Senior Product Manager

Job summary

We are MHCLG

Here at the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG), we work on things that make a real difference to people’s lives.

Whether it's through the homes we live in, the work of our local councils, or the communities we’re all part of, our work is at the top of the political agenda. We have ambitious and far-reaching outcomes to achieve this year and, if you’re thinking of joining us, there’s never been a more exciting time. We have over 3,500 staff who are based in 20 offices across the UK.

The Senior Product Manager will be part of our Elections Digital team at MHCLG. We are seeking someone who will understand and challenge constraints, find opportunities, and create a shared understanding of what needs to be done to meet user and business needs. You will be a strong communicator, a critical thinker, and a problem-solver.

It’s an exciting time to improve and expand our services to meet users’ needs. These include:

- Vote in UK elections ‘step by step’

- Register to vote

- Apply for a proxy vote

- Apply for a postal vote

- Apply for photo ID to vote (called a ‘Voter Authority Certificate’)

- And a product we have built for electoral teams in Local Authorities to support electoral administration.

We have lots to do and your work will directly benefit millions of people who use our services each year to participate in elections in the UK.

Find out more about our Digital teams and what they are working on through our MHCLG Digital blog. Please note that MHCLG do not offer visa sponsorship and applicants will need a valid visa for the duration of your employment.

Job description

As a Senior Product Manager, you'll:

• Lead a multidisciplinary team to deliver the product and iteratively improve it through development cycles based on users’ needs and behaviours
• Develop an expert understanding of business and user needs and champion these in the delivery of high profile, complex products within Elections
• Define, explain and iterate a product vision that is compelling to your users, team and stakeholders, prioritising a backlog of work based on data and user needs
• Maintain a backlog based on evidence and value for money, and a roadmap that sets out strategic plans across different horizons and levels of detail throughout the product lifecycle
• Engage with users and stakeholders through a range of channels to encourage take-up and use of your product
• Build services according to the government service standard, and following the principles in the service manual
• Develop support and operations processes ensuring benefits are measured effectively
• Play an active role in the department's product manager community, sharing your learning and celebrating progress made by other people and teams

You may also line manage or mentor a Product Manager and will be part of the MHCLG product community.

Person specification

We will use the essential criteria below to evaluate you during the recruitment process. Make sure your CV and cover letter explain how you meet the criteria.

As a Senior Product Manager, you'll have:

• A strong understanding of developing and releasing Digital and Data products with agile product management techniques, such as roadmaps; prioritisation; creation of user stories; MVP definition; using research, analytics and insight to inform decisions; planning at different horizons
• Extensive experience of establishing relationships and working collaboratively with a wide range of users, stakeholders, senior leaders, contractors, and outsourced providers to achieve jointly agreed product goals and user outcomes
• A strong understanding of the variety of disciplines involved in digital delivery, including engineering, service design, performance analysis and user research, developed through working in multidisciplinary teams
• Experience with setting, monitoring and reporting measurable performance objectives including through the use of data and analytics
• Effective verbal, written and visual communication skills, that you are able to tailor to the needs of the audience, from senior leadership to end-users for adoption
• The skill to demonstrate where you have used an iterative and flexible approach to manage challenging constraints

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £58,092, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £16,829 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.At MHCLG we offer many benefits that range from tailored career pathways and flexible working to MyLifestyle Childcare Voucher and Cycle to Work Schemes. For more information, please click here.

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

Application and Selection

The application process will be split into 2 stages, testing the following Success Profiles:

Behaviours , Experience , Technical

Please ensure your CV does not contain any personally identifiable information.

Note: We do not consider direct CV applications. All applications must be submitted via the provided application link.

Important: Your CV and Cover Letter must be merged into a single document before uploading.

Stage 1: Sift (CV & Cover Letter)

Experience & Technical: Your covering letter should be no more than 1 page referencing how you meet the criteria set out in the job description.

Most of our campaigns utilise multiple assessors and so it is possible that each of your answers would be viewed by different assessors.

In the event that we receive a large number of applications, we may conduct an initial sift using the lead sift question listed in the advert. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to interview.

Lead sift question (Experience): "Can you provide an example of when you have led product development while considering both user and business needs."

Stage 2: Interview

• Behaviours: "Making Effective Decisions", "Changing and Improving", "Communicating and Influencing"
• Experience: Experience questions will be based around the essential skills and criteria as listed in the job description.
• Technical: Technical questions will be based around the essential skills and criteria as listed in the job description.

Sift and Interview Dates

Sifting is envisaged to take place the week commencing 25th May 2026.

Interviews are envisaged to take place the week commencing 8th June 2026 and are currently being held remotely via videocall. This could be subject to change.

How We Recruit

Find out everything you need to know before applying here..

• Applying
• Sifting
• Interview
• Interview Results & Feedback
• Reserve List
• Near Miss
• Civil Service Grades
• We are a DCS, RIS & GPTWV employer
• Reasonable Adjustments

How to Apply

What you need to know before applying.

• Security Clearance Requirements
• Civil Service Nationality Requirements
• Right to Work
• Artificial Intelligence
• Civil Service Code and Recruitment Principles
• CV Declaration
• Sponsorships
• Salary and Grade
• Existing Civil Servants
• Conflict of Interest
• Location and Flexible Working
• Fixed Term Contracts
• Internal Fraud Database - Internal Fraud Register
• Appeals and Complaints
• Conflict of Interest

Security Clearance Requirements

National Office: +SC

London Office: + SC

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.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

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 : Digital Data Jobs
• Email : Digitaldatajobs@communities.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : Digitaldatajobs@communities.gov.uk

Further information

If you are unsure about any part of the process or require additional information about the post to enable you to progress your application, you should speak to the Resourcing team - Recruitment@communities.gov.uk. Candidates can appeal at any stage of the recruitment process if they believe there has been:
•a procedural irregularity
•an infringement of the Civil Service equal opportunities policy
•exceptional circumstances which were not notified to the interview panel which might have affected performance on the day.
It is important to note that these are appeals about the process not the decision. In the first instance, an appeal should be directed to the MHCLG Resourcing Hub at Recruitment@communities.gov.uk.
If the MHCLG Resourcing Hub is unable to satisfactorily resolve your complaint, you may contact put your complaint in writing to the Civil Service Commission, Room G8,1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ or by email to: info@csc.gov.uk