Associate Director, Product Owner - Learning Experience & Content

Overview

Own and drive the HR learning experience and content product portfolio (including Degreed and learning content providers), translating business needs into a prioritised backlog and leading delivery across the 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 SD, Head of Talent + L&D Digital & Tech and VP of HR Digital & Tech.
• Own and manage the Product backlog (e.g. Jira, ADO etc), 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 by the SD, Head of Talent + L&D Digital & Tech and VP of HR Digital & Tech.
• Lead the Product team's delivery activities, guiding Associate Product Owners 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; use performance insights to drive continuous improvement.
• Ensure product changes follow required security controls, risk assessments, data handling policies, and regulated change processes, obtaining approvals from relevant SMEs 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 set by the SD, Head of Talent + L&D Digital & Tech and VP of HR Digital & Tech.
• 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.
• Knowledge of functional domains within Global Functions (e.g., HR), and familiarity with the technology platforms that enable them (e.g., Degreed, SuccessFactors, Workday, TechWolf, Phenom).
• Understanding of product performance measures and KPIs, with the ability to drive improvements in product adoption, cycle time, stability, support effort, and overall user experience.
• 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.
• 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, with the pattern agreed between the candidate and their manager.