Senior Product and Strategy Lead

Job summary

The Test, Learn and Grow (TLG) team is at the heart of the UK government’s initiative to drive innovation and reform in public service delivery. With the PSR Innovation Fund, our team collaborates with local authorities and government departments across the United Kingdom and with the Devolved Governments to design, test, and grow innovative solutions that enhance public service outcomes. By employing a "Test & Learn" approach, we focus on creating evidence-based improvements while relieving pressures on public services. Our work involves foundational programmes and place-based initiatives to accelerate mission delivery, support preventative measures, and foster a collaborative environment that encourages continuous improvement and innovation in public services.

About the role

As a product and strategy lead, you’ll manage the day to day running of a place-based project with public sector partners in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to prototype solutions to complex policy issues. You’ll lead the team with core responsibilities of stakeholder management, delivery planning, determining the right approaches for the team to take and supporting innovative ways of working to deliver the right outcomes. You’ll help the team work to timelines to deliver what’s been agreed with local partners and stay connected to related work streams across government and the wider public sector.

This role is mapped to the Product Manager role in the Government Digital and Data framework. However, the products / solutions we are developing may not be digital. We’re looking for candidates who are confident navigating complex policy challenges and can identify strategic opportunities to leverage change. This role will require travel within the UK to work closely with local partners.

Job description

Main responsibilities

You’ll lead a multidisciplinary team to design, test and scale ‘products’ or ‘solutions’ to complex policy issues.

We are looking for someone who:

1. is confident applying evidence-based and strategic thinking to develop and grow products that support social impact;
2. will work effectively with stakeholders (in devolved, central and local government, VCS etc) to foster interest in the accelerator and TLG ways of working;
3. will apply agile ways of working to help the team build momentum and deliver the right outcomes.

You will:

• lead a multidisciplinary team with colleagues in the Devolved Administrations, Central and Local government to deliver solutions aligned with the scope agreed with local partners, through test and learn cycles
• define, explain and iterate an evidence-based vision for solutions that are compelling to your team, stakeholders and end-users
• collaborate with team members to create prototypes to test assumptions or approaches
• identify assumptions and risks behind possible approaches and include these in your planning
• lead on delivery planning for you team maintaining a roadmap and strategy, and develop and prioritise a backlog
• make decisions based on evidence and value for money
• use theories of change and evaluation to evidence the project as well as the wider programme goals
• share insight with the wider team to ensure the programme strategy can adapt and have the best chance of success
• work in the open and share often
• lead a team working a higher degree of uncertainty working out the most important research and insight and partnership needed to inform your plans
• create longer term plans that address dependencies and other risks, while also being responsive to change
• have an advanced knowledge of the value other professions can bring to a multidisciplinary team’s work, and ensure successful collaboration
• champion best practice and the latest in product management tools/techniques.

Person specification

Skills and experience

It’s essential that you have experience in:

• Leading multidisciplinary teams
  • • leading a team of experts in user centred design, analysis, policy, delivery, behavioural insights etc to develop and test solutions to complex challenges
    • be the escalation point for your team
    • developing a clear plan and narrative for the work
• Product management and Strategic ownership
  • • navigating complex policy / delivery landscapes to spot opportunities to leverage change
    • successfully developing and releasing products, strategies, or solutions
    • can identify, communicate and work within constraints, and challenge the validity of constraints while ensuring the team can still deliver high quality work
• Agile and lean practices
  • • have proficiency in agile product management techniques, such as: roadmaps; prioritisation; MVP definition; using research, analytics and insight to inform decisions; planning at different horizons
• Stakeholder relationship management
  • • successfully manage a range of stakeholder relationships to successfully deliver products, solutions or strategies that meet user needs and deliver government outcomes
    • can reconcile strong differing opinions using evidence or research
• Evidencing and evaluating
  • • can use data and analytics to spot problems with, and evaluate success of, solutions, product, or strategies
    • can use theories of change and set, monitor and report on measurable objectives

• Inclusivity
  • • support equity and inclusion for our delivery work as well as for our teams and programme
    • incorporate a wide variety of views from underrepresented groups into product and policy work

Senior Product and Strategy Leads would also be expected to demonstrate:

• Agile and lean practices
  • • can create roadmaps and plans that cater for uncertainty, dependencies and risks but still show progress and inspire confidence with leadership
• Product management
  • • have experience of a range of delivery teams, lifecycle phases and products, and an ability to adapt your delivery approach accordingly
• Evidencing and evaluating
  • • can identify the most important assumptions or risks to a successful outcome, and collaboratively devise ways to test them, gather the evidence needed to succeed, and work with others to evaluate solutions with different methods (e.g., RCTs, QEDs, IPEs, qualitative research)
• Strategic ownership
  • • can work influence and challenge senior stakeholders when needed
    • can prioritise and mitigate constraints, and turn them into an advantage and adapt the teams approach depending on the constraints

For all levels, it’s desirable that you have:

• experience of working directly with the devolved nations, local authorities or other place-based providers including the Voluntary Community Sector (VCS).

Additional information:

Cabinet Office policy is that a minimum 60% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace. For some roles, due to their nature and the business need, t