About the role
As a Group Product Lead you are the intersection between business, technology and user experience to deliver great value products for our customers, in line with the JLP Product Framework. You will be tasked with overseeing the digital product development process and enhancing the value delivered within the Insurance Value Stream. You will understand the tactical and strategic problems that need to be solved across the business and technology, putting the customer at the heart of your decisions. Partnering with the Commercial Leads, you will identify key requirements and stimulate innovation and transformation to meet the needs of customers and the business effectively.
The primary focus of this role is the digital ecosystem for your Value Stream - Insurance. You will lead the Digital Product and Product Design team to create intuitive, engaging & connected experiences across all of our digital products. You will embody strategic thinking along with impactful leadership abilities, facilitating cross-functional collaboration to actualize innovative design strategies.
The effectiveness of your product domain greatly depends on every team member grasping the vision and being committed to understanding our customers and the overall direction. You will be responsible for shaping the product strategy for the Insurance Value Stream, ensuring all teams can translate the strategy into prioritised and actionable work for the Development teams and deliver optimal customer experiences across multiple digital touchpoints for business advancement.
Salary range - £75,000.00 - £123,000.00
Contract type - Permanent
Working pattern/flexible working - The Partnership has adopted a hybrid working approach, meaning you'll be able to work a mixture between the office and home based upon your personal needs whilst balancing the needs of the business. The team aims to be in the office once a week to collaborate.
Key responsibilities
Set the long-term ‘Digital’ plan for your Value Stream (VS) and oversee the end-to-end design process, ensuring high-quality design output and consistency across all digital products.
Operate as a senior leader within the VS LT defining the strategy, plans and end to end value for the Value Stream.
Managing budgets and being accountable for ROI within the digital scope of your VS.
Convert strategic choices and guidance into a well-defined plan along with a set of objectives and key results (OKRs) for your team to support customer and commercial goals.
Establish a shared vision that is founded in market research and insight obtained through a deep understanding of the problems business stakeholders are trying to solve.
Be clear on the relationship between the Product Strategy and the Product Roadmap, and the overarching VS strategy, creating a roadmap of incremental improvements and iterative development that takes your Product stream towards its vision and maximises value for the VS.
Advocate for human-centred design across the organisation, building effective relationships with stakeholders across all customer delivery functions and establish and maintain design standards, guidelines and best practice
Be innovative and transformational in your approach to change and creating value. Assess and evaluate the latest developments in the market and your industry and promote new ways of adding value for the business and customers, including experimentation
Develop and hold the overall plan for Digital Product in your VS that encompasses all elements of technical and non-technical build ensuring dependencies are understood and release dates or time frames are tracked and managed appropriately.
Hold a clear view of our target customer profiles and users, identifying their mission, pains and gains and clearly state the value proposition of your VS products.
Keep in touch with market and technology developments and trends in the specific product area & design practices, becoming a subject matter expert and go to person.
Oversee the end-to-end digital product life cycle development, including critical stages like market fit go-to-market strategy and monitoring and tracking the performance of products (including live incident reviews).
Maintain a tight learning loop that leverages qualitative insights from user research as well as quantitative results from testing and analytics in order to continually inform the product development process.
Communicate your VS strategy and plan both internally and externally to ensure all stakeholders and 3rd party suppliers involved in your VS are aligned, have context and understand where we are going,
Understand the return on investment and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of your VS products, through a digital lens.
Partner with Engineering, Architecture and Delivery & Operations Leads on agreed priorities and to define technical strategy focused on frequent incremental releases and providing direction of the minimum viable product (MVP).
Lead, coach, develop and recruit a skilled, capable and empowered team of Product Managers and Designers, managing all areas of the Partner life cycle, embedding the JLP product framework across your people
Take initiative to cultivate an environment that encourages innovation and support the establishment of a Product community of practice while seeking opportunities for personal and collective growth.
Be active in external networks, communities, and events to build the product and design reputation of the Partnership, to attract experts and position the Partnership as a digital employer of choice.
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Essential skills/experience you’ll need
Demonstrated ability in Product Leadership via strategic thinking and planning 3-5 year Product horizons within an Insurance environment
Experience and ability in Product Design
Comprehensive understanding of the market landscape, both through a technology and a competitor lens
Experience leading cross-functional teams in multiple locations
A thorough comprehension of user-centered design, UX frameworks, and usability trials, with an extensive knowledge of design guidelines and methodologies
A skilled communicator and storyteller, adept at presenting concepts and ideas in various formats according to context
Proficient in understanding complex concepts and their commercial implications
Ability to simultaneously manage multiple priorities while adhering to time-sensitive deadlines
Demonstrated ability to guide and develop effective teams
About The Partnership
We’re the largest employee owned business in the UK and home of our cherished brands, John Lewis and Waitrose. We’re not just employees, we’re Partners, driven by our purpose to build a happier world. As we look to our future, there’s never been a more exciting time to join us.
We’re ruthlessly focused on being brilliant at retail. We continue to innovate, adapt and diversify. Never Knowingly Undersold on price, quality and service in John Lewis and passionately serving food-lovers in Waitrose.
As Partners we all share the responsibility of ownership and in its rewards. We use our voices to contribute to our success, working together through the good and challenging times, holding true to our behaviours and treating everyone with kindness and respect.
We all own making the Partnership somewhere we belong. Embracing our differences and creating an environment where we’re free to be ourselves and can THRIVE. Growing ourselves individually, and as a collective.
As Partners, we make all the difference. And, we all own it.
Important points to note:
It’s important to note that some of our roles are subject to pre-employment vetting (which may include DBS checks for successful candidates). If required, you’ll be informed and provided with information about vetting during the recruitment process and we encourage you to complete any vetting documents quickly to avoid delays. Any DBS checks required will be carried out by a third-party registered body and financial probity checks may also be required for some of our roles.
We also recommend that you apply as soon as possible as vacancies can close early if we see a high number of applicants.
We want all of our Partners to have a good work-life balance and we support flexible working. This might mean flexible or compressed hours, job sharing or shorter hour contracts, where possible. Please discuss this further with the hiring manager during your interview.
