Technology Development

Technology Development sits within the Technology and Data Directorate of TfL, and it is at the heart of developing systems to keep pace with the ever-changing face of London. Fresh from our successful launch of Contactless ticketing, our in-house development teams are now responsible for building and enhancing the online, revenue and corporate systems of the future, ensuring that Every Journey Matters.

The Role:

As a Senior Product Owner you’ll be accountable for analysing, prioritising and translating complex business requirements into work packages that can be implemented by our Agile development teams. You’ll also be responsible for the creation and management of product backlogs, ensuring that stories you create have sufficient information to keep a development and test team running at maximum efficiency.

You’ll evaluate solutions and ensure our internally developed software is of the highest quality, meeting the needs of TfL and our customers. Key tasks will include supporting changes and user acceptance testing, monitoring performance and resolving problems. Building collaborative working relationships with a variety of stakeholders will be crucial to your success, as will your ability to critically evaluate proposed solutions and provide positive and constructive feedback.

As Senior Product Owner you’ll specialise in one of the following product areas:

Online applications, such as customer portals, apps, mobility platforms etc.

Revenue applications responsible for the processing of Oyster and Contactless transactions

Corporate applications, such as CRM tools, asset management and contact centre systems etc.

Key Accountabilities:

Be the product owner for assigned systems within Technology Development as per the principles of Agile software development - e.g. creating and maintaining the product backlog, defining the acceptance criteria, sequencing and prioritisation of stories, ensuring stories are appropriately scoped and that developers have the correct understanding of what is required to be built

Be the ambassador and subject matter expert for the product

Work with development team to prioritise the product backlog according to business needs, ensuring valuable releases

Coordinate with the delivery teams to avoid delivery conflicts in terms of integration and planned releases

Provide sponsors and stakeholders with visibility of product development progress

Effectively articulate product features and the needs of users and provide development teams with an accurate understanding of what needs to be delivered

Collaborate across Technology Development and the wider business to ensure Agile processes are continually reviewed and improvements implemented.

Knowledge:

Thorough understanding of Scrum Agile and Kanban development principles

Detailed working knowledge of systems development and implementation

Experience in managing and mitigating system risks

Commercial awareness, ensuring systems development is aligned with contractual agreements

Strong knowledge of customer facing and internal infrastructure and technology trends, particularly those relating to public transport operations

A degree in a relevant technology/computer science subject/equivalent technical qualification is desirable

Familiarity with using ADO or Jira as an agile planning and tracking tool is desirable

Skills:

Proven ability to analyse complex systems, draw conclusions and produce solutions

Proven ability to define and document functional and non-functional system specifications for large, complex systems

Proven ability to resolve Client-Contractor conflicts

Proven ability to build effective working relations (partnering) with people at all levels inside and outside the organisation

Proven ability to influence people at all levels, including negotiating and successfully facilitating joint decision-making

Skilled at multi-tasking and balancing a number of complex work activities including; requirements elicitation and management, interviewing skills, backlog refinement and estimation, prioritisation and acceptance management

Strong verbal communication skills including ability to talk through complex information in a way that non-technical stakeholders can assimilate, as well as being able to present business value descriptions of requirements to a highly technical developer audience

Strong written communication skills including ability to produce summary and feasibility reports on complex technical and business issues

Experience:

Strong previous experience as a Product Owner role in an Agile development team

Experience with delivering a product in one of the TfL product categories specified

Successful experience in a dynamic environment, handling multiple tasks, ensuring quality on time and to budget

Experience or in-depth knowledge of an aspect of the public transport operating business (both operational and non-operational) desirable

Extensive experience and understanding of requirements elicitation, analysis, documentation, and validation

Proven track record in stakeholder engagement: enthusing people, maintaining trust and supporting groups to ensure continued participation over time

Strong experience of building relationships with, and influencing, a range of people at all levels within and outside the organisation

The above skills knowledge and experience is essential in order to carry out this role unless otherwise stated.

Equality and Diversity

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age or disability status.

On this recruitment campaign, as part of TfL’s continuing commitment to be an inclusive and equal opportunity employer we will be removing personal identifiable information from CVs and covering letters that could cause discrimination.

Application Process

Closing Date for applications: Tuesday 4th January 2022  at 23.59

Please apply using your CV and a two page (maximum) covering letter.

Please think carefully about the skills, knowledge and experience outlined in the job description and ensure your CV and cover letter reflects the requirements of the role you are applying for. Short listing will be carried out on the basis of answers to any pre-screening questions and the information on your CV and covering letter.

Please note: We reserve the right to close the application window early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications.

Benefits

In return for your dedication and expertise, you will enjoy excellent benefits and scope to grow.  Rewards vary according to the business area and role, but may include:

Final salary pension scheme

Free travel for you on the TfL network

A 75% discount on National Rail Season Ticket and interest free loan

30 days annual leave plus public and bank holidays

Private healthcare discounted scheme (optional)

Tax-efficient childcare payments

Tax-efficient cycle-to-work programme

Retail, health, leisure and travel offers

Discounted Eurostar travel