Associate Product Managers

Job summary

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office pursues our national interests and projects the UK’s role in the world. We promote the interests of British citizens, safeguard the UK’s security, defend our values, reduce poverty and tackle global challenges with our international partners. We employ more than 17,000 staff in 179 countries and territories, across our diplomatic and development offices worldwide, which consists of 282 officially designated Posts. Our UK-based staff work in King Charles Street, London, Abercrombie House in East Kilbride and in Milton Keynes.

Job description

The Associate Product Manager is a key role within IDD Products, supporting end-to-end product management activities. The successful candidates will help define, deliver, and improve digital workplace products by supporting lifecycle management, gathering requirements and ensuring solutions meet user and business needs.

Opportunities to achieve professional level qualifications are available in commercial and IT Service management. These include Information Infrastructure Library (ITIL) version 4, Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS), Strategic Decision Making and Leadership Skills.

Roles and responsibilities

The successful candidate will be responsible for:

• Product Lifecycle Management: Supporting the product lifecycle in line with the product roadmap as set out by the Product Owner.
• Continuous Improvement: Identifying and exploiting opportunities for ongoing enhancements that meet the needs and expectations of the wider business.
• Policy Alignment: Ensuring alignment with Live Services policies and processes, escalating to the appropriate Live Services contacts as needed.
• Compliance: Ensuring necessary compliance with relevant internal standards, controls and security.
• Workload & Team Collaboration: Managing workload effectively by ensuring prioritisation of tasks and delivery through multifunctional teams, collaborating to manage and visualise outcomes accordingly.
• Agile Methodologies: Utilising various approaches such as Kanban and Scrum to operate effectively within the team.
• Progress Reporting: Providing timely progress reporting, including opportunities, risks, and issues, through the product lifecycle to the relevant Product Owner to ensure the team is working towards the relevant service standards.
• User Needs Collaboration: Collaborating with service partners, user researchers and engineers to understand user needs, prioritising and defining approaches to understanding user stories.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Working with key stakeholders, mainly the Product Owner, to understand development roadmaps, share best practices and build strong relationships.
• Operational Support: Assisting in managing the day-to-day operations of the Product Team, supporting programme management activities and meeting necessary Live Services processes.

Candidates who secure a role that is considered specialist/technical, may be required to affiliate to the relevant specialist network, if not already a member.

This role may require occasional travel to UK offices. This is estimated to be one trip per month but will be dependent on business needs.

Person specification

You must be a British Citizen at the time of application and, if invited to interview, you will need to bring proof of identity (British Passport/Driving Licence etc.) with you.

This role requires you to attain Developed Vetting (DV) security clearance.

For more information about this process, click here. Attaining DV will require you to have been resident in the UK for five of the last ten years. At least one year of this must have been a consecutive twelve-month period. Serving overseas with HM Forces, in some other official capacity as a representative of His Majesty’s Government or having lived overseas as a result of your parents’ or partner’s Government employment counts as UK residency for the purposes of security clearances.

It is essential in your application that you provide evidence and proven examples in each of the following Essential Criteria, the Behaviours and the Technical question as far as you are able to do so. These responses will be further developed and discussed with those candidates invited for interview.

Essential Criteria

• Experience supporting prioritisation that balances value, effort, and investment to ensure the most impactful work is delivered.
• Ability to contribute to measuring product impact and communicating insights and outcomes clearly to stakeholders.
• Ability to assist in planning, delivering, and iterating on features across the full product lifecycle.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to proactively align teams and stakeholders on priorities, risks, and progress.
• Experience supporting prioritisation decisions using data, user insight, and organisational goals to guide product direction.
• Awareness of how product decisions contribute to wider organisational strategy, with the ability to support shaping direction by understanding priorities, constraints, and long‑term goals within the product area.

Behaviours

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

• Changing and Improving
• Seeing the Big Picture

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Changing and Improving

Technical skills

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

• Agile Working (skill level: awareness)
• User Focus (skill level: working)

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £38,500, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office contributes £11,153 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
• 25 days Annual Leave per annum.
• 9 days Public and Privilege holidays per annum.
• Learning and Development tailored to your role.

See the attached candidate pack.

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, Experience and Technical skills.

This vacancy uses the Success Profiles Framework to assess your Behaviours. We will use the Agile working and User focus skills to assess your Technical skills at Application and Interview stages.

Please see the ‘Hints and Tips’ that are provided for your information about how to prepare Behaviour examples at the Application and/or Interview stage.

Application Stage

You will be required to complete the following as part of the online application:

• A CV detailing your career history (including any relevant qualifications). CVs will be assessed against the Essential Criteria outlined in the Person Specification section below.
• A Personal Statement of 500 words explaining how you consider your skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with specific reference to the Essential Criteria. These responses will be explored further during the interview process for shortlisted candidates.

Your application will be assessed on the following:

Behaviours:

• Changing and Improving

Technical Skills:

• Agile Working (skill level: awareness)
• User Focus (skill level: working)

IMPORTANT: If you are applying under the Disability Confident Scheme and require Reasonable Adjustments in order to complete your application, please ensure Government Recruitment Service (GRS) are aware of this on the date of application and certainly by the closing date.

In the event of a large number of applications, we may conduct an initial sift using your CV. Only candidates who meet the minimum standard in this will have the rest of their application fully assessed.

Interview Stage

If you are successful at the application stage, you will be invited to attend a panel interview at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. This will be held remotely on Microsoft Teams and details will be given to candidates who are successful at the sift stage.

At the start of your interview, you will also be asked a non-assessed warm-up question about your motivation for applying for the role.

Candidates will be required to give a Presentation at the Interview, and the topic will be sent to you in advance. The Presentation will test the following Behaviour:

• Seeing the Big Picture

You will also be assessed on the following Behaviours and Technical skills at Interview:

Behaviours:

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Changing and Improving

Technical Skills:

• Agile Working (skill level: awareness)

Please note that the FCDO carries out name-blind (anonymised) recruitment to help build a more diverse and inclusive workforce. The personal information on your Application form and/or CV will be concealed during the sifting phase, and only the names of those who are being invited for Interviews will be made known to the Panel.

Please see the attached candidate pack for the selection process details.

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 fcdorecruitment.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.

Further Information

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

Any move to FCDO 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

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 reading the Candidate Pack, such as through screen reader software, please contact our Team via fcdorecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk and we will share a Word version of this.

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 or Disclosure Scotland 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.

For further information on the Disclosure Scotland confidential checking service telephone: the Disclosure Scotland Helpline on 0870 609 6006 and ask to speak to the operations manager in confidence, or email Info@disclosurescotland.co.uk

This role is full time only. Applicants who wish to work an alternative pattern are welcome to apply however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this with the vacancy holder before applying.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is developed vetting (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

Open to UK nationals only.

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.

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.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).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 : FCDO Recruitment Team
• Email : fcdorecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : fcdorecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Further information

If you wish to make a complaint you should email HRDirectUK@fco.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the FCDO you can contact the Civil Service Commission.

Attachments

Hints and Tips on Behaviour Examples Opens in new window (pdf, 85kB)2025-11-17 Pre-employment Checking - Document Requirements (V17) Opens in new window (pdf, 231kB)Candidate Pack - 445288 HEO Associate Product Managers Opens in new window (docx, 881kB)Candidate Pack - 445288 HEO Associate Product Managers Opens in new window (pdf, 591kB)