Job summary

Product managers are responsible for product quality and value, working with the team to identify, implement and improve strategies and tactics for their products. They might recruit and manage people in the product profession, ensuring people with the right skills are hired, supported and developed. This can be an entry-level role for new product managers who have been working in other digital roles.

At this role level, you will:

lead a product through different phases of the product life cycle, from discovery, through development, delivery and continuous improvement, to retirement
support lead and senior product managers
prioritise work for your teams and be able to measure outcomes

We are looking for product managers who can prioritise key decisions using user research, data and insight to drive development and improvement but equally who can lead the team effectively and with confidence. An essential ask is the ability to be able to flex and pivot to the needs of all users.

The role will be responsible for making evidence based strategic and tactical product decisions and making key priority calls. You will be actively involved in developing the product strategy, owning the product roadmap, and communicating product success to stakeholders but also defend controversial decisions about your product. You will also have experience of product management techniques.

While you will work independently, you’ll also be part of a more complex area with the support of a more senior Product Manager.

Additionally, you’ll be a part of our Product Community of Practice, where Product Managers across DfE come together to share learning, discuss their development needs, gain support, and solve for common problems.

Job description

As a Product Manager you'll:

work closely with a multidisciplinary team to deliver the product and iteratively improve it through the lifecycle, including post go live
develop an expert understanding of the users’ needs and behaviours, championing these in the delivery of your product
define, explain and iterate an evidence-based product vision that is compelling to your users, team and stakeholders, and ensuring insight is fed back to policy teams
maintain a roadmap and product strategy that show your plans at different horizons and granularities, making informed prioritisation decisions, championing user needs and balancing them with the needs of the business
develop and prioritise a product backlog, writing good user stories and making decisions based on evidence and value for money
identify assumptions and risks behind possible approaches and include these in your product planning
collaborate with team members to create prototypes or other cheap ways to test these assumptions or approaches - at both a strategic and usability level
set measurable and valuable goals for your product and report against these to demonstrate progress against stated benefits
work closely with your teams to seek out opportunities to optimise delivery whilst ensuring quality standards are maintained
support the vision, roadmaps and delivery of other products in your portfolio and DfE, ensuring that your work aligns with shared missions and strategy
engage with users and stakeholders through a range of channels to encourage take-up and use of your product
build services following the principles in the service manual
change your approach according to the lifecycle phase of your work
understand, communicate, and where necessary challenge the validity of constraints
create, curate and iterate documentation for your product
build and maintain strong stakeholder relationships in a complex policy and delivery environment
play an active role in the Department's product manager community, sharing your learning and celebrating progress made by other people and teams

Person specification

When giving details in your employment history and personal statement you should highlight your experience in line with the essential criteria below:

Essential Criteria:

Significant demonstrable experience of creating and communicating a product roadmap, and gaining stakeholder buy-in, alongside the proven ability of prioritising product backlogs based on user needs, changing priorities, value and effort.
Extensive experience and proven track record of working with users to understand their needs and representing the user in all decision making.
Significant demonstrable experience of leading a range of specialists in multidisciplinary teams, applying an agile methodology and mindset to enable incremental delivery.
Demonstrated experience of being able to articulate and evaluate return on investment/value for money of different approaches

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £58,185, Department for Education contributes £16,856 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Applicants currently holding a permanent post in the Civil Service should note that, if successful, their salary on appointment would be determined by the Department’s transfer / promotion policies.

As a member of the DfE, you will be entitled to join the highly competitive Civil Service Pension Scheme, which many experts agree is one of the most generous in the UK.

You will have 25 days leave, increasing by 1 day every year to a maximum of 30 days after five years’ service. In addition, all staff receive the King’s Birthday privilege holiday and 8 days’ bank and public holidays.

We offer flexible working arrangements, such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.

Most DfE employees will be working a hybrid pattern, spending at least 60% of their time in an office or work setting. Changes to these working arrangements are available in exceptional circumstances but must be agreed with the line manager and in line with the requirements of the role.

Travel to your primary office location will not be paid for by DfE, but costs for travel to an office which is not your main location will be covered.

As an organisation, which exists to support education and lifelong learning, we offer our staff excellent professional development opportunities.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

Application

To apply for this role, you will be required to provide a CV and Statement of Suitability

(statement max word count 1250 words).

Your CV should include your past employment history and the skills and experience gained from the roles held.

Your statement should be used to demonstrate how your skills and experience meet the listed essential criteria.

We will use your CV and statement to assess your suitability for the role against the essential criteria listed in the person specification section above.

To confirm, the maximum word count for the personal statement/ statement of suitability is 1250. Please adhere to this limit as anything over 1250 words will not be taken into account.

Interview

Candidates that successfully pass the sift will be invited to interview.

At interview you will be asked questions to assess your experience in line with the essential criteria listed above.

Candidates may also be asked to complete a task as part of the interview, this will be assessed against the essential criteria

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview.

Other Information

Interviews may be via Microsoft teams (which may be remote or from a DfE office), or face to face; the vacancy manager will confirm prior to the Interview.

In your application, please don’t include personal information that identifies you.

This means we can recruit based on your knowledge and skills, and not background, gender or ethnicity - it's called name blind recruitment (opens in a new window).

Please ensure that you remove from your application, all references to your:

name/title
educational institutions
age
gender
email address
postal address
phone number
nationality/immigration status

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.

We reserve the right to raise the minimum pass mark in the event of a high volume or strong field of candidates.

Please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK from the location options provided and not from overseas.

The government is committed to supporting apprenticeships, enabling people to learn and progress in a role whilst earning. We want to monitor the number of people who have completed apprenticeships who are now applying to progress further in their career and are asking this question to all candidates, on all vacancies. You will be asked a question as part of the application process about any previous apprenticeships you have completed. Your response to this question will not affect your application and it is not a requirement of the role to have completed a previous apprenticeship.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check maybe carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstance some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Department of Education of your intention by emailing Pre-Employment.Checks.DFE@education.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

Department for Education do not cover the cost of travel to your interview/assessment unless otherwise stated.

A reserve list may be held for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made.

Candidates will be posted in merit order based upon location preference. Where more than one location is advertised you will be asked to state your preferred location.

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.

Terms and conditions of candidates transferring from ALBs and NDPBs

Bodies that are not accredited by the Civil Service Commission and are not able to advertise at Across Government on Civil Service jobs will be treated as external new starters and will come into DfE on modernised terms and conditions with a salary at the band minimum.

Bodies that are accredited by the Civil Service Commission but do not have civil service status will be offered modernised terms and will not have continuous service recognised for leave or sickness benefits. Salaries should be offered at band minimum, but there is some flexibility where this would cause a detriment to the individual.

Bodies that are accredited by the Civil Service Commission and do have Civil Service status will be treated as OGD transfers. Staff appointed on lateral transfer will move on to pre-modernised DfE terms (unless they were on modernised terms in their previous organisation). Staff appointed on promotion will move on to modernised DfE terms. Staff will transfer over on their existing salary (on lateral transfer) and any pay above the DfE pay band maximum will be paid as a mark time allowance. Staff moving on promotion will have their salaries calculated using the principles set out in the attached OGD transfer supplementary information.

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 Department of Education via centralrecruitment.operations@education.gov.uk 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.

Please refer to the attached ‘Reasonable Adjustments Guide 05_2025 – accessible version’ at the bottom of the advert, for further information.

Childcare Vouchers

Any move to Department for Education (DfE) will mean you will no longer be able to carry on claiming 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/

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.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

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 : Rhiannon Barnes
Email : rsdportfolioteam.rg@education.gov.uk

Recruitment team

Email : Centralrecruitment.operations@education.gov.uk

Further information

The Department for Education’s recruitment processes are underpinned by the Civil Service Commissioners Recruitment Principles, which outlines that selection for appointment is made on merit based on fair and open competition. You have the right to complain if you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles. In the first instance, you should raise the matter directly with the department concerned via CentralRecruitment.Operations@education.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages

Attachments

DFE Terms & Conditions - accessible version (1) Opens in new window (pdf, 215kB)OGD Transfer Supplementary information - accessible version Opens in new window (pdf, 327kB)Reasonable Adjustments guide 05_2025 - accessible version (1) Opens in new window (pdf, 723kB)

1 Management Job in Sheffield, UK