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Service owner

Find out what a service owner in government does and the skills you need to do the job at each level.

Last updated 1 December 2023 — See all updates

Contents

What a service owner does

A service owner is accountable for the quality of their service. In this role, you will adopt a portfolio view, managing end-to-end services that include multiple products and channels.

Service owner role levels

There is one service owner role level.

The typical responsibilities and skills for this role level are described below. You can use this to identify the skills you need to progress in your career, or simply to learn more about each role in the Government Digital and Data profession.

1. Service owner

A service owner is accountable for the quality of their service. They adopt a portfolio view, managing end-to-end services, which include multiple products and channels.

At this role level, you will:

  • operate at scale and provide the connection between multidisciplinary business areas and stakeholders
  • ensure the necessary business processes are followed
  • participate in the governance of the service, including acting as a point of escalation for the delivery teams
  • own the budget and allocate funding to areas of the service based on your decisions about priorities
  • communicate the benefits and performance of your service
  • be responsible for the successful operation and continuous improvement of the service

This role level is often performed at the Civil Service job grade of:

  • G7 (Grade 7)
  • G6 (Grade 6)
Skill Description

Agile working

Level: expert

Expert is the fourth of 4 ascending skill levels

You can:

  • coach and lead teams in Agile and Lean practices, determining the right approach for the team to take and evaluating this through the life of a project
  • think of new and innovative ways of working to achieve the right outcomes
  • act as a recognised expert and advocate for the approaches, continuously reflecting and challenging the team

Financial ownership

Level: expert

Expert is the fourth of 4 ascending skill levels

You can:

  • develop an Agile business case and own and iterate it throughout the product life cycle
  • develop benefits with others within the portfolio
  • understand the granularity of financial costs per sprint and the value delivered

Government Digital and Data perspective

Level: practitioner

Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels

You can:

  • demonstrate an advanced understanding of design, technology and data principles
  • identify and implement solutions for assisted digital
  • apply knowledge to work with other roles and groups in Government Digital and Data

Life cycle perspective

Level: practitioner

Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels

You can:

  • apply experience in multiple parts of the product life cycle
  • recognise when it is right to move forward and when it is right to stop
  • recognise the appropriate deliverables and the right people to meet them
  • work with other Agile delivery operations throughout the product life cycle
  • plan and engage with the appropriate stakeholders at a particular stage in the project

Operational management

Level: expert

Expert is the fourth of 4 ascending skill levels

You can:

  • keep abreast of industry best practice and can cascade ways of working
  • make operations efficient
  • act as the escalation point for major operational issues and champion operational management across the community
  • work closely with leaders of operational delivery teams in Government Digital and Data

Problem management

Level: expert

Expert is the fourth of 4 ascending skill levels

You can:

  • anticipate problems and defend against them at the right time
  • understand how the problem fits into the larger picture
  • articulate the problem and help others to do so
  • build problem-solving capabilities in others

Product ownership

Level: working

Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels

You can:

  • demonstrate knowledge of the tools, terms and concepts used to deliver a product, and how they can be adapted and applied to different phases of delivery

Strategic ownership

Level: expert

Expert is the fourth of 4 ascending skill levels

You can:

  • develop a long-term vision and objectives
  • take a discerning and disciplined approach to focusing on what is important and most relevant
  • develop the capability of others

User focus

Level: expert

Expert is the fourth of 4 ascending skill levels

You can:

  • give direction on which tools or methods to use
  • demonstrate experience in meeting the needs of users across a variety of channels
  • bring insight and expertise in how user needs have changed over time to ensure they're met by the business
  • apply strategic thinking to provide the best service for the end user
Role Shared skills
Product manager

Agile working

Financial ownership

Government Digital and Data perspective

Life cycle perspective

Operational management

Problem management

Product ownership

Strategic ownership

User focus
Application operations engineer

Problem management

User focus
Change and release manager

Problem management

User focus
Command and control centre manager

Problem management

User focus
Content strategist

Agile working

User focus

Updates

Published 7 January 2020

Last updated 1 December 2023

1 December 2023

  • The 'DDaT perspective' skill was renamed 'Government Digital and Data perspective' across the framework. This follows the launch of the new Government Digital and Data brand that replaces DDaT.

30 August 2022

  • Service owner now includes the ‘DDaT perspective’ skill, at practitioner level.

7 January 2020

  • First published.