Product Manager

Job Introduction

Product Manager job ad

Job Introduction

Role: Product Manager

Job term and hours per week: Permanent - 35 hours per week

Salary: PO5 - Between £53,919 to £57,150

Summary

Royal Greenwich is a vibrant borough, with a rich history and diverse community. We're proud of the work we do to serve our residents.

It's an exciting time to join us. We've just launched our vision for Royal Greenwich in 2050, alongside a corporate plan setting out what we'll achieve in the first four years. We're now refreshing our digital priorities to make sure we can help deliver it, and this role will help shape what that looks like in practice.

We're searching for people-focused digital, data and technology experts to join our team. We're focused on improving services for our residents and enabling staff to work more efficiently. There's plenty of opportunity for you to help shape this work.

Read our blog to find out more about who we are and what we're working on.

We're building a team where everyone feels safe to be who they are. We value empathy, open mindedness, and a real passion for our mission.

What You'll Do

As part of our Product team in Digital, Data and Technology, you'll lead multidisciplinary teams working on new and existing products and services for residents and staff.

Product managers at Royal Greenwich lead a wide variety of work. You might be leading a multidisciplinary team to develop one of our existing products, running a discovery into a new problem area with a service we haven't worked with before, or helping implement a new system that changes how colleagues work and improves outcomes for residents. We're looking for someone who can apply product thinking to each of these, and adapt their approach to fit.

Our current work streams include:

• improving our social housing repairs journey
• improving our website to make it easier for residents to interact with the council online
• digitising more of our services and transactions so people can do more online
• wrap around support for residents to tackle poverty
• helping waste collection teams manage their work
• using AI and automation to improve council services
• improving the journey for adult social care users
• enhancing customer contact channels and making every contact count

You'll work closely with other council teams who want to improve their services, listening to their needs and balancing them with business and technical constraints.

You'll speak up for our users, whether they are residents or staff, and use data and research to make sure our products and services meet their needs.

At all stages of the product lifecycle, you'll confidently lead your team and work with colleagues across the council to set a vision and fulfil it, solving our users' problems with products we can be proud of.

You'll report to a Senior Product Manager and play an active role in the development of our product management community of practice.

For the full job responsibilities, please refer to the attached Job Description.

Who you are

You'll have experience of delivering and iterating digital products. You might be an experienced product manager who has led multidisciplinary teams before. Equally, you might be looking for your first product management role, having led impactful projects in an adjacent discipline, such as service design or business analysis. Either way, you'll be a curious and impact-driven person, whose focus is always on the user.

You'll know product management techniques and frameworks well enough to know when to use them, when to adapt them, and when to set them aside. You'll be pragmatic about how you work, and you'll change your approach to suit the people, service and situation in front of you.

You'll be comfortable working in a large, complex organisation with competing priorities, statutory duties, older systems and tight budgets, and you'll see these as part of the problem to solve. You'll understand that the best answer isn't always new technology, and sometimes it's a change to how a service works. Above all, you'll be motivated by making things better for residents.

You'll be a leader who listens to and values the opinions of others. You'll work well with people from different disciplines in your team and colleagues from across the council, to create the conditions for the best decisions to be made. You'll also be curious about technology and not afraid to try new things.

You'll be passionate about developing your skills and supporting others in the team.

Our values

We are looking for people who share our values and principles:

• We put people first
• We are practical optimists
• We value being a team more than being the star
• We are open
• We learn by experimenting
• We are motivated by purpose

These values were produced by the Product Team, and they are incredibly important to us, as is building an environment that promotes knowledge, empathy, equality, and skill sharing.

Our team values align with and reflect the wider values of the Council. Royal Borough of Greenwich values include:

• Improving residents' lives and opportunities
• Demonstrating respect and fairness
• Taking ownership
• Doing things better
• Working together across the Council

Support when you apply

At Royal Greenwich we want our staff to thrive professionally. We are an organisation that recognises and supports transferable skills and ambition. So, if you think you have what it takes, but don't necessarily meet every single point on the job description please still get in touch. We'd love to have a chat and see if you'd be a good fit.

We are passionate about creating a diverse workforce and positively encourage applications from under-represented communities. We embrace equality of opportunity irrespective of disability, neurodivergence, ethnic origin, colour, nationality, gender and gender presentation, marital status, sexual orientation, culture, and religion.

As a Disability Confident employer, we will ensure that disabled applicants that meet the minimum criteria for this position will be offered an interview.

If you'd like an informal chat about the role, email alex.sturtivant@royalgreenwich.gov.uk

What we offer

• 28 days annual leave (excluding bank holidays), rising to 31 days after five years continuous local government service
• Flexible and hybrid working arrangements, with about 1 day in the office per week
• Mental health support, including an external counselling service
• A generous pension scheme, with an 18.9% employer contribution
• Long service awards
• Learning and development opportunities, including a thriving community of practice, mentoring and training
• Staff networks for mental health, LGBTQ+ support, racial equality and more
• Vouchers for free eye tests
• Annual season ticket loans
• Childcare voucher scheme
• Reduced-rate gym membership
• Cycle to work scheme, including indoor cycle storage and showers
• Greenwich One Card which entitles you to discounts at local businesses

To apply for this role, you must:

• upload a CV
• complete the supporting statement questions

To apply, select the "Apply" button.

Things to consider when making your application

We want to give you the best opportunity to show off your career and skills in the best way possible. Please consider the following:

• Your CV should be up to date, in a readable and accessible format and pertinent to the role.
• Each supporting question in the application process is a chance for you to showcase your skills and experience. Use these to bring the examples in your CV to life and make it clear how you meet the criteria for the role.
• If you are called for interview (see below), look at the presentation and interview questions within the context of what you've already shared about yourself and think about how you can build on that foundation.

We know AI tools can be helpful when writing applications or preparing for interviews. However, they can sometimes take away the personal insight and authenticity we're looking for. We encourage you to use your own voice and experience to showcase your approach.

Hiring process

Step 1 - Complete the application form and upload your CV and answer the supporting questions.

Step 2 - If we invite you to an interview, we will:

• Send details of the 10-minute presentation we'd like you to do.
• Send your interview questions in advance (1 hour before the interview starts).
• Check with you if you need any further accommodations for the interview.

Step 3 - Attend the panel interview. This will usually be a 1-hour video call with up to 3 people like the hiring manager and other team members you would work with.

We'll ask you to do your presentation at the start of the interview. We are keen to ensure that the video interview process doesn't interfere with your ability to present your work to its best effect. Your presentation can be talking direct to camera, slides, a PDF, or similar, and could include visual examples of your work. The panel will then ask you follow up questions.

The panel will then ask a set of competency-based questions.

At the end of the interview you'll have the opportunity to ask the panel questions in return.

Step 4 - If you are successful after the panel interview, you will be invited to a second stage panel interview with people like the hiring manager and someone from the Product leadership team. This will normally be held in person at The Woolwich Centre, although reasonable adjustments can be made where needed.

Talk to us or ask any questions

If you'd like an informal chat about the role, you can email Alex Sturtivant (alex.sturtivant@royalgreenwich.gov.uk).

If you need help to view or access this opportunity, email recruitment@royalgreenwich.gov.uk or call 020-8921-8977.

Diversity Statement: Royal Borough of Greenwich values the diversity of its community and aims to have a workforce that reflects this. We therefore encourage applications from all sections of the community.

Advert Close: All vacancies close at midnight unless otherwise stated.

Early Advert Close: Royal Borough of Greenwich reserves the right to close any job advert earlier than the advertised closing date where there is reason to do so (for example high volume of applications).

How Applications are Scored: Each application is scored according to how well the supporting statements addresses each point on the Person Specification for the role. Candidates will be short-listed for interview on the extent to which they meet the specific points within the Person Specification. The Person Specification is supplied with the job advert. When completing your application, please use the supporting statements section to tell us how you meet each of the points on the Person Specification. We need to have this information in order to consider your application.

Salary: Salaries advertised are for a standard working week of 35 hours unless otherwise stated. Please use this 'Salary Calculator to help you calculate a pro rata salary.

Our Staff Values: Our Staff Values are important to us. Candidates will be continuously assessed against our staff values throughout the recruitment process. Where candidates demonstrate views and behaviours that do not meet the standards of our staff values, we reserve the right to reject their application/ registration.

Apply

Salary

PO5 - £53,919 to £57,150. Offers above this amount may be made up with a Market Supplement Agreement, dependent upon salary benchmarking data