Vacancy -- Lead Product Manager - Digital Data and Technology

Working for the Civil Service

The Welsh Government's recruitment processes are underpinned by the principle of selection for appointment on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles.

The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

Vacancy Details

Welsh Government
Welsh Government
Grade 7 - £53,440 - £63,900
Full time (applications are welcome from people who work part time, as part of a job share or who work full time)
Permanent
Pan Wales, Other location
Due to the nature of this role, regular travel to Cardiff will be required.
'Pan Wales' means that the location in which the vacancy can be based is flexible, subject to the needs of the business. Please note it may not always be possible to accommodate a preference for a specific office location, but requests will be taken into consideration.
Assessment events will be held in Cardiff between 19th March and 23rd April.

Purpose of Post:

The Lead Product Manager role is part of the Digital Data and Technology (DDaT) Profession in Welsh Government and is aligned to the Lead Product Manager role in the UK Government’s DDaT Framework. A product manager is responsible for the quality of their products. They use their knowledge of user needs and business goals to frame problems and set priorities for their delivery teams.

As a Lead product manager, you will:

  • form the vision for their product and engage their teams and stakeholders in the development of that vision over time
  • keep people informed about the development of their products and promote their uptake
  • represent users throughout the delivery process and use their feedback to inform continuous improvement

There are two vacancies available in the following teams:

Geography and Technology

The Geography and Technology team provide geographical information services to the rest of Welsh Government and lead on the technology solutions used by Knowledge and Analytical Services divisions to analyse and publish statistics, geographical information and other data. This work helps support a number of external business applications providing critical information to citizens as well as feeding in to Ministerial decisions and policy development.

The Lead Product manager will be responsible for managing the ICT infrastructure supporting Knowledge and Analytical Services teams through working with the team’s infrastructure manager and corporate ICT. They will be the Product Manager for a number of external applications such as StatsWales and MyLocal School, and be responsible for the infrastructure supporting the new DataMapWales application. There is also the opportunity to be part of the organisation making a step change in data science capability through working alongside a new Data Science Unit on developing the infrastructure and tools to enable new innovative data-driven projects to happen.

Business Wales

The Business Wales team sits within the Business Division of Economy Skills and Natural Resources, and delivers business support to individuals to start a business, and existing business to grow.

The Lead Product Manager will lead the technical and business intelligence agenda within the department which includes the development of the Business Wales family of websites, both technical infrastructure and website content, the Sell2Wales website including a role with procurement policy to further the use of public procurement in Wales, and the Business Account System (our CRM) which will include analysis and presentation of business intelligence dashboards for Senior Management Teams. The role will also involve leading a team of circa 15 people split between our Llandudno Junction and Treforest offices.

If you decide to apply for this opportunity, you will be matched and assigned to a specific role for a minimum of 18 months.

Key tasks:

What the organisation will expect

  • You will have the ability to work under pressure, be flexible, proactive and self-motivated. You will have the ambition to lead and motivate a team to successfully deliver within a challenging, pressured and fast-paced environment
  • You will be able to take an innovative approach, looking for opportunities to do things differently and responsive enough to adapt and develop new options as things change
  • As an effective Civil Servant, you will have an understanding of the political landscape and the role that Ministers play in setting the agenda for your business area; an understanding of how to get things done with regard to governance and financial management processes; an ability to manage risk, making informed decisions with little or no guidance; and be able to clearly communicate at all levels, including with senior stakeholders and Ministers.

What your team will expect

  • You will value diversity and inclusion, creating an environment where individuals feel safe to challenge, share ideas and express concerns
  • You will be a role model, who is able to motivate and inspire others, establish a vision and bring others on board, providing clear direction and priorities for the team, ensuring that every member understands their contribution to achieving objectives, and feel capable of fulfilling their role.
  • You will support the development of others, demonstrating an understanding of the importance of learning, planning for and providing opportunities and encouragement for individuals to develop, as well as investing time for your own development

What key stakeholders will expect

  • You will be able to use sound judgement, evidence and knowledge to provide credible advice and guidance to both internal and external stakeholders. 
  • You will understand the importance of building and maintaining constructive relationships, both within and outside Welsh Government. You will have strong influencing skills and the ability to build collaborative relationships that both challenge with support, and build trust and mutual respect across organisational boundaries
  • You will be able to use creative thoughts to develop recommendations, and take advantage of opportunities to work collaboratively across boundaries

Development opportunities:

You can expect to be supported to establish yourself in the grade, and be the best that you can be.  You will be encouraged to take advantage of opportunities for continuous development, and to offer the opportunity for others to learn from you as you progress.

Closing Date:

28/02/2020, 16:00

Eligibility

Posts recruited to as part of this recruitment campaign are broadly open to UK nationals, those with right to remain and work in the UK and those that meet the Civil Service Nationality Rules only. Check your eligibility here:

Prior to appointment, all successful applicants will be required to produce original, acceptable documents as part of the pre-employment checks. If it becomes apparent at a later stage in the process that you aren’t eligible to apply, your application will be withdrawn, or offer retracted.

Equality and Diversity

The Welsh Government is committed to providing services which embrace diversity and which promote equality of opportunity. This is underpinned by the Equality Act 2010 and will be adhered to at each stage of the recruitment process. Our goal is to ensure that these commitments are also embedded in our day-to-day working practices with all our customers, colleagues and partners.

We are committed to being an anti-racist organisation and increasing diversity in the Welsh Government by removing barriers and supporting all our staff to reach their potential. We are committed to recruiting Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people and disabled people who are currently under-represented in Welsh Government.

We welcome applications from everyone regardless of age, marriage and civil partnership (both same sex and opposite sex), impairment or health condition, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, gender identity or gender expression.

We are a Stonewall Diversity Champion and a Disability Confident Level 3 (Leader) organisation. Key to supporting this work and providing peer support are five Board sponsored Staff Networks (Disability Awareness and Support (DAAS); Minority Ethnic Support Network (MESN); Mind Matters (Mental health and well-being); PRISM (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex +) and Women Together.

Disability Confident

A Great Place to Work for Veterans

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.

Welsh Language Requirements

The Welsh Government is a bilingual organisation and Welsh language skills are considered an asset to the organisation. We encourage and support staff to learn, develop and use their Welsh language skills in the workplace. 

The following list of language requirements represents an objective assessment by the line manager on behalf of the Welsh Government of the Welsh language skills required to undertake the duties of this particular post.

Not necessary to undertake the duties of this post

Social Partnership

In Welsh Government, the relationship between the employer and trade unions is based on social partnership. We believe our goals can best be achieved by management and trade unions working together.

Our 3 recognised trade unions are:
•         PCS
•         Prospect
•         FDA

This relationship is underpinned by a partnership agreement. This sets out how our unions work with Welsh Government on issues such as:
•         pay
•         terms and conditions
•         policies and procedures
•         organisational change.

Our Welsh Government trade union colleagues work together to give their members a real say in the workplace. They make sure that the interests of their members are promoted and protected. They also help reduce inequalities and improve terms and conditions.

The Welsh Government has an excellent track record of working in partnership with its trade unions. We encourage staff to get involved. We support you to join a recognised trade union, to ensure your voice is heard in the workplace. and to learn more about trade unions and partnership working.

Competencies / Job Specific Criteria

Keeping in mind the Key Tasks above, you should present your Personal Statement in context of the following 6 Behaviours:

What your Team will expect?

Agile Working - Coaches and leads teams in Agile and Lean practices, determining the right approach for the team to take and evaluating this through the life of a project

Developing Self and Others - Ensure that development opportunities are available for all individuals regardless of their background or desire to achieve promotion


What your stakeholders will expect?

Communicating and Influencing – Remain open-minded and impartial in discussions, whilst respecting the diverse interests and opinions of others.

Life-Cycle Perspective - You can plan and engage with the appropriate stakeholders at a particular stage in the project.


What your organisation will expect?

Making Effective Decisions - Find the best option by identifying positives, negatives, risks and implications.

Leadership - Stand by, promote or defend own and team's actions and decisions where needed.

Assessment Process

Throughout the entire assessment process, candidates will be assessed against Behaviours from the Civil Service Success Profile and the Digital Data and Technology (DDaT) framework.

Leadership, Making Effective Decisions, Developing Self and Others, Seeing the Big Picture, Communicating & Influencing, Delivering at Pace, Agile Working and Life-cycle Perspective.

 

Sift Stage

Your Personal Statement will be assessed against the Behaviours listed in the 'Areas to Evidence' section of the advert. Your Personal Statement should not exceed 1500 words - any content that exceeds the 1500 word limit will be discounted.

Your CV will be used to help inform the panel of your career history, however it will not contribute to your overall sift score. CV's should be no longer than 2 sides of A4

You should use the template provided to submit your CV and Personal Statement

Sift outcomes are expected to be issued w/c 9 March 2020. Some of your sift scores will contribute to your overall assessment outcome. If you are successful at sift, you will not be able to request your sift scores until the full assessment process has completed.


 

Assessment Stage

All candidates that are successful at sift, will be invited to attend an assessment event where you will undertake 3 exercises;

Technical


The Technical Exercise will be a written, scenario based exercise. Candidates will demonstrate their ability to articulate technical information and methodology in a way that’s easy to understand.

Behaviours being assessed - Leadership, Delivering at Pace, Seeing the Big Picture, Making Effective Decisions, Communicating and Influencing, Agile Working & Life-cycle Perspective

Leadership


This will be a simulation of a meeting which involves candidates taking part in a behavioural exercise that simulates a one-to-one stakeholder meeting between the candidate and a role player based on a specific brief. This brief contains background information, a description of the situation and notes about the person he/she is about to meet. The timings and broad objectives of the meeting are also outlined. Candidates will have approximately twenty minutes to prepare prior to meeting the role player and will need to resolve the situation in a way that is mutually beneficial for both parties.

Behaviours being assessed may include - Leadership, Delivering at Pace, Seeing the Big Picture, Working Together & Communicating and Influencing

Interview


The interview will involve a blend of behaviour and strength-based questions. The behaviour questions will be used to explore in detail what you are capable of and strengths questions to also explore what you enjoy and your motivations relevant to the grade requirements.  

Behaviours being assessed may include – Leadership, Developing Self and Others, Making Effective Decisions & Working Together, Agile Working & Life-cycle Perspective

There is no expectation or requirement for you to prepare for the strengths-based questions in advance of the interview, though you may find it helpful to spend some time reflecting on what you enjoy doing and what you do well.

Strengths that will be tested during the interview may include; Inclusive, Decisive, Team Leader and Negotiator.

 

Final Outcome

Following the assessment events, outcomes are expected to be issued early May. 

Other Information

  • Unless stated otherwise in ‘actual starting salary’, all candidates will start at the minimum of the pay scale being appointed to (this includes existing civil servants).This is not negotiable.
  • Unless stated otherwise in ‘type of opportunity’, this recruitment advert is not open on a Loan or Secondment basis.
  • For more information on the eligibility criteria and terms and conditions for Loan and Secondment positions in Welsh Government, please see external recruitment candidate guidance.
  • Unless stated otherwise in ‘Location of Post’ the role/s recruited to via this campaign can only be worked in the UK, not overseas.

Our Commitment to Equality

Due to current under-representation in the organisation, candidates who declare that they are disabled or from a black or minority ethnic (BAME) background will automatically be put forward to the Assessment Gateway if their application meets the minimum criteria. We can only do this if candidates provide this information in their application. Information on BAME candidates will be taken from the equality monitoring form and it is important that you complete this as part of your application.


Recruitment Adjustments

Welsh Government is committed to the social model of disability and to making reasonable adjustments to remove any barriers in the recruitment process for staff with impairments, health conditions or who use British Sign Language.  We can make adjustments to any part of the recruitment process (the application as well as the assessment centre) and we will ensure that disabled candidates are matched to roles which are compatible with workplace adjustments. We can provide advice to staff who think they do or might need reasonable adjustments but who need to know more about the assessment process and what sort of adjustments we could make to ensure fair assessment. 

If you know you need (or think you might need) any type of reasonable adjustment at any stage of the recruitment process, please contact the Priority Resourcing team as soon as possible to discuss any required adjustments.

officeofthechiefdigitalofficer@gov.wales

How to apply

Please upload in the 'Attach Competency/Job Specific Criteria Evidence' section of the online application form.

All applications for this vacancy should be made online via the Welsh Government's online application system.  If you have a disability which would prevent you from applying on-line, please e-mail PriorityResourcing@gov.wales to request an application pack in an alternative format, or to request a reasonable adjustment related to a disability in order to submit your application.

To apply, you'll need to have an account on our online application system.  Click the 'Apply' button below, and you'll be asked to 'Log in' if you already have an account, or 'Register' if you don't yet have an account.  Registration takes just a few minutes to complete.  You'll need an e-mail address to be able to register.  Once you've registered for an account and logged in, you'll be taken to the online application form, which you'll need to fully complete and submit before the deadline on the closing date.  

If you’d like to apply for this vacancy in Welsh, please use the ‘Newid Iaith / Change Language’ link at the top of this page, to take you to the Welsh version of this advert, from which you can apply in Welsh.

When evidencing your suitability for the post, it is recommended that you refer to the Civil Service Competency Framework (link)

**Please note:  If you already have an Appoint account and would like to update your username and e-mail address to the new @gov.wales address, simply log in using your old details, click on your name in the menu bar, and select ‘Edit Personal Details’ in the dropdown list.  You can update any of your registered personal details on this page.**

Grievance and Complaints

Anyone who believes they have been treated unfairly, or has a grievance or complaint, about how the process was conducted should either write to the Head of Resourcing, Welsh Government, Cathays Park 2, Cardiff CF10 3NQ or email SharedServiceHelpdesk@gov.wales.  If you are unhappy with the outcome of the complaint raised with the Welsh Government and feel that the principles of appointment on merit through fair and open competition have not been met you have the right to pursue your grievance with the Civil Service Commission.

This vacancy is closed to applications.