Associate Product Manager - Cabinet Office - SEO

Location

Bristol, Glasgow, London, Manchester, York

About the job

Job summary

The Test, Learn and Grow team is at the heart of the UK government’s initiative to drive innovation and reform in public service delivery. 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 piloting 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.

Job description

As an associate product manager, you’ll support the day to day running of an “Accelerator”—a place-based project with public sector partners to prototype solutions to complex policy issues. Our current accelerator portfolio includes work on economic inactivity, SEND, early years, violence against women and girls, neighbourhood health and AI in public service delivery. You’ll support the Product and Strategy lead on core tasks, including stakeholder management, delivery planning and prioritisation, team ways of working, communications, user research etc. 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 central government and the wider public sector.

This role is mapped to the Product Manager role in the Government Digital and Data framework. We’re looking for candidates who are confident tracking delivery, navigating blockers, engaging with a wide range of stakeholders and happy to support the day to day work of the team, which could include tasks such as user research or coordinating workshops. This role will require travel within the UK to work closely with local partners.

Person specification

About the role

As an associate product manager, you’ll support the day to day running of an “Accelerator”—a place-based project with public sector partners to prototype solutions to complex policy issues. Our current accelerator portfolio includes work on economic inactivity, SEND, early years, violence against women and girls, neighbourhood health and AI in public service delivery. You’ll support the Product and Strategy lead on core tasks, including stakeholder management, planning and prioritisation, team ways of working, communications, user research etc. 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 central government and the wider public sector.

This role is mapped to the Product Manager role in the Government Digital and Data framework - however many of the innovations we are testing are not digital. We’re looking for candidates who are confident in agile ways of working, designing and adapting products based on user needs and data, engaging with a wide range of stakeholders and happy to support the day to day work of the team. This role will require travel within the UK to work closely with local partners.

Main responsibilities

Working closely with the Product and Strategy lead on the Accelerator, you will:

• lead on delivery planning for your team maintaining a roadmap and strategy, and develop and prioritise a backlog
• lead a product through different phases of the product life cycle, from discovery, through development, delivery and continuous improvement, to retirement
• define, explain and iterate an evidence-based vision for solutions that are compelling to your team, stakeholders and end-users - and be able to make the case for it
• gather and share metrics of success, and use this to inform decision-making
• build and maintain teams, ensuring they are motivated, collaborating and working well
• focus the team on what is most important to the delivery of products and services, as well as identify obstacles and help the team to overcome them
• Apply agile and lean practices and support the rest of the team to do the same
• Stay current on best practice and the latest in product and delivery management tools/techniques

Skills and experience

It’s essential that you have experience in:

• Agile and lean practices
• Maintaining delivery momentum
• Product management
• Team dynamics and collaboration
• Communicating between the technical and non technical

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, this may be up to 100%. Requirements to attend other locations for official business will also count towards this level of attendance.