Lead Product Manager – ServiceNow

Job summary

We are seeking a highly capable Lead Product Manager – ServiceNow to lead and shape the development and operation of the ServiceNow platform across UKHSA. This is a senior leadership position within the Digital and Data Directorate, responsible not only for the vision and evolution of the ServiceNow product but also for robust stakeholder engagement, supplier governance, and commercial accountability.

As the senior point of ownership, you will translate strategic priorities into actionable delivery plans, manage stakeholder expectations, and own the platform roadmap. You will be responsible for managing vendor relationships, licensing, and procurement activities as well as creating Statements of Work (SOWs) and overseeing contract delivery.

You will champion a user-centred approach to delivery and ensure agile product practices are embedded across multidisciplinary teams. This role sits within the wider Product & Delivery function and reports to the Head of Digital Product Delivery.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Develop and maintain a long-term product vision and roadmap, evolving platform capabilities in line with organisational needs.
• Establish and manage product governance boards, ensuring cross-functional engagement and transparency of decision-making.
• Manage the full agile delivery lifecycle: backlog refinement, sprint planning, releases, and retrospectives.
• Engage with internal departments to identify opportunities to automate and improve workflows using ServiceNow.
• Lead on licensing strategy and optimisation, including audit readiness and compliance with contractual terms.
• Work closely with Commercial and Legal teams to produce Statements of Work, evaluate suppliers, and support procurement exercises.
• Hold third-party suppliers to account for their delivery commitments, managing performance through KPIs and SLAs.
• Collaborate with service owners, business analysts, developers, and technical leads to ensure effective and secure implementations.
• Develop user feedback mechanisms and performance reporting to drive continuous service improvement.
• Support a community of practice for product managers and ensure alignment to GDS product management standards.

Job description

Working for your organisation

We pride ourselves as being an employer of choice, where Everyone Matters promoting equality of opportunity to actively encourage applications from everyone, including groups currently underrepresented in our workforce.

UKHSA ethos is to be an inclusive organisation for all our staff and stakeholders. To create, nurture and sustain an inclusive culture, where differences drive innovative solutions to meet the needs of our workforce and wider communities. We do this through celebrating and protecting differences by removing barriers and promoting equity and equality of opportunity for all.

Please visit our careers site for more information https://gov.uk/ukhsa/careers

Role Purpose

As the Lead Product Manager – ServiceNow, you will be accountable for the strategic direction and operational excellence of the ServiceNow platform. Your role spans product leadership, stakeholder engagement, commercial oversight, and supplier delivery assurance. You will lead the planning and delivery of platform enhancements that underpin critical services across UKHSA.

Core Responsibilities

Your responsibilities will include:

• Develop and maintain a long-term product vision and roadmap, evolving platform capabilities in line with organisational needs.
• Establish and manage product governance boards, ensuring cross-functional engagement and transparency of decision-making.
• Manage the full agile delivery lifecycle: backlog refinement, sprint planning, releases, and retrospectives.
• Engage with internal departments to identify opportunities to automate and improve workflows using ServiceNow.
• Lead on licensing strategy and optimisation, including audit readiness and compliance with contractual terms.
• Work closely with Commercial and Legal teams to produce Statements of Work, evaluate suppliers, and support procurement exercises.
• Hold third-party suppliers to account for their delivery commitments, managing performance through KPIs and SLAs.
• Collaborate with service owners, business analysts, developers, and technical leads to ensure effective and secure implementations.
• Develop user feedback mechanisms and performance reporting to drive continuous service improvement.
• Support a community of practice for product managers and ensure alignment to GDS product management standards.

This is not an exhaustive list.

Working Relationships

This role works closely with:

• Senior leaders across the agency
• Procurement and Commercial teams
• The Digital Governance Board and Architecture Review Board
• Internal and external ServiceNow developers, consultants, and vendors

Additional Clauses

• The postholder will require SC Clearance due to access to potentially sensitive data
• The role aligns with the GDaD Product Management capability framework and GDS service standards
• Travel to UKHSA hubs may be required to support in-person workshops and stakeholder engagement

Person specification

Essential role criteria:

• ServiceNow Certified System Administrator or Implementation Specialist.
• A degree-level qualification (Level 6 or above) in a relevant discipline such as Computer Science, Information Systems, Business Management, or a related field
• Proven experience as a senior product manager with ownership of a platform or enterprise service.
• Extensive knowledge of ServiceNow platform capabilities and lifecycle management.
• Experience managing commercial suppliers including contract negotiation, SOW development, and delivery assurance.
• Strong financial and procurement literacy, including licensing models and budget ownership.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement skills, capable of operating across director-level and technical teams.
• Deep understanding of agile principles, user-centred design, and product delivery methods.
• Proven track record of developing product roadmaps and overseeing successful deployments.
• Experience producing business cases, value assessments, and benefit realisation plans.
• Exceptional communication and leadership skills with the ability to influence at all levels.

Desirable role criteria:

• Experience working within government or regulated environments aligned to GDS or NCSC principles.
• Familiarity with ServiceNow licensing and procurement frameworks (e.g. CCS, G-Cloud).
• Understanding of ITIL practices, especially Incident, Change, and Asset Management.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary teams including developers, UCD specialists, and business analysts.
• Ability to deliver against KPIs and OKRs in a fast-paced operational environment.
• Familiarity with platform governance and service assurance processes.
• Active member of a product community or thought leadership group.
• Experience developing or contributing to business continuity or disaster recovery plans.
• Awareness of upcoming trends in ITSM, low-code/no-code platforms, and digital service delivery.
• Experience implementing or integrating other modules within the ServiceNow ecosystem (e.g. HRSD, SecOps, GRC).

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £70,797, UK Health Security Agency contributes £20,509 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

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 and will assess your behaviours and technical skills.

Stage 1: Application & Sift

You will be required to complete an application form. You will be assessed on the listed essential criteria, and this will be in the form of:

• an application form (‘Employer/ Activity history’ section on the application)
• a 800 word supporting statement

This should outline how your skills, experience, and knowledge, provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the essential criteria.

You will receive a joint score for your application form and statement. (The application form is the kind of information you would put into your C.V –please be advised you will not be able to upload your CV. Please complete the application form in as much detail as possible). Please do not email us your CV.

Healthjobs UK has a word limit of 1500, but your supporting statement must be no more than 800 words. We will not consider any words over 800 words.

Longlisting: In the event of a large number of applications we will longlist into 3 piles of:

• Meets all essential criteria
• Meets some essential criteria
• Meets no essential criteria

Only those meeting all essential criteria will be taken through to shortlisting.

Shortlisting: In the event of a large number of applications we will shortlist on:

• ServiceNow Certified System Administrator or Implementation Specialist.

Desirable criteria may be used in the event of a large number of applications / large amount of successful candidates.

If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to interview and assessment.

Feedback will not be provided at this stage.

Stage 2: Interview (Success Profiles)

You will be invited to a face to face interview in Canary Wharf. In exceptional circumstances, we may be able to offer a remote interview.

Behaviours and technical skills will be tested at interview.

You will be required to prepare a 15 minute presentation as part of the interview. The details of this will be What are the key foundational aspects for any ServiceNow enterprise deployment?

The Behaviours tested during the interview stage will be:

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Managing a Quality Service

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Location

This role is being offered as hybrid working based at any of our Core HQ’s in Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool or London (Canary Wharf).

We offer great flexible working opportunities at UKHSA and operate using a hybrid working model where business needs allow. This provides us with greater flexibility about how and where we work, to get the best from our workforce. As a hybrid worker, you will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of your contractual working hours (approximately 3 days a week pro rata, averaged over a month) in one of our Core HQs.

Our core HQ offices are modern and newly refurbished with excellent city centre transport link and benefit from benefit from co-location with other government departments such as the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC).

Eligibility Criteria

Open to all external applicants (anyone) from outside the Civil Service (including by definition internal applicants).

Security Clearance Level Requirement

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is Security Check clearance.

For meaningful National Security Vetting checks to be carried out individuals need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time. You should normally have been resident in the United Kingdom for the last 5 years as the role requires Security Check (SC) clearance. UK residency less than the outlined periods may not necessarily bar you from gaining national security vetting and applicants should contact the Vacancy Holder / Recruiting Manager listed in the advert for further advice.

Salary information

If you are successful at interview, and are moving from another government department, NHS, or Local Authority, the relevant starting salary principles for level transfers or promotions will apply. Otherwise, roles are offered at the pay scale minimum for the grade, but in exceptional circumstances there may be flexibility if you are able to demonstrate you are already in receipt of an existing, higher salary. Pay increases are through the relevant annual pay award for the role and terms.

Please be aware that the salary is based on the office location:

Grade 6

• £70,797-£81,450 (National)
• £72,950- £83,443 (Outer London)
• £75,104- £85,436 (Inner London)

This role qualifies for an annual Market Pay Supplement of up to £15000 based on a capability assessment. MPS review date: 11 September 2026.

Future location

UKHSA is investing in a new state-of-the-art National Biosecurity Centre in Harlow, Essex, which will eventually bring together teams currently based at Canary Wharf, Colindale and Porton Down. For more details, please see: Huge biosecurity centre investment to boost pandemic protection - GOV.UK.

The new facilities will start becoming operational in the mid-2030s, with full completion by 2038. Staff will move in phases as facilities become available. If you're appointed to a role currently based at Canary Wharf, Colindale or Porton Down, please note that we'll continue investing in these sites for the next decade. As we get closer to the transition, we'll provide full information about relocation support available to staff.

Reasonable Adjustments

The Civil Service is committed to making sure that our selection methods are fair to everyone. To help you during the recruitment process, we will consider any reasonable adjustments that could help you. An adjustment is a change to the recruitment process or an adjustment at work. This is separate to the Disability Confident Scheme. If you need an adjustment to be made at any point during the recruitment process you should contact the recruitment team in confidence as soon as possible to discuss your needs.

You can find out more information about reasonable adjustments across the Civil Service here: https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/reasonable-adjustments/

International Police check

If you have spent more than 6 months abroad over the last 3 years you may need an International Police Check. This would not necessarily have to be in a single block, and it could be time accrued over that period.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

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 for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Link below:

Artificial intelligence and recruitment , Civil Service Careers

Internal Fraud check

If successful for this role as one aspect of pre-employment screening, applicant’s personal details – name, national insurance number and date of birth - will be checked against the Cabinet Office Internal Fraud Hub and anyone included on the database will be refused employment unless they can show exceptional circumstances. Currently this is only for External candidates to the Civil Service.

Careers website

Please visit our careers site for more information https://gov.uk/ukhsa/careers

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 security check (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

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

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 : Jon Payne
• Email : jonathan.payne@ukhsa.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitment@ukhsa.gov.uk

Further information

The law requires that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact UKHSA Public Accountability Unit via email: Complaints@ukhsa.gov.uk If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Visit the Civil Service Commission website: https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk

http://www.healthjobsuk.com/vacancy/7730901