Service Owner/Service Lead (Remote)

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Job description

Service Owner for multiple public-facing digital services

Our Public Sector client are seeking a Service Owner to help define and establish the role in the Digital Services team, carry out key Service Owner tasks, aid wider recruitment in the team, help set overall service vision and define cross-service blueprint and roadmap.

The current situation

As a department we're responsible for 200+ products and services making up client's public presence on the web. We're in the process of consolidating those but even once that's complete each of our product teams will be responsible for many products/services. To add to that, users often need to interact with multiple products/services, owned by multiple teams, in order to complete journeys. We're looking for someone to help us define and establish a new Service Owner role to take responsibility for the overall service vision, end-to-end user journey(s), department-level prioritisation, service blueprint and roadmap for the department.

We've recently introduced a new approach to Product teams in our department and have recruited additional Product Managers to enable that. We are in the process of organising ourselves into four teams - three multidisciplinary teams (Finding, Accessing and Understanding) and one Platform team. We currently have resource gaps in all of the teams which we're working to recruit into.

Working with

The Service Owner will work closely with the Head of Digital Services, Product Managers, Delivery Mangers and discipline leads as well as members of the wider Digital Services team. They will also be expected to work with colleagues across the Digital Directorate and senior stakeholders across The client as required.

The role

• Scoping Service Owner role and responsibilities with HoD, Product and Delivery Managers and key stakeholders. Including how the role interacts with other roles, eg Product Managers, and defining how the role could evolve.
• Test that this role definition ensures nothing falls through the gaps from a service perspective.
• Lead the definition of an overall service vision and support Product Managers in creating service visions for their areas of responsibility.
• Lead the definition of a cross-service, multi-year roadmap.
• With HoD, Operations Manager and team leads, support and help guide wider recruitment in the team, including contributing to job descriptions and interviewing.

Key Skills/Experience

• Previous experience as a Service Owner, ideally in Government, with in-depth understanding of the role from a DDaT framework perspective.
• A credible and expert leader able to inspire and motivate others, lead innovative thinking and take a strategic view.
• Experience of Matrix-management, skilled at building trust, reflecting, motivating and challenging team members, and innovating to create or tailor new ways of working.
• Strong diplomacy and negotiation skills, allowing you to engage with colleagues and senior stakeholders, build effective relationships and achieve buy-in collaboratively.
• Experience of working in an agile product development environment, confidently using a range of product management principles and approaches.
• Experience leading collaborative development of service vision, blueprint and roadmap, ideally for multiple interdependent services.
• Excellent organisational and operational delivery skills, with proven experience of working effectively in a fast paced, evolving environment, developing a service over time to meet user needs continuously.
• User-focused, with proven experience of delivering robust, secure and inclusive digital products that meet user needs, technical requirements, legal or policy constraints and the quality expectations of the business.
• Experience in relevant sector(s) (government, archives, information services, culture and heritage).
• Familiarity with and experience applying Government Digital Service Standards, Technology Code of Practice and the Spend Control process.