Associate Director, Product Owner - IP

Job Purpose:

The Associate Director, Product Owner - IP is responsible for maximising the value of the intellectual property tech portfolio within he Legal, Compliance & WREF domain by translating business needs into a prioritised backlog and leading delivery across the product lifecycle, within strategic and financial guardrails set by the Dir, Legal Product Manager and Senior Director of Legal, Compliance & WREF Digital & Tech. They work closely with business stakeholders to define outcomes and ensure delivered functionality is usable, secure, compliant, supportable, and aligned to product strategy. The IP Product Owner guides Product Analysts and works with delivery teams to ensure requirements are clear, value-driven, and data-informed, while overseeing iterative delivery that improves product performance, adoption, and operational readiness. The role is accountable for ensuring the IP tech stack has bold, data powered roadmaps.

 

This role operates under GSK's "Performance with Choice" hybrid working approach, typically expecting 2–3 days per week in the office, with the specific pattern agreed between the successful candidate and their manager based on role and team needs.

 

Key Responsibilities:

• Partner with IP business stakeholders to understand functional needs, refine requirements, and define product outcomes that support business priorities, within guardrails set by the Dir, Legal Product Manager and Senior Director of Legal, Compliance & WREF Digital & Tech.
• Own and manage the IP 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 Dir, Legal Product Manager and Senior Director of Legal, Compliance & WREF Digital & Tech.
• 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; use performance insights to drive continuous improvement.
• Ensure product changes follow required digital & tech governance in line with our digital & tech management system (DTMS) 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 Product team and business users on functional product issues, guiding decisions within agreed financial, risk, and architectural guardrails set by the Dir, Legal Product Manager and Dir, Domain Architecture.
• 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.
• Support the Director, Legal product manager in ensuring the technology stack in intellectual property is top quartile and driving real business value.
• Partner with the IP business leadership on the roadmap and vision for technology products in the IP space including for core IP management platforms such as Anaqua.

 

Required Skills:

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in a relevant field (e.g., Computer Science, Information Technology, or Engineering), or equivalent experience.
• Industry certifications highly desirable (e.g. Agile Methodologies, CPM).
• 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.

 

Preferred Skills:

• 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.

Skills

Change Controls, Cross-Functional Teamwork, Digital Solutions, Intellectual Property, IP Systems, Legal Technology, Product Management, Product Management Leadership

 

 

Why GSK?

Uniting science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together.

GSK is a global biopharma company with a purpose to unite science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together. We aim to positively impact the health of 2.5 billion people by the end of the decade, as a successful, growing company where people can thrive. We get ahead of disease by preventing and treating it with innovation in specialty medicines and vaccines. We focus on four therapeutic areas: respiratory, immunology and inflammation; oncology; HIV; and infectious diseases – to impact health at scale.

People and patients around the world count on the medicines and vaccines we make, so we’re committed to creating an environment where our people can thrive and focus on what matters most. Our culture of being ambitious for patients, accountable for impact and doing the right thing is the foundation for how, together, we deliver for patients, shareholders and our people.

Inclusion at GSK:

As an employer committed to Inclusion, we encourage you to reach out if you need any adjustments during the recruitment process.

Please contact our Recruitment Team at IN.recruitment-adjustments@gsk.com to discuss your needs.

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