Senior Product Manager

Job summary

From the 1st April, we will no longer be trading as Crown Commercial Service and will be trading as Government Commercial Agency. Please visit our website for further details.

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Call to action

Ready to deliver digital transformation with a national impact? Crown Commercial Service (CCS) is the UK's largest public procurement organisation. In 2023/24, we delivered £4.9 billion in commercial benefits for the taxpayer. Join our Digital and Data Services team to lead on high-impact digital products, implement our Data Strategy, and influence the adoption of new technologies like AI. We are a Top 50 Inclusive Employer with significant opportunities for career growth. Make your mark on public services and deliver value for the nation.

Job Summary

The expanding Digital Product and User-Centred Design team, which will include Service Designers, User Researchers, and Accessibility Specialists, is building a culture focused on user-centricity, experimentation, and agility within multi-disciplinary product teams. The Senior Product Manager is responsible for the ultimate value and viability of the product portfolio, ensuring products solve user problems, create tangible benefits, and align with CCS's strategic objectives. This role requires championing innovative, data-driven decisions to drive the successful delivery and continuous improvement of products impacting public sector procurement. A key responsibility is establishing a Product Community of Practice for collaboration, knowledge sharing, and mutual support among Product Managers. The team is currently made up of 5 people with the possibility of growing to 10 over the next 12 months.

Job description

Key Accountabilities:

1.Leadership: Lead and guide team members, manage performance to ensure a high-performing team, and support staff development through regular feedback

2. Product Vision and Strategy: Define, own, and communicate the overarching vision, strategy, and prioritised roadmap for a significant product or a portfolio of products. Guide the team through the entire product lifecycle, ensuring alignment with genuine user needs.

3. User-Centricity: Champion advanced user research practices to inform critical product decisions, maintaining a deep and actionable understanding of users across the team.

4. Delivery and Improvement: Foster a culture of continuous improvement by championing agile practices and ensuring decisions are data-driven. Proactively identify and remove obstacles (impediments) to delivery.

5. Stakeholder Management: Build and manage effective relationships with senior stakeholders, confidently negotiating priorities and dependencies. Act as the authoritative representative for the product strategy when required.

6. Cross-Team Collaboration: Work collaboratively with digital teams across CCS to manage product dependencies, identify opportunities to streamline products, and ensure anticipated benefits are realised.

7. Investment and Value: Ensure product strategies are robustly defined to deliver intended value, securing necessary investment through compelling business cases. Continuously iterate on strategies based on user insight and CCS's target outcomes.
8. Maximising Value for the Nation: Balance user needs against organisational costs and risks to ensure the products maximise public value.

Person specification

Essential Criteria (to be assessed at application stage):

• Product Leadership within an Agile environment: Experience in leading and coaching product teams in complex environments using agile principles. Describe how you foster a culture of continuous improvement and adapt processes to ensure effective delivery.

• Strategic Vision and Road mapping: You must have proven experience in setting the vision and strategy for a digital product. Demonstrate your ability to create and manage a product roadmap that delivers measurable outcomes throughout the product lifecycle.

• User-Centred Design (UCD) and Research: Possess a deep understanding of user-centred design. Provide clear examples of how you have utilised user research and data insights to make critical product decisions and enhance the user experience.

• Stakeholder Management and Influence: Demonstrate excellent communication and influencing skills. Show how you build strong relationships with senior stakeholders, effectively manage conflicting priorities, and achieve consensus to support product goals.

• Commercial Acumen and Data-Driven Decision Making: Exhibit strong commercial awareness, including experience in securing investment. You must clearly demonstrate how you use data and evidence to guide your strategic thinking and decision-making.

Behaviours

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

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions

Technical skills

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

• Product Management
• Managing product outcomes
• Strategic ownership

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £59,877, Crown Commercial Service contributes £17,346 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

What we will offer you, here are some of the benefits you can expect:

• Competitive salary

• Generous pension scheme

• A discretionary non-contractual performance related bonus

• Working remotely in addition to working in advertised office location

• Flexi time scheme (available for B1-B6)

• Minimum 25 days annual leave to a maximum service related 30 days excluding bank holiday

Explore fully how we will rewardyour work.

Want to make a difference? Find out more about the rewarding work that we do in ourcandidate pack.

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 and theCivil Service D&I Strategy.

We want to make our recruitment process accessible to everyone, so if there is any way that we can support you, please contact recruitment@crowncommercial.gov.uk

Working flexibly, delivering outcomes

CCS operates a smarter working model that balances flexibility with collaboration. Successful candidates are expected to spend at least 26 days per quarter (approximately 2 days per week, pro-rata) at their contracted office, another CCS site, or off-site for meetings. For the remainder of the time, you may work from home or another suitable location that meets business needs.

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 and Technical skills.

Selection Process

A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months, which the Civil Service may use to fill future suitably similar vacancies across government for candidates who are considered appointable following interview. Should you be placed on a reserve list and want to be removed please contact recruitment@crowncommercial.gov.uk.

Please note that as part of this recruitment process, if you are unsuccessful at the interview stage but are close to the benchmark score you may be considered for and offered a role at a lower pay band within the same job family.

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 counter-terrorist 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

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 : The Recruitment Team
• Email : recruitment@crowncommercial.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitment@crowncommercial.gov.uk

Further information

Complaints procedure

Our recruitment processes are underpinned by the principle of selection for appointment on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles details of which can be found at http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact recruitment@crowncommercial.gov.uk in the first instance.

If you remain unsatisfied with the response you receive you can then contact the Civil Service Commission at info@csc.gov.uk

https://www.crowncommercial.gov.uk/careers-with-ccs