Product Manager

Job description

A product manager on one of our Notify subteams, working with an in-house multidisciplinary team to deliver roadmap missions to move us forward, continuous iteration of existing features, technical and security fixes and improvements and service management of a live, mature transactional service.

As a product manager on Notify you’ll:

• shape and ship great features - own the backlog for your subteam, write sharp user stories, and make evidence-led decisions that deliver real value
• keep Notify running smoothly - join the product and delivery folk operating the live service eg commercials, operations and stakeholder management 
• spot risk early - surface assumptions and risks before they become problems, and feed that thinking into the roadmap
• lead with pace and purpose - motivate a multidisciplinary team through every stage of the product lifecycle
• measure what matters - set clear success metrics, track them openly, and use the data to drive prioritisation
• own support and incidents - act as escalation point, lead incident response, and continuously improve how the team handles operations

Person specification

We’re interested in people who:

• have solid agile product experience - roadmaps, prioritisation, user stories, MVP thinking, product lifecycles and able to recommend a range of product management methods
• are comfortable with live, scaled products - continuous improvement on mature services with real users
• are able to address uncertainty while managing scope and prioritise what adds value now vs what could add value in future
• are data-driven by default - use analytics, research and insight to evaluate features, run experiments and inform decisions, including creating value for money
• are familiar with multidisciplinary delivery - worked closely with developers, designers, researchers and analysts; can broker disagreements and find a way forward
• are a great communicator - clear in writing, speech and visuals; adapts style for the room, including senior leadership and stakeholders
• are comfortable setting and tracking objectives - experience with OKRs or similar performance frameworks, and using them to drive the team’s focus

Benefits

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 28.97%
• 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
• 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
• access to children's holiday play schemes across different locations in central London

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 cover letter of up to 750 words. Important tip - please ensure that your cover letter includes how you meet the skills and experience listed in the “person specification” section above
• a 60 minute video interview

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: 

• have solid agile product experience - roadmaps, prioritisation, user stories, MVP thinking, product lifecycles and able to recommend a range of product management methods

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:

• working together
• changing and improving
• seeing the bigger picture
• communicating and influencing
• managing a quality service
• delivering at pace

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 product manager role

• managing product outcomes
• product management
• product leadership
• stakeholder relationship management
• applying user-centred insights
• agile and Lean practices
• creating value for money
• life cycle management
• strategic ownership

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

Recruitment Timeline

Sift completion: 3rd July 2026

Panel interviews: w/c 13th July 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.

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.

Security: 

Please note that this role requires SC clearance, which would normally need 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.