Product Owner

MI5 - The Security Service

London, UK

On-Site

Expires: Expiring in less than 4 weeks

Flexible

£44,190 per year

Job summary

Flexible working: We offer full-time, part-time, compressed, and flexible working patterns. However, due to the nature of the role, home or remote working is not available.

About us

MI5 keeps the country safe from serious threats such as terrorism and attempts by states to harm the UK, its people, and way of life. We carry out investigations by obtaining, analysing, and assessing intelligence, and then work with a range of partners including MI6 and GCHQ, to disrupt these threats. Through our protective security arm, we provide advice and guidance to government, businesses and other organisations on how to keep themselves safe. A role at MI5 means you'll do unique and challenging work in a supportive and encouraging environment making a real difference to UK national security.

Job description

The role

As a Product Owner at MI5, you’ll play a pivotal role in shaping products that identify, assess, and manage the threats facing our mission. This is an opportunity to apply your skills in a fast-moving, high-impact environment where you’ll solve problems, embrace change, and bring clarity to complex challenges as you help deliver products that support our mission.

We’ve been embedding a product delivery methodology for several years as part of a wider digital transformation programme. This approach is now central to how we work, helping us get the most out of tools and technology to deliver value across departments. As part of this transformation, you’ll influence how teams adopt product-led delivery and help stakeholders understand its benefits.

Upon joining, you’ll work at the heart of Agile product development, serving as the primary link between business stakeholders and development teams. From defining and prioritising product needs to translating vision into actionable user stories, you’ll champion your product’s success by balancing user needs, technical feasibility, and business goals.

Your work will be varied and collaborative. Expect a mix of independent tasks, teamwork within a product squad, and engagement with stakeholders across the organisation (and occasionally external partners). You’ll actively participate in Agile events, gather feedback, and make informed decisions to guide the product toward successful outcomes. Above all, you’ll keep the customer at the forefront of learning and experimenting in an inclusive, supportive environment that drives continuous improvement.

Person specification

About you

Adaptability, motivation, and a collaborative spirit are essential for this role. With experience in Product Ownership or a related role, you’ll be confident working in an Agile environment and passionate about shaping products that deliver real value. Whether your background is in business analysis, design, research, or engineering, you’ll understand how to translate vision into actionable steps with a customer-centred approach.

Defining and breaking down work for delivery, managing multiple workloads, and representing user needs throughout development are part of your expertise. Sound communication and stakeholder management skills are essential to influence a range of stakeholders and navigate priorities with clarity and tact.
Comfortable challenging existing ways of working, you’ll support continuous improvement and help redesign processes where needed.

Curious and resilient, you’ll thrive in ambiguity and enjoy experimenting to find solutions.
An understanding of product management and agile software development is key, and experience applying design, technology, and data principles will help you succeed.

Benefits

Training and development

From day one, you’ll receive a structured induction introducing your team, your role, and the wider organisation. You’ll take part in a familiarisation period to understand how product management shapes our mission and delivers impact.

We offer tailored training, coaching, mentoring, and hackathons, with 10% of your time dedicated to self-development. Whether you’re refining backlog management or exploring new ways to embed design, technology, and data principles, you’ll have the freedom to shape your own development journey.

We’ll support you in pursuing professional qualifications and specialist pathways, guided by the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework. Local induction sessions and mentoring opportunities ensure you’re never on your own: guidance, resources, and encouragement are always available to help you thrive in a role that’s as rewarding as it is impactful.

Rewards and benefits

You’ll receive a starting salary of £44,190, plus other benefits, including:

25 days’ annual leave automatically rising to 30 days after 5 years' service, and an additional 10.5 days’ of public and privilege holidays
opportunities to be recognised through our employee performance scheme
personal learning budget
interest-free season ticket loan
excellent pension scheme
cycle to work scheme
facilities such as a gym, restaurant, and on-site coffee bars (at some locations)
paid parental and adoption leave

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

Equal opportunities

At MI5, diversity and inclusion are critical to our mission. To protect the UK, we need a truly diverse workforce that reflects the society we serve. This includes diversity in every sense of the word: people with different backgrounds, ages, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, ways of thinking and those with disabilities or neurodivergent conditions. We therefore welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including those from groups that are under-represented in our workforce, such as women, people from ethnic minority backgrounds, individuals with disabilities and those from low socio-economic backgrounds.

Find out more about our culture, working environment, and diversity on our website.

We’re Disability Confident

MI5 is proud to have achieved Leader status within the Department for Work and Pensions’ Disability Confident scheme (DWP). This is aimed at encouraging employers to think differently about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, retain, and develop disabled people. As a Disability Confident Leader, we aim to ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants who best meet the essential minimum criteria for this position, will be offered an interview, if it is practical for us to do so. (This is known as the offer of an Interview). To secure an interview for this role, the minimum criteria (in order of application process) are.

able to demonstrate the ability to work on managing a complex product(s)
able to demonstrate a strong grasp of Product Management principles

There is a wide range of extra support available throughout the recruitment process to enable you to do your best, see our website for information on reasonable adjustments we can offer.

What to expect

Our recruitment process is fair, transparent, and based on merit. Here is a brief overview of each stage, in order:

1. Application sift, looking at your motivation and skills for the role and the organisation
2. If successful, you will be invited to a combined HR and technical interview
3. If successful, you will receive a conditional offer of employment and then proceed to the vetting stage

Please note: You must successfully pass each stage of the process to progress to the next. Your application may take around 6 to 9 months to process, including vetting, so we advise you to continue any current employment until you have received your final job offer.

Before you apply

To work at MI5, you must be a British citizen or hold dual British nationality. You can read our full eligibility criteria on our website.

This role requires the highest-level security clearance, known as Developed Vetting (DV). It’s a process undertaken by everyone in the UK Intelligence Community. You can find out more about the vetting process on our website.

Please note: We have a strict drugs policy. Once you start your application, you can’t take any recreational drugs, and you’ll need to declare any previous drug usage at the relevant stage.

Before you apply, we advise you to consider setting up a separate email address for your contact with us, to ensure your personal and application correspondence remain separate. Try to avoid having identifying features in your email address, such as your first and/or surname and date of birth. This is good practice and will help you to manage your application with us more securely.

The role is based in London, so you’ll need to live within a commutable distance. Please consider any financial implications and practicalities before submitting an application. A relocation loan is available to support people moving to London.

Please note, you should only launch your application from within the UK. If you are based overseas, wait until you visit the UK to launch an application. Applying from outside the UK will affect our ability to progress your application. You should not discuss your application with anyone other than your partner or a close family member.

Right to Withdraw Statement:
Please be aware that we reserve the right to bring forward the closing date for this role once a certain number of applications have been received. Submit your application as early as possible to avoid disappointment.

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

Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission.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

Salary range

£44,190 per year