Product Owner

At Serco, not only is the nature of the work we do important, everyone has an important role to play, from caring for vulnerable people to managing complex public services. We are a team of 50,000 people responsible for delivering essential public services around the world in areas including defence, transport, justice, immigration, healthcare and citizen services. We are innovators, committed to redesigning and improving public services for the benefit of everyone. By joining Serco you will have unlimited access to our Global Employee Networks SercoInspire (Gender), SercoEmbrace (Multicultural), SercoUnlimited (Disability) and In@Serco (LGBT & Networks). Serco Employee Networks, led by colleagues who are passionate about diversity, inclusion and belonging. Home Based with UK Wide Travel Permanent, Full Time Competitive Salary + Car + Excellent Corporate Benefits Package Here at Serco, we have a newly generated critical role as part of the Contract leadership Teams, acting as a Business Partner across our Justice & Immigration (J&I) Contract. Reporting to the Justice Director, The Product Owner will be responsible for acting upon the strategic direction of the Analytics & Strategy Director to prioritise and co-ordinate development activity ensuring our key operational application supports the business contract to achieve its strategic goals which will include supporting to develop the IT, Software and Development solution and roadmap across the contracts. This role would suit someone who has come from a Change, Senior Business Analyst or Senior Business Operations background as they will need to matrix manage Business Analysts and the Scrum Master to ensure delivery of software enhancements in line with the business priorities and ensure value is delivered to the operations, tracking return on investment. While not necessarily holding direct technical/development expertise, the post holder should have a strong understanding of Agile software delivery and be used to working within a matrix structure, able to coordinate resource effectively to support the delivery pipeline. The role will also need to be able to identify and work with business subject matter experts and drive conversations at a senior stakeholder level to deliver new processes standardisation of approach across a variety of contracts. The role holder will be responsible for working collaboratively with subject matter experts to define detailed requirements and will need to foster and support innovation aligned to the overall business strategy driving business process change and enhancements while managing successful relationships across the operational and technical development teams to ensure these are delivered. The Product Owner is not expected to drive decisions on the design of applications / processes but rather to understand the requirements and priorities and the enabling activities to ensure that the business objectives are delivered. This will include supporting the Analytics & Strategy Director in engaging with our key Government customers in relation to application/service development to ensure parameters of work are understood and in line with contractual requirements, thus meeting our performance objectives and maintaining our commercial position. Key Responsibilities - Responsible for ensuring day to day delivery of the strategic objectives of the Analytics & Strategy Director supporting the business to get what they want and need from the technology systems - Support the Analytics & Strategy Director to develop and maintain a clear model of how technology solutions will provide value to the business and customers (understanding the cost structure, in-license models, components and suppliers) - Work with the BAT testing lead to accept and coordinate with the BAT team and attend the daily triage call, to guide the development team on defects, and represent the business - Work with the Change Managers to act as an advocate to the business on all upcoming changes, prepare the release communications, and co-ordinate education for the business where required - Collaborate with technology teams to ensure solutions are deployed effectively to internal customers and users - Collaborate with System and Solution Architect/Engineering to define and maintain the non-functional requirements (NFRs) to ensure that the solution meets relevant standards and other system quality requirements (NFRs define system attributes such as security, reliability, performance, maintainability, scalability, and usability. They serve as constraints or restrictions on the design of the system across the different backlogs. They ensure the usability and effectiveness of the entire system Key Skills - Demonstrable experience of stakeholder management and engagement with evidence of influencing and driving team performance in a matrix environment - Demonstrable experience in the ability to analyse data and produce accurate and timely reports - Experience in end-to-end process mapping (VISIO) - Excellent time management skills and ability to manage and deliver a variety of priority tasks, prioritising own workload to meet specific timescales without prompt - Experienced in the design and control of project schedules - Experienced in change control and project change management - Lean 6Sigma Green-Belt or demonstrable experience in Operational excellence and continuous improvement capability with willing to gain formal accreditation - Demonstrable experience in project delivery tools and methods (MS Project/Asana/Jira) Why Serco A place you can make an impact - The nature of our business means you will do interesting work that matters delivering essential services that touch peoples lives. A place you can count on - Our diverse UK-wide operations offer unrivalled opportunities to learn and develop. Youll be able to broaden your experience and apply your skills in new ways. A place for you - We are a motivated team who will encourage you and help you to succeed within a supportive and safe culture. What we offer - Pension up to 6% - Employee Assistance Programme - Chance to contribute to innovation in the Justice sector - A company passionate about diversity and inclusion - A Serco benefits portal offering a wide range of discounts for major high street brands in Retail, Leisure & Hospitality - A safe and supportive culture Apply Please click on the apply button to complete your application. Occasionally we receive a large volume of applications for our roles and when that happens we sometimes bring the closing date forward, so please apply promptly to avoid disappointment. At Serco, we see people first and foremost for their performance and potential. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive organisation that supports the needs of all. As such we will make reasonable adjustments at interview through to employment for our candidates and strongly encourage applications from a diverse candidate pool. We are open to discussions around flexibility and flexible working. We operate a hybrid work structure in many of our business areas. We are proudly Disability Confident Leader employers and holder of the Gold Inclusive Employer Standard. Disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job will be given the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities at an interview. For help with your application please contact . At Serco we support fair access to employment for those with unspent criminal convictions through the Ban the Box pledge (some may be exempt due to the nature of the role and the security clearance required). Please contact our recruitment team directly on to discuss. Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme Disability Confident About Disability Confident A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.