Integrated Products and Services Product Owner

CAP celebrates the value of diversity and our aim is for our workforce to be as inclusive as possible as well as representing the communities we serve. With this in mind, we welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds. We particularly welcome applications from candidates from black and ethnic minority backgrounds. We are committed to continue building an environment that embraces diversity and includes all.

 

Context

Our vision at CAP is to see Transformed Lives, Thriving Churches, and an End to UK Poverty. Our core purpose is to inspire and equip churches across the UK to help people out of debt and poverty, and see them become followers of Jesus.

 

CAP has a range of products and services, which it offers to churches who partner with us, in order to come alongside those that are in financial crisis or vulnerability. Currently these church partnership products include Debt Help, and Coaching products (Job Clubs, Life Skills and Money Coaching) and it is the development of the latter offerings that form the core focus of the role.

 

This role of the Integrated Products and Services Product Owner whilst directly reporting to the Head of Product Innovation, is responsible for business partnering across the organisation. The Product Owner is responsible for governing the direction of development, driving the product vision and roadmap as well as ensuring that the business needs and interests are represented in decision making. The Product Owner bridges the gap between the technical teams and the service delivery teams to deliver solutions for our customers (churches and clients) in a complex Business-to-Business-to-Customer model.

 

Purpose

This individual is responsible for driving product innovation and development within the integrated products and services customer journey. The Product Owner will ensure the interests of the customer (partner churches) are represented and that the product development team has clarity on the client needs during development. Ensuring church partners and individuals with lived experience are part of product design is essential to ensure we are meeting the needs of both our partner churches and the clients they serve.

 

The Product Owner will bring clear guidance on priorities, and a deep understanding of impact for users and the broader network and operations at all times, ensuring that the user is always advocated in the development of the product. The Product Owner is also responsible for ensuring technical changes are scoped and documented well, as well as embraced by our service delivery teams. They will do this by creating and implementing change management strategies and plans in order to see faster adoption, higher utilisation of and proficiency with technical changes.

 

Passion

The Integrated Product and Service Innovation team are driven by a shared passion to eradicate UK poverty by equipping churches with cutting-edge tools and resources. You will be a champion for product excellence across the organisation, directly contributing to the transformation of lives and the delivery of hope.

 

Role:

 

Accountabilities:

Customer Experience Enhancement:

• Bring collaborative leadership to a cross-functional team working to continually improve the customer (church and beneficiary) experience with a keen eye on efficiency and performance.
• Identify and implement strategies to make the integrated products and services more efficient, responsive, and high-performing.
• Identify and implement strategies to make CAP's services more accessible and user-friendly
• Develop and maintain customer personas to understand diverse customer segments and tailor experiences to their needs
• Develop and maintain visual representations of the customer journey to understand touchpoints, pain points, and opportunities for enhancement

 

Product and Service Innovation:

• Work with the Head of Product Innovation to define, develop and drive the product strategy for the integrated products and services in alignment with the organisation's mission and goals.
• Advise the Product Steering team (Executive Directors and Senior leaders) on the product strategy decisions
• Develop and maintain the product roadmap for your area of the customer journey, ensuring alignment with the vision and strategic priorities across all integrated products and services
• Collaborate with the marketing team to identify growth opportunities within our target market, and integrate these into the product roadmap
• Collaborate with the Supporter Development team to identify opportunities to achieve agreed income targets and integrate these into the product roadmap, while ensuring the product P&L is optimised
• Collaborate with our Impact and Evaluation team to define and track key product metrics, such as user adoption rates, partner satisfaction, and impact on client outcomes.
• Lead on the development and testing of innovative products, features, or services. Effectively managing the scope and cost of deliverables within releases. 
• Use data analysis to make informed decisions about product improvements.
• Explore new technologies and approaches to enhance the services offered by CAP, with a focus on efficiency and performance optimisation.
• Stay informed about sector best practices and trends to keep CAP at the forefront of service delivery for financial resilience (financial capability and income maximisation).

 

Product team leadership and collaboration:

• Build and lead a high-performing cross-functional team - that includes internal and external stakeholders - to align product development with organisational goals, emphasising customer experience and client outcomes.
• Ensure effective communication and coordination between cross-functional teams, such as product, development, and design
• Collaborate on project planning, ensuring that timelines and milestones are met for successful changes.
• Collaborate with the Project and Agile Delivery Manager on the resolution of issues and roadblocks related to changes, ensuring that these are addressed promptly and effectively
• Foster a culture of teamwork and collaboration to drive innovation.

 

Change management

• Manage the relevant section of the organisation through the process of adopting a culture of change and innovation, ensuring the seamless integration of new processes, technologies and approaches
• Develop and implement change management strategies to facilitate the transition to new processes and technologies
• Effectively communicate changes and provide support to team members, service users, and stakeholders during transitions

 

External engagement

• To travel at least once per quarter to visit local services and conferences including several overnight stays
• Represent CAP in relevant PR campaigns (e.g radio and social media) and external forums

 

Strategic Lead accountabilities

• Strategy development. Uses their expertise to develop strategy for their whole department or a number of departments, usually in collaboration with a Director or Head.
• Strategy enablement. Uses their expertise to implement organisation-wide strategies that deliver on our strategic aims (e.g. project management, data protection, recruitment).
• Influence. Demonstrates people management or leadership skills in a matrixed organisation.
• Organisational awareness. Understands the wider organisation and how their work connects with other things happening around CAP.
• Self-leadership. Able to work with individual accountability and autonomy over deadlines, as is the case with most strategic lead work.

 

Measurable Outputs:

• Users reporting high rates of satisfaction with suitability of new features to the product (e.g. 85% of users rate new features as good / very good)
• Return on investment of features are proven
• High rate of successful adoption of new technologies or processes within the integrated products and services.
• Product features delivered to scope, meeting defined quality criteria within budget and acceptable time frame
• All queries regarding user requirements have an initial response given within 24 hours

Culture:

• Clearly live out and embrace the cultural values of CAP.
• Clearly demonstrate a heart and passion for the charity.
• Sincere acceptance, understanding and practice of the Christian ethos and purpose of the charity.

 

Other responsibilities include:

 

• Being willing to pray with staff and fully engaged with our Christ-centred culture.
• Encouraging friends, family and other contacts to support the charity through the Life Changer programme and other fundraising initiatives.
• Attending annual CAP staff conferences.
• Completing all compulsory CAP training within given timescales.
• This role falls within the scope of the FCA’s conduct rules, and you will be provided with training as to how these apply to the role. It is your responsibility to ensure that you follow these conduct rules.

 

The above job profile is a guide to the work you may be required to undertake but does not form part of your contract of employment. It may change from time to time to reflect changing circumstances. 

 

Person:

 

Education:

• Professional qualification (e.g. HND or NVQ 4) in a related field, or equivalent experience 

 

Experience:

Essential

• Proven experience (3+ years) in a product owner role 
• Experience working with non-profit organisations, churches, or in a church based social action context is a plus
• Experience of implementing user-centred design principles
• Project management 
• Successful delivery of products to market

 

Desirable

• Experience of delivering a CAP Product or Service 
• Experience in product development and working within a Product team
• Experience with Jira and Jira Product Discovery
• Experience of working in the Salesforce (either Nonprofit Success Pack or Nonprofit Cloud)
• Understanding of Agile/Lean working practices
• Experience of leading data-driven decision making

• Experience of public speaking, ideally including TV & radio

 

Skills / Abilities:

• Excellent strategic insight and understanding of organisational objectives
• A proven leader who can inspire, influence and deliver results.
• Ability to see the strategic need and prioritise work accordingly
• Strong creative and innovative skills.
• Excellent problem-solving, analytical and evaluation skills.
• Excellent communication at all levels including ability to clearly communicate complex information
• Ability to develop collaborative relationships with other teams and managers.
• Ability to understand situations and complex discussions quickly.
• High emotional intelligence and ability to understand the human factors involved in the role.
• Ability to work accurately and pay attention to detail.
• Ability to identify and implement efficiency enhancements
• Strong change management skills