OTR0613, Information Services, Closing date: 21 Oct 2012

The Role

The Product Owner is a new post within the Web Development team at the University of Kent. It is a great opportunity for someone who enjoys working with customers to ensure the team understand their requirements for building great digital systems (web and mobile). They will help ensure the team can keep their range of customers happy and continue to improve student experience.

The post holder will be responsible for gathering, prioritising and developing requirements for new and existing digital (web and mobile) projects. They will also need to gain a close understanding of the users and elicit their requirements using interviews, requirements workshops and user surveys.

Please see the Web Development team blog to get an idea of what the team is currently up to.

The Person

The University of Kent Web Development team is expanding and we are looking for a Product Owner with a passion for making customers happy. They will need to be an excellent communicator who is able to work with customers to draw out and prioritise their needs. They should also be comfortable running focus groups and user requirement surveys, especially from our student and prospective student base.

The successful candidate will most likely have a degree or equivalent and have at least one year of experience working with customers in a Product Owner, Business Analyst or similar customer-focused role.

Experience of Agile software development practises would be an advantage, but we would also like to hear from talented people with the enthusiasm to learn and develop these skills on the job. Being a Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) would be a distinct advantage, but we aim to train you to this level within your first year in the post.

Please refer to the job description below for the full person specification.

The Department

Information Services – Web Development Team

The Web Development Team is expanding to a team of 8 people who are responsible for the development and smooth running of key web systems such as the Student Portal, online payment system, Clearing system, blogs, forums, the University mobile app, course data system, campus maps, website template system, and SharePoint sites. We are enthusiastic about open source frameworks and tools such as WordPress and the Laravel PHP framework.

Over the last year, the Web Development team has successfully managed several products using Agile software development methodologies. We are looking to improve further within the team by experimenting with different Agile techniques.

The Web Development Team is part of the IT Development Section in Information Services whose remit is to plan, develop and maintain the University’s IT infrastructure, the corporate, learning/collaboration and web systems, and related consultancy and implementation services. The section works closely with Customer Support providing ‘third-line’ support for systems.

For more information about the team, please see:

Web Development team blog: http://blogs.kent.ac.uk/webdev/  

Website: http://www.kent.ac.uk/is/who/?tab=it-development  

XCRI project blog: https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/kent-xcri/  

Further Information

Closing date for applications: 21 Oct 2012

Interviews are to be held: 07 Nov 2012

Please see the links below to view the full job description and also to apply for this post (please do not send your application directly to the department).

How to apply - for posts of this nature you will be required to fill in the main details section as well as upload your CV, a one page summary (this should include details of experience and other information in support of your application with direct reference to the advertisement and further particulars) and any supporting documents.

If you require further information regarding the post or application process please contact Gemma Fussell on [log in to unmask] Please note applications must be made online via the University website; details sent directly via email cannot be considered.