Product Owner

Position: Product Owner
Reporting to: Head of Product - EUX
Location: York, Colchester or London
Type: Contract

In IT Services, our collective goal is to deliver and maintain best-in-class, innovative infrastructure solutions that are sustainable, resilient and inclusive. We do this by understanding the needs of our company colleagues so that we can create and tailor the tools and services that enable them to deliver on their goals. And this increases our competitive advantage in market. We work within an Agile methodology, because that helps us to deliver the right solutions quickly and accurately. It also means that we have the flexibility to pivot and adapt our work, through iterative testing with our company colleagues. We communicate and collaborate effectively with each other every day. This ensures that each of us knows what we need to achieve. And we take individual and team accountability for ensuring that everything we deliver brings value to our business. We’re driven to innovate through technology, we’re valued for our skills, our work is varied, and we’re encouraged to take every opportunity to develop and grow. In IT Services, we set you up to succeed, the rest is up to you.

The Product Owner role

We’re looking for a Product Owner (PO) to join our IT Services team, working within our End User Compute value stream to drive the development and improvement of our products. This is an extremely varied role and will include (but is not limited to) the following activities:

• Develop and execute the end user compute product roadmap, ensuring alignment with the value stream OKRs.
• Conduct workshops and analysis activities to design and define appropriate delivery iterations – gather requirements, assess value, ensure work is prioritised and focused on delivering maximum value for our colleagues.
• Write clear and concise user stories, acceptance criteria and product specifications.
• Prioritise and manage the product backlog, ensuring it is maintained and refined.
• Work with the Agile Delivery Lead/s (ADLs) to ensure there is a steady flow of work for the squad/s aligned to the product roadmap.
• Create and own dashboards to track metrics, utilise the data to inform future backlog items that target waste and inefficiency.
• Be the first point of contact for the squad/s to answer any product related questions, clarify requirements and support the ADL to remove blockers.
• Act as the voice of the customer to ensure everyone understands the business value of the backlog items.
• Working with the ADL to coordinate and participate all Agile ceremonies for the product – stand-ups, refinement, planning and retrospectives.
• Provide feedback on the product roadmap, resolving risks, issues and blockers raised by the squad/s – escalating to the Head of Product as needed.
• Report on actual vs. expected progress and any knock-on impact to the product roadmap.
• Manage key stakeholder relationships and communicate effectively to keep them informed.
• Monitor and analyse product performance, identifying areas for improvement and making data-driven decisions.
• Coordinate product launches, ensuring effective communication to internal customers and stakeholders.
• Stay up-to-date with industry best practices and trends in product management, technology and user experience.
• Work with the other members of the ITS Product Chapter to share knowledge, best practices and develop as a team – as a Product Owner, you will coach, and mentor Associate POs to support their career development.
• Actively participate in the wider product management community to aid continuous learning, innovation, best practice and alignment with the companies engineering teams.

Required skills/experience

• Prior experience in a product-related role or environment – working in Agile delivery teams, managing a backlog to ensure business value is prioritised, delivered and embedded. Knowledge of implementing and managing End User Experience technologies and tools is essential; e.g., Win 11, desktops, M365, printing, telephony, collaboration tools etc.
• An aptitude for customer centric problem solving and challenging the status quo.
• Experience working with Agile collaboration (e.g. Jira, Confluence, etc.) and product management tools.
• Experience of writing business requirements that can be picked up by engineers and implemented. Highly organised, detail-oriented with a focus on quality and delivering value to customers.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to effectively convey complex ideas to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced environment and adapt to changing priorities (dealing with any associated conflict due to competing priorities).
• Demonstrable analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to gather and interpret data to make informed decisions.

Beneficial experience

• Demonstrable experience of ‘lean thinking’ – continuously looking to minimise waste and drive efficiency.
• Detailed understanding of Agile methodologies (Kanban, Lean, Scrum) and product management frameworks.
• Relevant qualifications (e.g. Certified Scrum Product Owner).