Senior Product Manager

Job summary

From healthcare to artificial intelligence, energy to national security, we provide legal advice to government departments on nation-changing subjects.

At Government Legal Department we have a vital, single-minded purpose: to help the Government govern well within the rule of law. This is complemented by our exciting vision to be an outstanding legal organisation, committed to the highest standards of service and professionalism and a brilliant place to work where we can all thrive and fulfill our potential.

Our work touches almost every aspect of public life. We are the largest provider of legal services across government, working on high profile matters.

Our respected professionals are involved in everything from regulation and litigation to advice on drafting legislation. They provide expertise to the full range of government departments. We are at the heart of delivering the government’s priorities and our success depends on our people.

GLD is a non-ministerial government department headed by the Treasury Solicitor, our Permanent Secretary, and employs nearly 3000 people, including over 2600 legal professionals. We have offices nationwide, in Bristol, Leeds, inner and outer London and Manchester. Our lawyers can also be located within other departments and overseas.

GLD also depends on a range of cross-government professionals to provide our corporate services. These play an essential part in helping GLD to achieve its purpose and truly deliver much more than law.

This is an exciting time to join GLD, with cutting edge legal work on global issues and a transformation agenda which is ensuring the Department exemplifies the Modern Civil Service.

To find out more about what we do you can view our introductory film here and visit the GLD’s microsite. You can also read more about the future vision for GLD in our GLD Strategy 2024 – 2027.

Job description

The Digital, Data and Cyber Team is transforming the way GLD works through modern technology, data and digital services.

We are building a modern digital workplace that empowers our people, strengthens collaboration and enables the organisation to operate efficiently, securely and sustainably.

Through agile delivery and user-centred approaches, we design and deliver products and services in partnership with the people who use them, ensuring solutions meet real needs and deliver lasting value.

As part of the wider Government Digital and Data profession, we play a key role in transforming how government operates, enabling better outcomes for colleagues, stakeholders and the public we serve.

The Role

We are looking for a Senior Product Manager to join the Digital and Data team at the Government Legal Department. You will be an experienced practitioner who will play a key role in delivering digital products and services at all stages of the product lifecycle.

This role sits in Digital and Data’s Product team, which is responsible for the maintenance and continuous improvement and development of GLD’s existing digital services, and the development of new digital products and services to support GLD staff working across government and our clients.
Your main day –to-day responsibilities will include:

• Leading on the development and building of the product portfolio (Microsoft365, ServiceNow, Clio, Salesforce and Workday) – delivered through off the shelf-products as well as in-house built solutions. This includes the product vision, roadmaps, release plans and strategy for product delivery and maintenance from inception through to retirement.
• Representing users and focusing on their needs throughout the delivery process. Using product or service usage data and user insights, to inform evidence/data driven design
• Managing your products through their lifecycle (e.g. discovery, alpha, beta, live) including through GLD’s internal governance and GDS service assessments
• Supporting and coaching others to grow our capabilities, providing guidance and support throughout the product life cycle
• Creating and maintaining a product backlog which balances immediate user needs with the long-term investment in development and overall business benefits. Leading the backlog prioritisation process for the work that needs to be done by the development team
• Acting as the main point of contact for stakeholder groups, ensuring that they are updated and engaged about the development of the product(s)
• Ensuring products are designed to standards, including the Government Digital Service (GDS) Standard, Technology Code of Practice and accessibility legislation, providing final sign off on any completed functional development prior to deployment to a production environment
• Line managing and supporting more junior product managers

Person specification

Behaviours

Below are details of the Success Profiles that make up this role. Demonstrating all the behaviours listed below is essential at either application or interview. You can read more about Success Profile here.

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Seeing the Big Picture

Key Skills and Experience

Essential – must be demonstrated at application and/or interview

We are interested in people who have experience in:

• Leading the development of complex related products as part of a service across government
• Interpersonal skills with the ability to understand, empathise with, negotiate and influence individuals and groups
• User focus with experience of applying insight and user feedback to evidence user needs
• Experience of working within constraints. You can anticipate how constraints might change and know when to challenge or remove them
• Experience working with operational teams to deliver digital change to support operational efficiency
• Ability to work to the government Government Digital Service (GDS) Standard
• Line managing, coaching and supporting more junior product managers
• Providing insightful management information to help inform planning and delivery

Qualifications – Minimum Eligibility Criteria

Desirable - Desirable criteria will be used when there is a need to distinguish between candidates who are closely tied or the same after the initial consideration of essential criteria, at sift and interview.

• An industry standard qualification such as SAFe Product Management Certification or BCS Practitioner (or equivalent) Certificate in Digital Product Management.

Technical Professional Skills

We’ll be assessing your experience and specialist technical skills against the following skills defined in the