Associate Product Manager (1 role available) Justice Data, Ministry of Justice (Ref: 17269)

Job summary

This position is based at Nationally

Job description

Associate Product Manager

Location: National

Interviews: Interview likely to take place w/c 15th June 2026 (dates are subject to change)

Grade: SEO

(MoJ candidates who are on a specialist grade, will be able to retain this grade on lateral transfer)

Salary: The national salary range is £42,914 - £46,182 London salary range is £49,325- £53,081 Your salary will be dependent on your base location

Working pattern: Full-Time, Flexible Working

Contract Type: Permanent

*We offer a hybrid working model, allowing for a balance between remote work and time spent in your local office. Office locations can be found ON THIS MAP

The Role

We’re recruiting for an Associate Product Manager here at the Ministry of Justice, to be part of our warm and collaborative Criminal Justice System (CJS) Spine team.

This role aligns against the Associate Product Manager role from the Government Digital and Data Framework.

We're a small, ambitious team working at the heart of one of the most complex systems in government. We are dedicated to enhancing the Criminal Justice System by connecting systems, unifying fragmented data, and improving services so that they work more effectively for the people who depend on them.

As an Associate Product Manager, you will work as part of a multidisciplinary product team alongside engineers, designers, user researchers and policy experts. You will play a key role in uncovering and shaping the problems that matter most, working closely with frontline staff and the public to understand their experiences. You will turn those insights into clear product ideas and test solutions that improve how the CJS works in practice.

This is a role for someone who is curious, and who enjoys learning and problem solving. You might come from a digital background, or from another field where you have helped improve systems, services or processes. However, what matters most is your ability to think clearly about problems, work collaboratively with others and turn ideas into practical improvements.

You will help the team prioritise what to build, run pilots to test whether ideas work and support the delivery of products that operate across organisational and technical boundaries. Along the way, you will develop core product management skills in discovery, experimentation, delivery and measurement.

About the CJS Spine

Across the Criminal Justice System (CJS), organisations such as the police, courts, prisons, probation and victim services each hold important information that supports how justice is delivered. As the system continues to modernise, there is a growing opportunity to connect these services more effectively so information can move seamlessly between organisations.

The CJS Spine will provide a new set of shared digital, data and technology capabilities to support this ambition.

It will help the justice system reliably recognise the same individual across organisations, supported by a Justice ID, allow systems to exchange information securely and quickly and strengthen the quality and consistency of data as it moves through the system. These foundations will support better decisions, reduce administrative burden, and enable the development of modern digital services across the CJS.

For the people working in the system, this means spending less time navigating multiple systems and more time focusing on the work that really matters. For the public, it means clearer, more joined‑up services and a more transparent experience as they move through the CJS.

This is a rare opportunity to work on genuinely cross‑system products that sit at the intersection of policy, operations, digital, data and technology. The work you do will help shape how information flows through the CJS for years to come.

Key Responsibilities

As an Associate Product Manager, you will:

• Spend time with frontline staff and stakeholders across the CJS to understand how services work in practice and define clear problems to solve.
• Turn problems into testable hypotheses and product bets, working with engineers and designers to test and deliver improvements.
• Prioritise work based on user needs, evidence and impact, contributing to the product roadmap and backlog.
• Measure success using data and feedback, iterating the product to improve outcomes.
• Collaborate with policy, digital and operational teams to manage dependencies and unblock delivery.
• Take ownership of work, contributing to a collaborative, learning-focused team culture while developing product management skills.

If this feels like an exciting challenge, something you are enthusiastic about and want to join our team, please read on and apply!

Benefits

• 37 hours per week and flexible working options including working from home, working part-time, job sharing, or working compressed hours.
• A £1k per person learning budget is in place to support all our people, with access to best in class conferences and seminars, accreditation with professional bodies, fully funded vocational programmes and e-learning platforms
• Staff have 10% time to dedicate to develop & grow
• Generous civil service pension based on defined benefit scheme, with employer contributions of 28.97% from April 1st 2024 (Contribution Rates)
• 25 days leave (plus bank holidays) and 1 privilege day usually taken around the Kings’ birthday. 5 additional days of leave once you have reached 5 years of service.
• Compassionate maternity, adoption, and shared parental leave policies, with up to 26 weeks leave at full pay, 13 weeks with partial pay, and 13 weeks further leave. And maternity support/paternity leave at full pay for 2 weeks, too!
• Wellbeing support including access to the Calm app.
• Bike loans up to £2500 and secure bike parking (subject to availability and location)
• Season ticket loans, childcare vouchers and eye-care vouchers.
• 5 days volunteering paid leave.
• Free membership to BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT.
• Some offices may have a subsidised onsite Gym.

Person Specification

Essential

We are looking for someone who demonstrates the following:

• Product mindset: You can solve real user problems and prioritise work based on impact, outcomes and evidence rather than simply delivering outputs. This aligns to Product Management (Working) in the GDD framework.
• Drive and adaptability: You can work in ambiguity, learn quickly and take ownership in a fast-moving team environment. This aligns to Agile & Lean Practices (Working) in the GDD framework.
• Curiosity and problem solving: You naturally ask questions, explore complex problems and instinctively dig beneath surface problems to understand root causes. This aligns to User‑Centred Insights (Working) in the GDD framework.
• Hypothesis-led thinking: You can form ideas, test them using evidence and adapt your approach as you learn more. This aligns to Product Management Methods (Working) in the GDD framework.
• Collaborative working: You can work across disciplines and organisations, challenging assumptions and established ways of working when there’s evidence they could be improved. This aligns to Stakeholder Relationship Management (Working) in the GDD framework.
• Technical and data awareness: You are comfortable engaging with digital and data concepts, and have experience/ knowledge in how technology, data and AI can be used to improve services. This aligns to Technical & Data Awareness (Awareness) in the GDD framework.

Willingness to be assessed against the requirements for BPSS clearance

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.

How to Apply

You must submit a CV (maximum 2 pages) and a Statement of Suitability (maximum 750 words) that demonstrates how you meet the following person specification & experience.

We are recruiting using a combination of the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability and Success Profiles Frameworks. We will assess your Experience, Behaviours & Strengths during the assessment process:

• Working Together
• Making Effective Decisions

A diverse panel will review your application against the Person Specification above.

Successful candidates who meet the required standard will then be invited to a 1-hour panel interview held via video conference.

Should we receive a high volume of applications, a pre-sift based on Product mindset & Drive and adaptability will be conducted before the sift.

Should you be unsuccessful in the role that you have applied for but demonstrate the capability for a role at a lower level, we reserve the right to discuss this opportunity with you and offer you the position without needing a further application.

A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months, from which further appointments may be made.

Terms & Conditions

Please review our Terms & Conditions which set out how we recruit and provide further information related to the role and salary arrangements.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact datarecruitment@justice.gov.uk

Person specification

Please refer to Job Description

Behaviours

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

• Working Together
• Making Effective Decisions

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £42,914, Ministry of Justice contributes £12,432 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Access to learning and development
• A working environment that supports a range of flexible working options to enhance your work life balance
• A working culture which encourages inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
• Annual Leave
• Public Holidays
• Season Ticket Advance

For more information about the recruitment process, benefits and allowances and answers to general queries, please click the below link which will direct you to our Candidate Information Page.

Link: https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

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.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : SSCL Recruitment Enquiries Team
• Email : moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk
• Telephone : 0345 241 5359

Recruitment team

• Email : moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. If you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles and would like to raise this, please contact SSCL (Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com) in the first instance. If the role has been advertised externally (outside of the Civil Service) and you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/civil-service-recruitm…

https://jobs.justice.gov.uk/careers/JobDetail/17269?entityId=17269