Associate Director, Product Owner - IP

Overview

Own and drive the product backlog and delivery for the intellectual property technology portfolio within GSK's Legal, Compliance & WREF domain, translating business needs into a prioritised roadmap and guiding product delivery across the lifecycle.

What you'll do

• Partner with IP business stakeholders to understand functional needs, refine requirements, and define product outcomes that support business priorities, within guardrails set by the Director, Legal Product Manager and Senior Director of Legal, Compliance & WREF Digital & Tech.
• Own and manage the IP product backlog (e.g. Jira, ADO), ensuring epics, features and 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 Product Analysts and working with 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, and use performance insights to drive continuous improvement.
• Ensure product changes follow digital & tech governance in line with the DTMS security controls, risk assessments, data handling policies and regulated change processes, obtaining SME approvals where required.
• Support Solution Architects to assess design options and manage cross-product dependencies, contract/interface impacts and sequencing needs.
• Act as escalation point for the product team and business users on functional product issues, guiding decisions within agreed financial, risk and architectural guardrails.
• Contribute to improving delivery practices, promoting agile (e.g. SaFe, Scrum), iterative, value-driven and data-led ways of working, including measurement of benefits and operational impact.
• Support the Director, Legal Product Manager in ensuring the IP technology stack is top quartile and driving real business value.
• Partner with IP business leadership on the roadmap and vision for technology products in the IP space, including core IP management platforms such as Anaqua.

What you'll need

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in a relevant field (e.g. Computer Science, Information Technology or Engineering), or equivalent experience.
• 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 within Legal technology, with a focus on IP systems.
• Experience working directly with business stakeholders to translate needs into feasible, value-led technology changes, and comfortable working with patent and trade mark attorneys at varying levels of seniority.
• 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.

Nice to have

• Industry certifications highly desirable (e.g. Agile Methodologies, CPM).
• Strong communication and influencing skills, able to explain technology constraints clearly and support stakeholders in making informed product decisions.
• Skilled in coaching and guiding Product Analysts 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.

Details

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