Senior Product Manager

Campaign ID: 28

Position type: Permanent

Working pattern: Full Time (37 hours per week); Job Share;  Flexible Working; Part Time; Condensed Hours

Grade:  Grade 7

Clearance level required: SC

Type of post: Non-Reserved

Salary: £56,850 to £68,570 based on capability.

£61,620 - £62,170 (London) & £56,850 - £57,400 (Bristol & Manchester). The base salary of this grade is £61,620 for London and £56,850 for other locations. Offers made above this will be made up with a specialist pay allowance. 

Closing date/time: 23:45 - Sunday 25th October

Who we are

The Government Digital Service (GDS) is the digital centre of government. We are responsible for setting, leading and delivering the vision for a modern digital government.

Our priorities are to drive a modern digital government, by:

1. joining up public sector services
2. harnessing the power of AI for the public good
3. strengthening and extending our digital and data public infrastructure
4. elevating leadership and investing in talent
5. funding for outcomes and procuring for growth and innovation
6. committing to transparency and driving accountability

We are home to the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence (I.AI), the world-leading GOV.UK and at the forefront of coordinating the UK’s geospatial strategy and activity. We lead the Government Digital and Data function and champion the work of digital teams across government.

We’re part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and employ more than 1,000 people all over the UK, with hubs in Manchester, London and Bristol.

The Government Digital Service is where talent translates into impact. From your first day, you’ll be working with some of the world’s most highly-skilled digital professionals, all contributing their knowledge to make change on a national scale.

Join us for rewarding work that makes a difference across the UK. You'll solve some of the nation’s highest-priority digital challenges, helping millions of people access services they need.

What You'll do

Within the Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO), you will act as a Senior Product Manager, setting the vision, strategy and roadmap for products and initiatives that support government's digital transformation ambitions. 

OCTO sits within the Digital Transformation Group and is responsible for enabling change and growth across the public sector’s digital estate. In this role, you will work across departmental and organisational boundaries to understand user and stakeholder needs, align priorities and deliver products, services and capabilities that drive measurable improvements across government. 

We’re looking for an experienced product manager who can lead a complex, high-risk or sensitive product, or a group of related products, through the full product life cycle. You will be comfortable setting direction, making evidence-based decisions and working across organisational boundaries to deliver valuable outcomes for users and government. 

As a Senior Product Manager, you will:  

• set the vision, strategy and roadmap for products and initiatives that support OCTO's priorities

• lead multidisciplinary teams to deliver products and services that solve cross-government challenges

• use evidence, insight and user needs to prioritise work and guide product decisions

• collaborate across cross-functional teams to turn strategic priorities into measurable outcomes

• build stakeholder alignment and influence decision-making across government

• develop business cases, roadmaps and recommendations for senior leaders

• measure outcomes and use data to drive continuous improvement

• champion product management and user-centred ways of working across OCTO

• make evidence-based prioritisation and investment decisions, balancing user needs, policy intent, technical constraints, delivery risks and value for money

 

Who you are 

We’re interested in people who have experience of:  

• Product management: defining product vision, strategy and prioritised roadmaps to deliver measurable outcomes 

• Strategic ownership: aligning product direction with user needs, organisational priorities and government objectives 

• User-centred product development: using user research and data to inform decisions and ensure services are inclusive and accessible  

• Innovation and user-focused problem solving: applying creative and strategic thinking to identify opportunities, challenge assumptions and develop effective solutions that meet end user needs and improve outcomes 

• Managing product outcomes: defining success measures and using evidence to evaluate performance and drive improvement 

• Product leadership: leading multidisciplinary teams, influencing stakeholders and championing product-led ways of working

• Stakeholder relationship management: building consensus, influencing decisions and managing competing priorities across organisational boundaries

• Agile and Lean practices: applying appropriate delivery approaches to maximise learning, value and delivery outcomes

• Life cycle management: managing products through discovery, delivery, continuous improvement and retirement 

• Creating value for money: balancing user needs, cost and benefits to inform investment and prioritisation decisions

 

The benefits of working at GDS

There are many benefits of working at GDS, including:

• flexible hybrid working with flexi-time and the option to work part-time or condensed hours
• a Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 28.5%
• 25 days of annual leave, increasing by a day each year up to a maximum of 30 days 
• an extra day off for The King’s birthday
• an in-year bonus scheme to recognise high performance
• career progression and coaching, including a training budget for personal development
• paid volunteering leave 
• a focus on wellbeing with access to an employee assistance programme
• job satisfaction from making government services easier to use and more inclusive for people across the UK
• advances on pay, including for travel season tickets
• death in service benefits
• cycle to work scheme and facilities
• access to an employee discounts scheme
• 10 learning days per year
• volunteering opportunities (5 special leave days per year)
• access to a suite of learning activities through Civil Service learning 

Any move to Government Digital Service from another employer will mean you can no longer access 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

 

Office attendance

The Department operates a discretionary hybrid working policy, which provides for a combination of working hours from your place of work and from your home in the UK. The current expectation for staff is to attend the office or non-home based location for 40-60% of the time over the accounting period.

DSIT does not normally offer full home working (i.e. working at home); but we do offer a variety of flexible working options (including occasionally working from home). 

 

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

The standard selection process for roles at GDS consists of:

• a simple application screening process - We only ask for a CV and to answer 2 application Questions. Please upload one document containing your CV
• a 60 minute video interview which will feature a scenario based presentation task. Details of the task will be shared with invited candidates prior to the interview

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Depending on how many applications we get, there might also be an extra stage before the video interview, for example a phone interview or a technical exercise.

In the event we receive a high volume of applications, we will conduct the initial sift against the lead criteria which is:

•  Describe a time when you were responsible for delivering a product or service that required agreement and adoption across multiple government teams, departments, or organisations. How did you build alignment, manage differing priorities, and influence stakeholders where you had no direct authority? 

In the Civil Service, we use Success Profiles to evaluate your skills and ability. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, increases performance and improves diversity and inclusivity. We’ll be assessing your technical abilities, skills, experience and behaviours that are relevant to this role.

For this role we’ll be assessing you against the following Civil Service Behaviours:  

• seeing the bigger picture  

• leadership 

• communicating and influencing  

We’ll also be assessing your experience and specialist technical skills against the following skills defined in the Government Digital and Data Capability Framework for the Senior Product Manager role: 

• Product management 

• Managing product outcomes  

• Stakeholder relationship management  

• Strategic ownership  

Want to know more about who Government Digital and Data are? Click Here  

Recruitment Timeline

Sift completion: 2/11/2026

Panel interviews: Starting from 9/11/2026

Candidates that do not pass the interview but have demonstrated an acceptable standard may be considered for similar roles at a lower grade.

A reserve list will be held for a period of 12 months, from which further appointments can be made.

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service D&I Strategy.

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

Security

Please check the top of the advert to see which security checks are required for this role.

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Counter Terrorist Check (CTC) 

CTC is required if an individual is working in proximity to public figures, or requires unescorted access to buildings assessed to be at particular risk from terrorist attacks (certain military, civil, industrial or commercial establishments and all Whitehall buildings).  

To gain CTC clearance, applicants will usually need to have been a UK resident for a minimum of 3 years. In addition to the checks performed as part of BPSS  CTC will also involve checks to prevent persons who may have connections with terrorist organisations, or who may be vulnerable to pressure from them, from undertaking certain security duties where sensitive information may be compromised. CTC normally takes 4 - 6 weeks 

SC

SC clearance normally requires 5 years’ UK residency in the past 5 years. This is not an absolute requirement, but supplementary checks may be needed where individuals have not lived in the UK for that period. This may mean your security clearance (and therefore your appointment) will take longer or, in some cases, not be possible.

For meaningful checks to be carried out, you will need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time, to enable appropriate checks to be carried out and produce a result which provides the required level of assurance. Whilst a lack of UK residency in itself is not necessarily a bar to a security clearance, and expectation of UK residency may range from 3 to 5 years. Failure to meet the residency requirements needed for the role may result in the withdrawal of provisional jobs offers.

 

Sponsorship

DSIT cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign. DSIT holds a Visa sponsorship licence but this can only be used for certain roles and this campaign does not qualify.

 

Nationality requirements

Please check the top of the advert to see if this a reserved or non reserved post.

Non reserved posts:

• UK nationals
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with settled or pre-settled status or who apply for either status by the deadline of the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service
• relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service
• certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals

Reserved posts:

• open to UK nationals only

Further information on nationality requirements

 

Working for the Civil Service 

 

Apply and further information 

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment.

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

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Contact point for applicants 

Recruitment team : gdsrecruitment@dsit.gov.uk

 

Complaints Procedure

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 gds-complaints@dsit.gov.uk in the first instance.

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive you can contact the Civil Service Commission by email: info@csc.gov.uk Or in writing: Civil Service Commission, Room G/8 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ.