Product Manager

The Online Testing and Assessment Service (OTA) is part of the Platforms, Data and Interoperability unit, within Government People Group in the Cabinet Office.

Its purpose is to:

• Operate the Government People Groups’ employee servicing platforms. This includes CS Jobs, Online Tests, Learning Platform for Government, Fast Stream Recruitment, Apprenticeships, Workday for FastStream and GCO, Careers Website, SOP and Pensions.
• Provide expert advice and support to departments in the implementation of the GSS Strategy for Shared Services which created the centres in 2022.

OTA is a digital service operating in public beta. Acting as an internal consultancy to all of the Civil Service, we collaborate with government departments, functions and professions to develop and deliver high quality, customer-focused assessment products and solutions grounded in occupational psychology, psychometrics and digital standards.

We are looking for a Product Manager to join the Online Tests and Assessments Service (OTA) within the Cabinet Office, to help develop our Online Tests and Assessments offering within the wider recruitment service. You will be responsible for the overall product vision, strategy and roadmap.

Working to support the Service Owner, this Product Manager role will lead on the performance and expansion of the OTA service which currently provides psychometric tests for recruitment across the Civil Service. In 2021-22, over 1 million online tests were completed on the OTA service for roles across the Civil Service. The use of tests has consistently grown year-on-year alongside the range of tests we can offer. The next phase is to replace and expand the current digital service to provide tests and assessments beyond recruitment, such as for learning and development.

The current service, launched in 2019, uses a software-as-a-service platform with self-authoring capabilities to create and deliver tests. Through this we’ve grown the service from a core 3 adaptive tests to over a dozen including those for the Civil Service Fast Stream and other organisations. These tests are designed to be a reliable, accessible and inclusive way of assessment to help us hire the right people for the right roles. To do this we’ve set ambitious standards that go far beyond what many other test creators expect.

Your focus will be on a series of Discovery Alpha and Beta projects to expand the service in new directions to meet broader user and business needs. This could include working with the wider public sector to make our tests more widely available or developing new types of assessments.

Responsibilities

• Leading the end-to-end delivery of Online Tests and Assessments including delivery, financial, commercial, input into business cases and team management.
• Delivering the product vision, strategy and road map. Ensuring that stakeholders and priorities are aligned to this and that it remains achievable. Reviewing quality of deliverables to ensure they meet the standards and strategy.
• Championing user centred design to ensure that the products and services meet user needs.
• Stakeholder management, in particular Government Recruitment Service and customer departments. This will include managing challenging relationships and prioritisation decisions.
• Ensuring that the future Online Tests & Assessments service meets digital, recruitment and security standards. This includes acting as a champion for user needs and quality standards.
• Leading procurement activities including specification development, supplier evaluation and selection.
• Contract and supplier management to maximise their performance, return on investment, and quality of service.
• Owning the overall performance of the service against its purpose. Reviewing analytics and other data to make decisions on improving performance.
• Owning risks, issues, assurance, legal compliance and dependency management including contingency planning and horizon scanning.
• Providing digital expertise to coordinate project teams and assure compliance with digital spend control and digital service standards. Managing at a portfolio level to ensure critical success factors can be measured and benefits communicated to senior boards. Advising these boards on project/programme delivery.
• Leading the delivery team and some direct line management. As this is a growing project there will also be recruitment of permanent staff (and potentially contractors).
• Supporting other roles within the team to deliver the service depending on your previous experience, from business analysis to technical implementation.