Product Owner

Job description

Phoenix enables digital transformation across the UK public sector, empowering organisations to innovate with cloud and hybrid infrastructures, data, AI, security and collaboration technologies.

We are now hiring a Product Owner to join our product and delivery function, helping to ensure our teams deliver valuable outcomes that align with business priorities and customer needs.

This role focuses on managing and prioritising work for delivery teams, ensuring colleagues have clear direction, context and objectives. Working closely with stakeholders, Business Analysts and delivery teams, you will help translate business needs into actionable work that delivers measurable value.

You will play an important role in shaping priorities, supporting delivery and continuously improving how products and teams operate.

What will you be doing?

Backlog Management & Prioritisation - Own and manage the product backlog for your product or workstream. - Prioritise work based on business value, urgency and dependencies. - Ensure backlog items are clearly defined, refined and ready for delivery. - Review and adjust priorities as requirements and business needs evolve. - Maintain alignment between delivery priorities and the wider product roadmap.

Delivery Support - Work closely with Developers, Testers, Business Analysts and Delivery Managers to support successful delivery. - Provide clarity on priorities, scope and expected outcomes. - Participate in Agile ceremonies including sprint planning, reviews and retrospectives. - Support decision-making and help remove blockers impacting delivery. - Clarify requirements and success criteria throughout the delivery lifecycle.

Requirements & Product Definition - Collaborate with stakeholders and Business Analysts to ensure requirements are understood. - Provide business context and prioritisation guidance for delivery teams. - Support the refinement of user stories and acceptance criteria. - Contribute to requirement definition where appropriate. - Participate in discovery activities and help translate opportunities into prioritised backlog items.

Stakeholder Engagement - Act as a key point of contact between stakeholders and delivery teams. - Communicate priorities, progress and changes clearly. - Gather stakeholder feedback and incorporate it into backlog planning. - Balance competing priorities and support effective decision-making. - Ensure transparency around priorities and delivery decisions. - Escalate strategic conflicts or risks where required.

Product Value & Continuous Improvement - Support the tracking of outputs, outcomes and product performance. - Gather user and stakeholder feedback to inform future improvements. - Contribute to continuous improvement across delivery processes and ways of working. - Promote a focus on delivering value rather than simply delivering outputs.

What are we looking for? - Experience working as a Product Owner, Business Analyst or similar delivery-focused role. - Experience working within Agile environments. - Strong organisational and prioritisation skills. - Ability to communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders. - Strong stakeholder management and relationship-building skills. - Ability to balance customer needs, business goals and delivery constraints. - Comfortable working with ambiguity and evolving requirements. - Collaborative approach with a focus on transparency and teamwork. - Ability to support delivery in Agile, Scrum, Kanban or hybrid environments.

Experience & Qualifications - Experience managing backlogs and supporting delivery teams. - Experience gathering, refining and prioritising requirements. - Experience working across multiple teams or workstreams desirable. - Familiarity with Agile delivery tools such as Jira or similar platforms. - Understanding of backlog management and prioritisation techniques.

Desirable Qualifications: - Product Owner certification such as PSPO, CSPO or equivalent.

Practical stuff

Where is the role based? Primary location is our HQ in Pocklington (YO42).

What about hybrid/remote working? Hybrid working is supported, with flexibility depending on business requirements.

How many interviews? Following a screen with the Recruitment Team, you can expect a two-stage interview process — one online and one in-person.

Important BPSS Check

As part of our recruitment process and due to the nature of the work we do, all employees are required to undertake a BPSS check. While some employees may require further security clearance, the BPSS check is mandatory and all offers of employment are conditional upon successful completion.

Have you made it this far?

If you're still reading, we think there's a strong chance you might be our kind of person.

Here's the thing, research suggests many women and underrepresented groups don't apply unless they meet every requirement. Even if you don't tick every box above, we encourage you to introduce yourself.

We believe a diversity of perspectives and experiences makes a team stronger, and the stronger our team, the more successful we will be.