Product Manager - Central Government Digital Programme
Client: Central Government
Rate: £530 per day, Inside IR35
Contract: Until 31 March 2027, with potential 6-month rolling extensions thereafter
Location: Remote, with very occasional travel to Telford
Clearance: BPSS
Role Overview
We are looking for an experienced Product Manager to join a major Central Government digital programme.
Operating at SFIA Level 5, you will manage one or more digital products or services, working with a high degree of autonomy to shape product direction, prioritise delivery and ensure alignment with user needs, policy and wider business outcomes.
Key Responsibilities
Product Ownership & Delivery
Own and manage the product backlog, defining and prioritising user stories aligned to programme outcomes.
Ensure delivery meets agreed acceptance criteria and business/user needs.
Work closely with Delivery Managers to ensure plans, milestones and outputs are achieved.
Stakeholder Engagement
Engage with Central Government, delivery partner and wider programme stakeholders to capture requirements and manage expectations.
Influence decision-making through strong communication and relationship management.
User & Business Focus
Translate business requirements into clear product deliverables.
Use data, research and feedback to shape product direction and optimise outcomes.
Ensure alignment with GDS standards and user-centred design principles.
Agile Product Management
Operate within Agile environments, adapting and applying Lean practices to maximise delivery effectiveness.
Work with Scrum teams to remove blockers and maintain delivery momentum.
Governance & Assurance
Ensure deliverables are tracked, reported and meet acceptance criteria.
Contribute to governance, reporting and programme-level decision-making.
Required Experience
Proven Product Manager experience within the UK Public Sector, ideally within a Central Government or GDS-aligned environment.
Strong Agile delivery background across Scrum and/or Kanban environments.
Experience working within large Systems Integrator (SI) environments.
Ability to translate user needs into clear, deliverable outcomes.
Comfortable working within SOW-driven, outcome-based engagements.
Typical Tooling / Environment
Jira / Confluence for backlog management and delivery tracking.
Agile multidisciplinary teams across engineering, design, QA and BA.
Complex Central Government programme governance and delivery structures