Lead Product Manager

Department for Education; London; Hybrid; GBP 69,000; Full time

Job description

Coventry - CV1 2WT, London - SW1P 3BT, Manchester - M1 2WD, Sheffield - S1 2FJ

Job Summary

In the Children and Families digital portfolio, our aim is to support every child and young person to be safer, healthier and happier. We work with Families Group to deliver Manifesto commitments on children’s social care, early years childcare and our important contribution to delivering the Government’s Mission to break down barriers to opportunity.

This is an exciting time to join the portfolio with significant reform programmes underway in both early years and childcare, and children’s social care, which will have a direct impact on the outcomes and wellbeing of children and their families.

Our Diverse And Inclusive Culture Reflects The Society We Live In. This Helps Us To Achieve Better Outcomes For All Our Users. We Work In Multi-disciplinary Teams Using Agile Methods To Innovate And Radically Improve Services That:

• Raise education standards and provide the best start in life for children
• Support disadvantaged and vulnerable children and young people
• Drive economic growth

You can read more about our strategy on the DfE digital and technology blog, by visiting our LinkedIn page, or by following us on Twitter @DfE_DigitalTech.

Job Description

We are looking for a Lead Product Manager to join the Children and Families digital services portfolio, supporting policy delivery across Family Hubs, Children’s Social Care and Early Years.

This currently involves leading and supporting teams that work across a range of services that enable families to find support in their areas, providing online training services for the early years workforce and services that support the career development of child and family social workers. You will also be an active member of the portfolio’s senior leadership team.

We work closely with policy teams to research, design and build services that help families and young people to have the best start in life.

As a Lead Product Manager, You Will:

• Be an expert in product management.
• Coach others to increase professionalism.
• Work with Digital Data and Technology (DDT) communities and organisational management to represent community interests.
• Manage recruitment and hiring, development, moves and exits from the community, covering civil servants and contractors.
• Line-manage senior product managers.
• Measure and monitor the products and services you develop, regularly reviewing to validate their effectiveness.
• Ensure financial good health, managing budgets and delivering value for money.
• Work with your technical leads to ensure products and services are flexible, align to an overarching strategy and deliver appropriate performance.

Person specification

Essential Criteria:

• Expertise and leadership: You will be an expert in the field of product management which you will use to bring people with you.
• Agile working: Proven experience of using agile methods, understanding their fundamental principles and the value they add.
• Strategic ownership: You can show how you have developed long-term visions and objectives and connected delivery to them.
• Experienced coach, mentor and line manager for product managers of varying levels of experience, with a track record of successful performance management, development of team members and building capability.
• User focus: You are experienced in meeting the needs of users across a variety of channels. You can bring insight and expertise in how user needs have changed over time to ensure these are met by the business.
• Life cycle perspective: You have successfully led teams through the full product lifecycle. You identify which tools and techniques should be used; identify and deal with potential risks across all phases of the lifecycle.

Desirable Criteria:

• Financial ownership: Experience in supplier management and negotiating value for money commercial outcomes. You can build business cases based on user needs.
• Operational management: You keep abreast of industry best practice and cascade ways of working. You know how to make operations efficient and support services and products appropriately.
• Experience of the GDS service standards.

Desirable criteria will only be assessed at interview, in the event of a tie break situation, to make an informed decision.

Alongside your salary of £68,623, Department for Education contributes £19,880 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.

Selection process details

Please note that all communications will be electronic therefore it is vitally important that you check your Civil Service Jobs account regularly, as well as your spam/junk email folder.
Application

If you would like to apply for this position, please complete the Civil Service Jobs application form by clicking the "apply now" button at the top or bottom of this advert.

You will be required to provide details of:

• Your CV – Set out your career history, highlighting specific responsibilities and achievements that are relevant for this role.
• Your Statement of Suitability – In no more than 1250 words, provide examples to explain how your personal skills, qualities and experience demonstrate your suitability for the role. You should refer to the essential criteria listed in the advert.

Please note, CV details must be contained within the template on the application form. Any CV or Statement of Suitability that has been emailed to our team will not be considered.
Sift

At sift stage, your application will be assessed on how your CV and Statement of Suitability align to the essential criteria listed in the advert. The CV and statement will be assessed against the essential criteria detailed in the advert.

We receive many applications, and unfortunately, we’re not able to provide feedback for candidates who aren’t shortlisted.

In The Event That We Receive a Large Number Of Applications, The Initial Sift Will Be Carried Out On The Following Essential Criteria Only:

Expertise and leadership: You will be an expert in the field of product management which you will use to bring people with you.

Sift is likely to take place week commencing 28 April. Please note these dates are subject to change.

Interview

Candidates successful at sift stage will be invited to an interview.

The Interview Will Be a 2-part Process:
Part 1: Completion of a task which we will send to you prior to the interview and require you to give a 10-minute presentation on. This will assess your experience against the essential criteria listed in the advert.

Part 2: A series of questions about your experience to demonstrate, using examples, how you meet the essential criteria listed in the advert.

Interviews will be conducted via Microsoft Teams.

If you are invited to interview, please ensure that you have access to this software and that you have your video turned on. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview.

Interviews are likely to take place week commencing 12 May onwards. Please note these dates are subject to change.

Other Information

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.

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

We understand that you might use AI and other resources for your application; however, please ensure all information you provide is factually accurate, truthful, and original and doesn’t include ideas or work that isn’t your own. This is so that your application is authentically and credibly your own.

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 [e-mail] 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.

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 [e-mail] 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 2024 – 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 checks.

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard 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)
• 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.

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code 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.

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme 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.

The Civil Service Code 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.

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme 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.

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans 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: Sue Molyneux
• Email: [e-mail]

Recruitment team

• Email: [e-mail]

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 [e-mail]. 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.