aspects of their work.

Life cycle Perspective: Understands the different phases of product delivery and is able to contribute to, plan or run these.

Financial ownership: Able to secure funding, develop business cases and be responsible for contracts and benefit realisation.

Operational Management: Able to manage the operational process of designing and running a product or service throughout its entire life-cycle.

Is bold: Develops ambitious visions and strategies. Gets the organisation and team to buy-in. Comfortable working through uncertainty and ambiguity.

Constraint management: Understands the value of policy and regulatory constraints, can challenge them appropriately whilst ensuring key compliance and navigating them to find the best solution for users.

Desirable skills and experience

Experience in delivering data products in particular, such as data platforms, dashboards or other solutions, including those with sensitive data or requirement for data sharing agreements.

Understanding of the adult social care sector and its actors.

Your normal place of work will be your contractual primary workplace, usually either London or Leeds.  Within DHSC we offer non-contractual hybrid working. The expectation at present is a minimum of 60% of your working time spent in the office, enabling in person interaction and collaboration and enhancing team working, learning, and support. 

You will be asked to express a location preference during the application process. Please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas and some travel may be required across the DHSC estate. 

Opportunities for some working from home may be available; other flexible working options may be discussed with the hiring manager in line with individual circumstances and business need. 

There are a limited number of DHSC colleagues who have existing agreed homeworking contracts resulting from Our Future Estate Programme 2023-2024. Colleagues covered by these arrangements are eligible to apply for this role whilst continuing their agreed existing home working arrangement. Occasional travel to DHSC offices or other locations may still be required according to business need. Travel and subsistence will be provided in line with the pre-agreed homeworker arrangements.    

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £53,116, Department of Health and Social Care contributes £14,341 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.

Sift date: W/C 22/04/2024 

Interview date: expected W/C 20/05/2024

Interview location: By video. Further details will be released to candidates who are successful at sift. 

The available interview slots will be released with the sift scores. 

Applications will be sifted on your CV and Statement of Suitability. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Please use your CV to set out your career history, highlighting specific responsibilities and achievements that are relevant for this role. These can be found in the ‘key skills and experience required for the role’ section of the advert. 

Please use your statement of suitability to (in no more than 1000 words) outline how you meet the key skills and experience required for the role as set out in the job advert. 

An initial sift based on your Statement of Suitability may be held if a large number of applications are received. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to assessment/interview.  

At interview candidates will be assessed on Behaviours and Experience. 

Candidates will be asked to give a presentation assessing the candidates experience of product management. Details of the presentation question will be issued to candidates with the release of the sift scores. 

To find out more about working in the department please visit our page on the Civil Service Careers Website here 

Please be aware that some travel may be required across the DHSC estate. 

Please note that applicants will require BPSS clearance.

Further Information

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

Any move to DHSC 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

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

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading. 

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

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment. 

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

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

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 Government Recruitment Service via dhscrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs. 

Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section in the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Existing Civil Servants and applicants from accredited NDPBs are eligible to apply, but will only be considered on loan basis (Civil Servants) or secondment (accredited NDPBs). Prior agreement to be released on a loan basis must be obtained before commencing the application process. In the case of Civil Servants, the terms of the loan will be agreed between the home and host department and the Civil Servant. This includes grade on return.

Terms and Conditions

Candidates should note that DHSC’s Terms and Conditions of employment changed from 1 October 2013. It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure they are aware of the terms and conditions they will adopt should they be successful. 

New Entrants to the Civil Service

New entrants appointed in grades AA to G6 will receive DHSC’s modernised terms and conditions:

• Annual Leave: 25 days on entry rising by one day for each completed year of service to a maximum of 30 days and pro-rata for part-time staff
• Privilege Leave: 1 day - for the King’s birthday
• Hours of Work: 37 hours (net) per week for full time staff in all geographical locations, including London and pro rata for part-time staff
• Occupational Sick Pay (OSP): one month full pay/one month half pay on entry, rising by one month for each completed year of service to a maximum of five months’ full pay and five months’ half pay
• Mobility: Mobility clause in contracts allow staff to be mobile across the Civil Service
• Probation: 6 month probation period

Existing Civil Service staff transferring from another Government department, on either level transfer or promotion

All staff moving to DHSC will transfer onto DHSC’s modernised terms and conditions (as outlined above). 

Existing DHSC staff, appointed on either level transfer or promotion

If DHSC’s modernised terms and conditions are already held, the employee will retain those terms and conditions. If DHSC’s pre-modernised terms and conditions are held, the employee will transfer onto DHSC’s modernised terms and conditions (as outlined above).

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.