Product Owner

Join Social Security Scotland and help shape the products and services that support millions of pounds of benefit delivery across Scotland. Working with multidisciplinary teams and stakeholders, you'll lead product priorities, drive continuous improvement and ensure services deliver value for users, operations and the organisation.

You'll join a team delivering and enhancing business-critical products and services that support key operational and organisational priorities. Working across digital, data, policy and operations, you'll help ensure services remain effective, user-focused and aligned to legislative and business requirements. Areas of work may include fraud and error prevention, service assurance, debt management and recovery, and the delivery of wider products and services.

A Product Owner is the lead for the product team in their programme or service.

At this role level, you will:

• be as interested in managing people as managing products
• work closely with the head of product (where they exist as a separate role) to provide leadership and direction to all products in a programme or a local product community
• maintain the high level roadmap
• be involved in a range of programme management activities in support of the service owner or programme lead
• be involved in hiring associate product managers, product managers, senior product managers and contractors
• provide leadership in your programmes and across the local community

Responsibilities:

Agile Leadership and Ways of Working

• Coach and lead teams in Agile and Lean practices, implementing effective ways of working by adapting your approach throughout the product lifecycle and applying internal insight and external best practice to drive impactful outcomes.
• Act as a recognised advocate for Agile ways of working, driving continuous improvement, challenging thinking, introducing innovative approaches, and fostering organisational Agile maturity through collaboration across teams and wider digital and data communities to achieve better outcomes.
• Act as an escalation point for major operational issues.
• Maintain awareness of the wider digital economy, emerging technologies, and cross-sector practices, applying relevant insights to improve delivery.
  

Product Strategy, Vision and Value

• Set clear long-term vision and strategic objectives for your product portfolio, maintaining focus on priorities that deliver the greatest value and ensure products and services meet the evolving needs of the users across multiple channels..
• Understand the marketplace and user needs, building compelling business cases and clearly articulating the value of products to gain stakeholder buy-in.
• Ensure products are effectively adopted and deliver measurable benefits by aligning delivery to business cases and integrating products with wider services.
  

Delivery and Product Lifecycle Management

• Lead multidisciplinary teams across the full product lifecycle, selecting appropriate tools and techniques at each stage to optimise delivery and using experience to guide teams in delivering high-quality, user-centred outcomes..
• Identify, manage and mitigate risks across all stages of the lifecycle, while developing sustainable support models.
  

Problem Solving and Continuous Improvement

• Anticipate and define problems within a wider organisational context, clearly articulating issues and enabling others to develop strong problem-solving capabilities.
• Anticipate constraints, understanding when to challenge or remove barriers to enable delivery.
  

Leadership, Collaboration and Capability Building

• Influence, challenge and support stakeholders at all levels to drive timely and effective decision-making.
• Coach and develop others, contributing to the growth and assessment of teams and supporting their progression.
• Build capability across teams, fostering a culture of learning and continuous improvement.

Success Profiles

We use an assessment framework called ‘Success Profiles’ which lists the elements we test and provides detailed descriptions of each. Find out more about the framework here.

For this post, the following Success Profile elements will be assessed:

Experience:

1. Product Discovery and Delivery Approach
   Experience leading multi-disciplinary teams to research and develop user-centred products and service blueprints, aligned with organisational strategy and the wider context. This includes adapting innovative and established approaches to achieve product or service outcomes.

2. Benefits Realisation and Value Proposition
   Experience defining, measuring and tracking product benefits, with the ability to clearly articulate and promote the product value proposition to a range of stakeholders. Understanding of how benefits and value align with Strategic Portfolio Management (SPM) principles where relevant.
   

Behaviours:

• Leadership - Level 4
• Communicating and Influencing - Level 4
  

You can find out more about Success Profiles Behaviours here: Success Profiles: Civil Service behaviours - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Technical / Professional Skills:

This role is aligned to Lead Product Manager within the Government Digital and Data Profession.

These skills will be tested during the Technical Assessment if you are successful at sift stage. They will be not be assessed at application stage.

Please review the following to understand the skill expectations: Product Manager - Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework

How to Apply
Apply online, providing a CV and Supporting Statement (of no more than 750 words) which provides evidence of how you meet the Experience and Behaviours listed in the Success Profiles above.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools can be used to support your application, but all statements and examples 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, and presented as your own) applications will be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.

Please see our candidate guidance for more information on acceptable and unacceptable uses of AI in recruitment.

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the CV and Supporting Statement on the first Experience criteria. Candidates who pass the initial sift will have their applications fully assessed.

Please note there may also be a telephone interview prior to the final interview stage.

Candidates who are successful at sift stage will be invited to attend an Interview and Technical Assessment. The interview will further assess the Experience and Behaviours listed in the job advert and the Technical Assessment will evaluate the Technical Skills relevant to the role. (or use wording provided on advert).

Full details of the interview and assessment process will be shared with shortlisted candidates once the sift has been completed.

Please note: We aim to provide feedback on request. However, if we receive a large number of applications it may not be possible for us to provide specific feedback on your application. We will provide feedback on request to candidates who attend an interview/assessment.

Information Session
We will be hosting an online candidate information session to provide you with information about the application and interview process, as well as further information on the role and team.

The session will be held on 15th September 2026 at 13:00

Please join us using the link below:

Expected Timeline (subject to change)
Sift – week commencing 28th September
Interviews - week commencing 12th October
Location – In Person in either Dundee or Glasgow

Reserve List

In the event that there are more successful candidates than posts available, a reserve list will be kept for up to 12 months.

About Us

Social Security Scotland is an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government. Our benefits help people from all walks of life in Scotland. We offer rewarding careers and employ people across Scotland in a wide range of professions and roles. We are committed to recruiting a diverse workforce that is representative of the clients we serve. Find more about us here.

We offer a supportive and inclusive working environment along with a wide range of employee benefits. Find out more about what we offer.

As part of the UK Civil Service, we uphold the Civil Service Nationality Rules.

Working Pattern

Our standard hours are 35 hours per week and we offer a range of flexible working options, depending on the needs of the role. We embrace a hybrid working style where all colleagues will spend time in either our Glasgow or Dundee offices. There is an expectation of a minimum 2 days per week in your assigned location, which will be either Glasgow or Dundee. If you have specific questions about the role you are applying for, please contact us.

Security Checks

Successful candidates must complete the Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) before they can be appointed. BPSS is comprised of four main pre-employment checks – Identity, Right to work, Employment History and a Criminal Record check (unspent convictions).

Please note that depending on which business area the successful candidate is appointed to, there may be a requirement to obtain additional National Security Vetting clearance (Security Check) before an appointment and start date can be confirmed.

Further information regarding National Security Vetting clearance can be found here - United Kingdom Security Vetting: Applicant - GOV.UK (United Kingdom Security Vetting: Applicant - GOV.UK)

Equality Statement

Social Security Scotland are committed to equality and inclusion, and we aim to recruit a diverse workforce that reflects the population of our nation.

Social Security Scotland are a Disability Confident Employer. We will consider and implement any reasonable adjustments you may require throughout the recruitment process and during the course of your employment, should you be successful in securing a post. If you feel you may require assistance with any part of our recruitment process, please contact us at Recruitment@socialsecurity.gov.scot.

Find out more about our commitment to diversity and how we offer and support recruitment adjustments for anyone who needs them.

Right to Work in the UK
Social Security Scotland is an approved sponsor under the UK Visa and Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker route. Please note that UK immigration guidance, including skill and salary thresholds and eligible occupations, is reviewed regularly and subject to change. If you require visa sponsorship, you should check the latest criteria to confirm whether this role meets current requirements before applying. You can find further advice at Skilled Worker visa: Overview - GOV.UK

Further Information
Social Security Scotland’s recruitment processes are underpinned by the recruitment principles of the Civil Service Commissioner, which outline that selection for appointment be made on merit on the basis of fair and open competition - Recruitment - Civil Service Commission

If you feel at any time your application has not been treated in accordance with the values in the Civil Service Code and/or if you feel the recruitment has been conducted in such a way that conflicts with the Civil Service Commissioner’s Recruitment Principles, you can make a complaint, by contacting Social Security Scotland at recruitment@socialsecurity.gov.scot in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive you can contact the Civil Service Commissioner.

The successful candidate will be expected to remain in post for a minimum of 3 years unless successful in gaining promotion to a higher Band or Grade.

Find out more about our organisation, what we offer staff members and how to apply on our Careers Website.

Read our Candidate Guide for further information on our recruitment and application processes.

If you experience any difficulties accessing our website or completing the online application form, please contact the Resourcing Team via recruitment@socialsecurity.gov.scot

Apply before 23:55 on 24th September 2026

Contact Name - Resourcing Team
Contact email – Recruitment@socialsecurity.gov.scot