Senior Product Owner - Digital Customer Services

It demands a strong business focussed knowledge of customer services environments (e.g. contact centre/customer journey) in parallel with a proven track record of the delivery and management of key digital products aligned with the specific area of customer service (e.g. contact centre and customer experience solutions). The role reports to the Digital & IT, Head of Product and will work closely with key stakeholders in the customer services and digital teams, as well as Transformation & Delivery colleagues, other internal stakeholders and external strategic suppliers/vendors.              

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the independent regulator of information rights. In a data-driven world, we provide advice, guidance, and support to organisations enabling compliance with their obligations, as well as protecting individuals and their personal data. 

As an employer, we are passionate about making a positive difference to the lives and careers of our people, and we empower you to be curious, impactful, collaborative and respectful. 

Job description

• The role contributes early in the lifecycle of a new Product as a key influencer and decision maker
• The role requires developing knowledge of user needs and business goals to frame problems and set priorities for delivery teams
• The role is responsible for solution architecture design relating to their product(s), working to the ICO’s architectural principles and in conjunction with the DDaT (Digital, Data and Technology) architecture directorate
• The role collaborates and consult with stakeholders to ensure Product decisions are aligned with both the Product and DDaT’s strategies 
• The role owns the Product roadmap and is responsible for effective management of the Product backlog and the means to deliver it
• Where applicable, the role manages Product engineers, specialists and 3^rd party support or development partners 
• The role guides the organisation to make appropriate Product decisions by recommending reuse, sustainability and scalability, to achieve value for money and reduce risk
• The role carries out horizon scanning across the industry and wider technological landscape, identifying emerging trends and their potential impact and opportunity for the ICO, and incorporating these into plans

Key responsibilities:

• Manages the operational process of running a Product throughout its entire Product life cycle, from pre-production engagement through to product retirement
• Uses a range of Product management principles and approaches to capture user needs and translate them into deliverables, working with a range of specialists in multidisciplinary teams 
• Defines the minimum viable product (MVP) and writes user stories and acceptance criteria based on user needs and how they translate into deliverables
• Works with given constraints (such as technology, policy, regulatory, financial and legal constraints) and ensure compliance with constraints by adapting the Product where needed.
• Ensures conformity to best practice and standards including Technology code of practice and the GDS design standards
• Understands the ICO’s users and/or customers, identify who and what their needs are and translate user stories by proposing design approaches, to meet the needs of the Product.
• Ensures accessibility guidelines, standards, laws and regulations are actively explored and adhered to, to ensure new or existing Products can be used by everyone
• Accountable for one or more products and their associated sub parts to be agreed by management 
• Acts as the escalation point for the Product working closely with leaders of the DDaT operational delivery team to ensure major incidents are managed in a timely and accurate manner 

Person specification 

Essential criteria assessed at application stage:

• Substantial experience relevant to the role requirements, as described in the role responsibilities and person specification, and accumulated through any combination of academic or vocational qualifications or experience.
• Experience of working with delivery teams to help develop new Products from inception.
• Experience of owning Products throughout their production lifecycle through to Product end-of-life
• Experience of understanding business strategy and translating that into capability and technology strategy at the Product level.
• Experience managing a team of Product engineers and/or specialists.
• Experience managing the relationship with 3^rd party support or development partners

Essential criteria assessed during interview:

• Experience of owning Products throughout their production lifecycle through to Product end-of-life
• Experience managing a team of Product engineers and/or specialists.
• Experience managing the relationship with 3^rd party support or development partners
• Ability to deal with complexity and ambiguity, creative problem solving and developing innovative solutions.
• Understanding of wider DDaT profession and practices and their impact on Product ownership, including IT delivery methodologies such as Agile.
• Knowledge of the public sector and regulatory environment, or clear appreciation of specifics and complexities and how they would influence the role.
• Ability to develop, improve and continuously coach a Product team to high standards.
• Knowledge of the data protection and privacy landscape, regulations and obligations for data practitioners.
• Excellent communication skills for educating employees on best practices for applying the company’s IT products, resources and solutions. 
• Able to communicate complex insights simply and with impact, particularly across technical and non-technical audiences. 
• Competent at negotiating and persuading where necessary, whilst applying a highly ethical approach.  

Equality, diversity, and inclusion 

The ICO is committed to promoting and enhancing equality, diversity, and inclusion. We are focused on developing a workforce that is representative of the communities we serve and together we are building an inclusive workplace where all of our colleagues have the opportunity to make a real difference. We are championing this through our Equality Diversity and Inclusion Board together with a number of staff networks. Read more about our commitment on our website.  

Candidates with a disability who meet the minimum criteria for this vacancy will be invited to interview as part of the ICO’s commitment to the Disability Confident Scheme. 

If you are disabled or have an impairment and require an alternative application method, please email the HR team at recruitment@ico.org.uk 

Closing Date 

Please submit your CV and cover letter detailing your suitability to the role by 23:59, Thursday 24^th April   

We reserve the right to close this vacancy before this date should we receive sufficient applications. Please apply as soon as possible to ensure your application is considered.