Product Owner - Cloud Services & Server Technology

Job description

Job Description:

The Cloud Services & Server Technology Product Group is responsible for all capabilities relating to the centralised services that provided either temporarily or permanently by the Portfolio.

The following capabilities are currently or will be provided & supported by the product group:

·  IaaS – OS Deployment Mechanism, Core Networking, ASR, Azure Backup and more
·  Container Services – shared AKS Engine & AKS Clusters
·  PaaS – shared Application Service Environments & Azure Service Fabric
·  Lifecycle – ownership and management of the core resource templates in the service catalogue
·  Shared Services – engineering and ownership of the core shared service subscription

The role of Product Owner for the Cloud Services & Server Technology product group will focus on delivering products and capabilities over projects; initiating and translating the product roadmap into a manageable product backlog and manage, adjust for risk, and prioritize product backlog. Operationalize the product into the enterprise focusing on sales-to-implementation efficiency. Working with the other Product Owners to define and prioritise the stories in the team backlog and collaborate on cross-product team dependencies.The role will work closely with our strategic technology partner, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), and colleagues across the Cloud Portfolio to unlock value through agile delivery techniques and appropriate deployment of technology solutions.

·  Supporting the Head of Technology in developing product roadmaps for the Portfolio.
·  Initiate and translate product road map into manageable product backlog and manage, adjust for risk, and prioritise product backlog
·  Work with the Release Train Engineer & Scrum Masters to define, prioritise and break the Backlog into Stories, including clarification and acceptance
·  Understand Agile estimation approaches and allow the team to manage itself
·  Liaise with the Head of Technology to understand the features and changes in product requirements and support the release planning and sprint planning exercises
·  Managing the quarterly planning of capability creation or enhancement for the product group and ensuring alignment to M&S Technology strategy.
·  Agreeing new items, removing items, adjusting prioritisations and focusing on areas of value to the portfolio or the business.
·  Forecasting resourcing according to budget and based on requirements for each quarter.
·  Work collaboratively with other Product Owners across the various portfolios to understand demand for capabilities within the product group and the Cloud Portfolio as a whole.
·  Work closely with the Solution Architect assigned to the product group to define designs that the group engineers execute.
·  Defining and implementing the target operating model for the product group, based on the overall portfolio’s model.
·  Challenging our partners to be accountable for end to end technology delivery, supporting and enabling them through effective collaboration for maximum effectiveness.
·  Challenging the technology partner to provide staff of the appropriate quality and experience.
·  Taking part in the escalation rota for the M&S Cloud Portfolio and supporting the product group in providing L3 Support of Cloud Services.
·  Ensure proper problem resolution is taken care of by the product group establishing clear root cause, proposed remediation and continuous improvement plans for operational issues.
·  Escalation to the Head of Cloud Technology if our partners fail to demonstrate they have control of delivery or operations.
·  Understand the primary activities and supporting process activities for value maximization
·  Know our market, our competition and our business models. Identify trends within customer segments and product segments for new products or enhancements for existing ones
·  Keep abreast of new technical developments which could enhance or revolutionise the product and customer experience
·  Support the delivery of products from wireframes to product launch to measuring engagement, working closely with the Supplier engineering team to
·  Create a culture of customer-driven development and cross-team spirit amongst Product Owner peers
·  Support the operationalisation of the product into the mainstream organization
·  Proactively educate the Business and colleagues within Technology about agile methodologies and product management

Key Skills

·  Strong experience of managing & working with Infrastructure Technology, preferably focused on Server or Cloud
·  Strong experience in business relationship management in an IT environment
·  Strong experience of managing successful delivery in an Agile software environment and in delivering waterfall projects to deliver customer-led outcomes
·  Good general knowledge of Cloud technology and an understanding of technology’s role in creating business value.
·  Excellent understanding of the engineering best practices and how they underpin successful technology delivery
·  Excellent Business stakeholder and supplier management skills
·  Strong track record of strategic and innovative thinking
·  Proven track record of driving service and delivery improvement
·  Commercial management experience and financial literacy
·  Excellent communication skills – relatability to non-technical business users and technical resources
·  Excellent people management skills