Junior Product Owner

Role Summary: Junior Product Owner

The Junior Product Owner at British Council supports the delivery of English Online product initiatives. This role involves assisting Senior Product Owners, Delivery Leads, and cross-functional teams, offering valuable hands-on experience in Agile product development. It serves as a pathway to developing core product ownership skills, reporting directly to the Head of Product. You will contribute significantly to improving team documentation, communication, and delivery processes within the English Online Product Team in London.

This hybrid role requires 2-3 days per week in our Stratford office, providing structured support to key product functions. It offers extensive exposure to Agile methodologies, digital learning products, and cross-functional collaboration, making it an excellent entry point into product management.

About British Council

The British Council is dedicated to building connections, understanding, and trust between people in the UK and other countries through arts and culture, education, and the English language. We operate by directly transforming individual lives and by collaborating with governments and partners to achieve a broader, long-term impact for millions globally. Our mission is to empower young people with the skills, confidence, and connections needed to realize their potential and foster strong, inclusive communities. We help them learn English, access high-quality education, and obtain internationally recognized qualifications. Our work in arts and culture promotes creative expression, exchange, and enterprise, connecting the best of the UK with the world and vice versa. These connections cultivate mutual understanding of strengths, shared challenges, and values, building enduring trust even amidst strained official relations. We have a presence in over 100 countries and connect with nearly 1 billion people worldwide.

Key Responsibilities

• Support Senior Product Owners and Delivery Leads across various English Online projects and workstreams.
• Contribute to digital learning initiatives across the English Online platform.
• Assist with backlog preparation, documentation, and user story creation under supervision.
• Help maintain essential product artefacts like roadmaps, release notes, and feature documentation.
• Coordinate discovery activities by gathering user insights, analytics, and stakeholder inputs.
• Contribute to project coordination, monitoring tasks, dependencies, risks, and timelines.
• Prepare materials, capture actions, and ensure follow-up for Agile ceremonies.
• Collaborate with UX, content, engineering, data, and operations on product design and delivery insights.
• Support internal communication of product updates to stakeholders.
• Gather and organize user feedback, analytics, and research inputs for product discovery.
• Help track development task progress and highlight issues or risks to Senior Product Owners.
• Participate in testing activities, including reviewing prototypes and validating feature behavior.
• Assist in improving product processes, documentation standards, and knowledge-sharing resources.

Essential Requirements

• A university degree or equivalent experience demonstrating strong analytical or organizational capabilities.
• Basic understanding of digital product development principles.
• A strong interest in digital products, technology, and user experience design.
• Proven ability to organize work effectively and manage multiple small tasks concurrently.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• A strong drive to learn product management tools, Agile methods, and digital delivery practices.
• Ability to collaborate effectively and contribute positively to team culture.
• Exceptional attention to detail and accuracy in capturing information.
• Basic understanding of user needs and a keen interest in user-centered thinking.
• Motivation to develop product ownership skills within a supportive environment.
• Curiosity, enthusiasm, and a proactive attitude towards continuous learning.

Bonus Skills

• Internship, voluntary, or previous work experience on product-related projects.
• Familiarity with digital tools such as Jira, Confluence, Miro, or Figma.
• Basic understanding of Agile, Scrum, or iterative development principles.
• Interest in EdTech, online learning, digital content, or language-learning platforms.
• Exposure to user research, testing, or analytics (academic or practical).
• Strong interest in AI-enabled learning or new technologies.
• Experience supporting communication or documentation tasks in team environments.
• Understanding of accessibility or inclusive design principles.

Additional Information

Essential:

• Fluency in English.
• Unlimited right to work in the UK without requiring sponsorship.
• Flexibility to work in a hybrid capacity in our London office (Stratford).

British Council Values:Our values and behaviors are integral to every role within the British Council, guiding our decision-making, interactions, and delivery of our strategy. These values will be assessed during the selection process:

• Open and Committed
• Expert and Inclusive
• Optimistic and Bold

Job Details

Location: London (hybrid, 2-3 days per week)Type: FTC (12 – 15 months), with potential for renewalSalary: Up to £27,000 p/a + £3,300 London allowance (London residents only)Department: English and Exams

Key skills/competency

• Product Development
• Agile Methodologies
• User Story Creation
• Backlog Management
• Stakeholder Communication
• Cross-functional Collaboration
• Digital Learning
• User Experience (UX)
• Project Coordination
• Documentation Management