Associate Product ManagerJobsGoPublic

Job summary

The Government Digital Service (GDS) is the digital centre of government — we are responsible for setting, leading and delivering the vision for a modern digital government.

Our priorities are to drive a modern digital government, by:

joining up public sector services

harnessing the power of AI for the public good

strengthening and extending our digital and data public infrastructure

elevating leadership and investing in talent

funding for outcomes and procuring for growth and innovation

committing to transparency and driving accountability

We are home to the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence (I.AI), the world-leading GOV.UK and at the forefront of coordinating the UK’s geospatial strategy and activity. We lead the Government Digital and Data function and champion the work of digital teams across government.

We’re part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and employ more than 1,000 people all over the UK, with hubs in Manchester, London and Bristol.

The Government Digital Service is where talent translates into impact. From your first day, you’ll be working with some of the world’s most highly-skilled digital professionals, all contributing their knowledge to make change on a national scale.

Join us for rewarding work that makes a difference across the UK. You'll solve some of the nation’s highest-priority digital challenges, helping millions of people access services they need.

Former DSIT recruitment campaigns are continuing as usual, but candidates should be aware that following the Government’s announcement on the changes to some civil service departments, roles will be subject to the machinery of government moves and will ultimately be in one of the new departments. We will provide more information if you are selected for a role. This work remains of high importance to the civil service, and we thank you for your continued interest.

Details on changes to the machinery of government

Job description

The Products & Services Directorate (P&S) within GDS is responsible for the GOV.UK app, as well as common capabilities, products and tools for others to use and create great public services that are accessible, inclusive and easy to use:

GOV.UK app: building a personalised and proactive relationship with users, making it easier to interact with government

GOV.UK AI: maximising opportunities of current technological advances to develop citizen facing AI experiences

GOV.UK Pay, GOV.UK Notify, GOV.UK Forms and Emergency Alerts: building services once, to be used across government, local authorities and police forces

This role will be based within the Emergency Alerts Service, working on our award-winning product. Since its launch in 2023, Emergency Alerts have been used to warn people of various threats to life, including storms in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, flooding in Cumbria, and an unexploded bomb in Plymouth. In the year ahead, we expect the product to continue to grow in use and prominence.

As we continue to enhance the service and improve our ability to meet user needs, you will play an important role in shaping what comes next. You will help us understand user problems, explore opportunities, and work with a multidisciplinary team to turn ideas into improvements and outcomes that make the service simpler, more effective and better able to meet the needs of those who use it.

As an Associate Product Manager you’ll:

develop a deep understanding of the users’ needs and champion these in assignments

work with other product managers and DDat multidisciplinary colleagues, supporting iterative and user-led design

engage with users and stakeholders in a range of settings

help define, explain and iterate product visions that are compelling to the service users, team and stakeholders

support the management of product backlogs, writing user stories and making decisions about prioritisation based on evidence

set measurable goals for product teams and reporting against these to demonstrate progress against stated benefits

challenging and improving disproportionate organisational processes where these impact the pace of a team. Influencing and make positive changes to the organisation

Person specification

We’re interested in people who:

advocating for a product-led approach, focused on problems and outcomes, explaining how user and business needs should be balanced to deliver value for users and government

have experience in a digital product environment in a multi disciplinary team (not necessarily working as a Product Manager, but any relevant experience which prioritises the delivery of value to users early, and often)

have strong verbal, written and visual communication skills that you are able to tailor to the needs of the audience

have experience of engaging with users and identifying how their needs can and are being met by products and services

are familiar with monitoring and reporting measurable performance targets

have set up and managed a backlog of work, and have been responsible for setting the priority order

Benefits

There are many benefits of working at GDS, including:

flexible hybrid working with flexi-time and the option to work part-time or condensed hours

a Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%

25 days of annual leave, increasing by a day each year up to a maximum of 30 days

an extra day off for the King’s birthday

an in-year bonus scheme to recognise high performance

career progression and coaching, including a training budget for personal development

a focus on wellbeing with access to an employee assistance programme

job satisfaction from making government services easier to use and more inclusive for people across the UK

advances on pay, including for travel season tickets

death in service benefits

cycle to work scheme and facilities

access to an employee discounts scheme

10 learning days per year

volunteering opportunities (5 special leave days per year)

access to a suite of learning activities through Civil Service learning

Any move to Government Digital Service from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

Office attendance

The Department operates a discretionary hybrid working policy, which provides for a combination of working hours from your place of work and from your home in the UK. The current expectation for staff is to attend the office or non-home based location for 40-60% of the time over the accounting period.

DSIT does not normally offer full home working (i.e. working at home); but we do offer a variety of flexible working options (including occasionally working from home).

Security

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.

Please note that this role requires SC clearance, which would normally need 5 years’ UK residency in the past 5 years. This is not an absolute requirement, but supplementary checks may be needed where individuals have not lived in the UK for that period. This may mean your security clearance (and therefore your appointment) will take longer or, in some cases, not be possible.

For meaningful checks to be carried out, you will need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time, to enable appropriate checks to be carried out and produce a result which provides the required level of assurance. Whilst a lack of UK residency in itself is not necessarily a bar to a security clearance, and expectation of UK residency may range from 3 to 5 years. Failure to meet the residency requirements needed for the role may result in the withdrawal of provisional jobs offers.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

The standard selection process for roles at GDS consists of:

a simple application screening process - We only ask for a CV and cover letter of up to 750 words. Important tip - please ensure that your cover letter includes how you meet the skills and experience listed in the “person specification” section above

a 60 minute video interview, which includes 15 minutes presentation. Please note - If you are invited to an interview, you will present to the panel at the start of the interview. This task will test the technical skills: Applying user-centred insights and Managing product outcomes

Depending on how many applications we get, there might also be an extra stage before the video interview, for example a phone interview or a technical exercise.

While we value the use of AI technology to enhance our daily work, we also value the personal touch and urge applicants to write cover letters without the use of AI to emphasise their own unique experiences.

In the event we receive a high volume of applications, we will conduct the initial sift against the lead criteria which is: advocating for a product-led approach, focused on problems and outcomes, explaining how user and business needs should be balanced to deliver value for users and government.

In the Civil Service, we use Success Profiles to evaluate your skills and ability. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, increases performance and improves diversity and inclusivity. We’ll be assessing your technical abilities, skills, experience and behaviours that are relevant to this role.

For this role we’ll be assessing you against the following Civil Service Behaviours:

working together

making effective decisions

seeing the bigger picture

communicating and influencing

We’ll also be assessing your experience and specialist technical skills against the following skills defined in the Government Digital and Data Capability Framework for the Associate Product Manager (SEO role

Agile and Lean practices

Product management

Product leadership

Stakeholder relationship management

Applying user-centred insights

Managing product outcomes

Recruitment Timeline

Sift completion: 20/11/2026

Panel interviews: Starting from 30/11/2026

Want to know more about who Government Digital and Data are? Click Here

Candidates that do not pass the interview but have demonstrated an acceptable standard may be considered for similar roles at a lower grade.

A reserve list will be held for a period of 12 months, from which further appointments can be made.

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service D&I Strategy.

Sponsorship

DSIT cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign. DSIT holds a Visa sponsorship licence but this can only be used for certain roles and this campaign does not qualify.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

UK nationals

nationals of the Republic of Ireland

nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK

nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)

nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)

individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020

Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

Name : [email protected]

Email : [email protected]

Recruitment team

Email : [email protected]

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact [email protected] in the first instance.

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive you can contact the Civil Service Commission by email: [email protected] Or in writing: Civil Service Commission, Room G/8 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ.