Digital Product Owner

Company Description

John Crane, a business of Smiths Group, is a global leader in mission-critical flow control solutions for energy and process industries that enable efficient and sustainable operations. Our products include mechanical seals and systems, couplings, bearings, filtration systems, and predictive digital monitoring technologies. 

The Mechanical Engineer role, reporting to the Test Lab Manager in the Innovation Group, focuses on supporting the prototype testing team. This includes designing and commissioning test equipment tailored to project-specific requirements, as well as developing processes and tools to enhance consistency and quality. Responsibilities also involve maintaining a safe work environment, troubleshooting equipment, and creating test plans to identify and address problems with prototypes.

Job Description

We have an exciting opportunity for a Digital Product Owner to join our team reporting to the Digital Segment Director. As the Digital Product Owner you will define, own, and communicate platform feature requirements, prioritize backlog items, and drive delivery in close collaboration with R&D teams. This role is accountable for translating stakeholder and end-user needs into clear user stories and acceptance criteria within an Agile framework. As the voice of the customer within the scrum team, the Product Owner ensures the Sense Platform delivers value across user workflows, supports reliability diagnostics, and aligns with platform evolution objectives.

This role is based from either our headquarters within Slough or site within Manchester working Monday to Friday normal office hours. (hybrid working)

John Crane is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to crafting an inclusive environment for all employees.

Duties & Responsibilities (not limited to)

• • Serve as the interface between business stakeholders and the Sense Platform R&D team
  • Translate functional and technical requests into detailed, prioritized backlog items
  • Own and maintain the Sense Platform backlog, ensuring alignment with sprint and release goals
  • Define clear, testable user stories, acceptance criteria, and prioritize according to business value and technical feasibility
  • Participate in sprint ceremonies: planning, reviews, retrospectives, and daily stand-ups
  • Provide day-to-day guidance and clarification to R&D team members during sprints
  • Ensure backlog items are “ready” for development and that deliverables meet “definition of done”
  • Coordinate with UI/UX designers to ensure designs align with user expectations and technical constraints
  • Validate deliverables through User Acceptance Testing (UAT) in collaboration with stakeholders
  • Actively monitor platform adoption and user feedback to continuously improve backlog relevance
  • Maintain a transparent and refined backlog for the Sense Platform
  • Lead sprint planning and backlog grooming sessions with clear prioritization logic
  • Act as the point of contact for R&D, clarifying requirements and removing blockers
  • Drive user-centric development by working closely with UX/UI, QA, and stakeholders
  • Ensure all work items are aligned with business goals and platform strategy
  • Manage scope and readiness of deliverables for each sprint cycle

Qualifications

• Experience within a similar role
• Strong communications skills
• Excellent stakeholder management

Additional Information

With colleagues stretching across the globe, we are proud of our diversity. To foster inclusivity, we run employee resource groups (ERGs) to provide a safe space for employees to connect and support each other. Our cross-business ERGs include Veterans, Pride Network, Black Employee Network, Women@Work Network, and Neurodiversity. 

Across our company, we recognize excellence, culminating in the Smiths Excellence Awards, our annual celebration of the most extraordinary activities, people, and projects that best showcase our strengths and help drive our business forward. We announce these on our annual Smiths Day, a global celebration of Smiths around our network. 

Join us for a great career with competitive compensation and benefits, while helping engineer a better future. 

We believe that different perspectives and backgrounds are what make a company flourish. All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment regardless of color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, economic status, disability, age, or any other legally protected characteristics. We are proud to be an inclusive company with values grounded in equality and ethics, where we celebrate, support, and embrace diversity.

At no time during the hiring process will Smiths Group, nor any of our recruitment partners ever request payment to enable participation – including, but not limited to, interviews or testing. Avoid fraudulent requests by applying jobs directly through our career’s website (Careers - Smiths Group plc)