The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) is one of the world’s leading research think-tanks in the fields of defence and security. We are seeking to appoint an experienced ‘Product Owner’ to lead a crucial project to transform its website.
RUSI’s digital objectives are primarily met through its website, showcasing its research programmes and publications. It also serves equally important functions including acting as a membership portal, an event registration and information hub, and a publisher and corporate website.
On behalf of RUSI, the postholder will be responsible for identifying RUSI’s digital objectives, setting key KPI’s, improving journeys and experience and directing the Institute’s suppliers to deliver a refreshed website.
Reporting to the Director of Communications, the postholder will lead key stakeholders to understand their objectives and the constraints within which they operate and will be committed to delivering solutions that work within these confines. They will keep abreast of developments in technology, understanding the role of social media and how similar organisations are adapting and what that means for RUSI.
Duties and responsibilities
Development project:
- Gather and oversee functional and non-functional requirements, and test to ensure new developments are launched on time and within budget
- Manage internal and external stakeholder input to ensure business objectives of project are met
- Define and own KPI’s aligned with critical user journeys within the organisation
- Gather and specify high level requirements and collaboratively write into user stories
- Prioritise and manage the backlog of change through agile scrum team leadership and scrum ceremony participation
- Give scrum team vision of product direction and encourage team ownership in delivering
- Ensure constant stream of customer centric optimisation and identify ways to improve user experience and website ‘engagement ladder’ to improve experience and drive growth
- Manage business readiness for change
- Define and carry out acceptance tests with developers
- Be responsible for ensuring smooth interaction between website, database (Raiser’s Edge NXT), and user interaction (login, purchases, event registration, pay-per-view)
- Ensure developed website has full documentation of updated content management systems and ensure smooth handover to another web developer and front-end web developer should the need arise
- Develop documentation for internal governance of CMS, hosting and other RUSI website features
- Others:
- Keep abreast of changes and trends in web development in order to implement them in the RUSI website where relevant
- Assist with providing with in-depth technical and data analysis when required
- Lead, and work as part of, digital or wider organisational project teams as required
- Keep up to date with the latest cyber security protocols and ensure they are implemented.