Associate Director, Product Owner - Comp, Benefits /Well-Being

Overview

Associate Director, Product Owner for Compensation, Benefits and Wellbeing. Maximises the value of Reward Products by translating business needs into a prioritised backlog and leading delivery across the HR product lifecycle.

What you'll do

• Partner with business stakeholders to understand functional needs, refine requirements, and define product outcomes that support business priorities, within guardrails set by the Dir, Reward Product Manager and SD, People Services + Reward Digital & Tech.
• Own and manage the Product backlog for Tech managed products within the portfolio, ensuring requirements (e.g., epics, features, user stories) are well-defined and supported by minimum data inputs (e.g., cost drivers, user volumes, risk/sensitivity, process impact, dependencies).
• Make prioritisation decisions for the Product backlog based on value, cost, risk, business continuity, and resource capacity, escalating only where strategic trade-offs are required.
• Lead the Product team's delivery activities, guiding Engineers, Architects, and Testers to ensure solutions are fit-for-purpose, secure, compliant, supportable, and aligned to architectural standards.
• Drive operational readiness by applying a delivery readiness checklist covering support model requirements, training needs, continuity planning, configuration/runbook documentation, release notes, and user onboarding.
• Define and maintain the Product performance dashboard, tracking adoption, cycle time/throughput, stability/defects, UX signals (e.g., CSAT, SUS, completion rates), and support effort; use performance insights to drive continuous improvement.
• Ensure new and existing products follow required security controls, risk assessments, data handling policies, and regulated change processes, obtaining approvals from relevant stakeholders where required.
• Support Solution Architects to assess design options and manage cross-Product dependencies, contract/interface impacts, and sequencing needs to support interoperability and consistent business outcomes.
• Act as an escalation point for the HR Product team and business users on functional product issues, guiding decisions within agreed financial, risk, and architectural guardrails.
• Contribute to the improvement of delivery practices within the Product, promoting agile (i.e. SaFe, Scrum etc), iterative, value-driven, and data-led ways of working, including meaningful measurement of benefits and operational impact.

What you'll need

• 15 to 19 years of experience working in product delivery, digital solutions, business systems, or process-led technology roles.
• Proven experience defining and prioritising functional requirements (e.g., epics, features, user stories) and managing a product backlog.
• Experience working directly with business stakeholders to translate needs into feasible, value-led technology changes.
• Demonstrated ability to make prioritisation decisions based on business value, process impact, risk, cost, and technology constraints.
• Experience leading delivery teams or analysts through the product lifecycle, from refinement and design through testing, release, and adoption.
• Familiarity with enterprise governance requirements such as change control, security, data protection, and regulatory/compliance considerations.
• Exposure to continuous improvement approaches (e.g., automation, process simplification, user-centred enhancements) that uplift product adoption, stability, or user experience.
• Experience working within agile delivery environments and using iterative planning, delivery, and release practices.
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in a relevant field (e.g., Computer Science, Information Technology, or Engineering), or equivalent experience.

Nice to have

• Strong communication and influencing skills, able to explain technology constraints clearly and support stakeholders in making informed product decisions.
• Skilled in coaching and guiding Associate Product Owners and delivery team members to ensure requirements, documentation, and solutions meet business needs and compliance expectations.
• Able to interpret business processes, user feedback, and operational data to identify opportunities for process simplification, automation, and improved user experience.
• Comfortable working within structured governance, security, and data protection requirements, ensuring product changes remain controlled, supportable, and compliant.
• Strong analytical mindset, able to weigh value, risk, complexity, and cost to make prioritisation decisions and sequence backlog items appropriately.
• Ability to work in a very fast-paced and fluid environment.
• Comfortable with ambiguity and change.

Details

• Location: Bengaluru, Luxor North Tower.
• Hybrid working under GSK's "Performance with Choice" approach, typically 2–3 days per week in the office, pattern agreed with manager.