Drive and manage digital products through the complete product lifecycle.
This occupation is found in a wide and diverse range of public and private sector organisations, from tech start-ups, government departments to multi-nationals. Any organisation of any size that creates or uses digital products such as systems, services, apps, websites, software in a digital environment will benefit from this occupation. Example sectors include banking and finance, telecoms, public sector, gaming, medical and pharmaceutical and cyber security.
The broad purpose of the occupation is to drive and manage digital products through the complete product lifecycle. Digital products are typically systems, services, apps, websites, software in a digital environment, starting from inception of the product, through to prototyping and gaining customer or user feedback. Digital and technical teams use modern or cutting-edge technology to deliver great products for users and create value for their businesses. This occupation needs to have a holistic understanding of the tech, the data and the users and bring that together to direct the team to deliver the best for the product. They continually gain user feedback on the digital product to maintain and make enhancements and improvements. They are the voice of the customer, interpreting the need behind the request and prioritising any changes needing to be made and with the product being digital they ensure changes are made continually. Changes can be weekly or even daily as new code can be changed quickly and immediately consumed by users. The occupation manages the product to the end of its life, decommissioning the system or service and the technology that sits behind it. An example in the public sector, where the public accesses the government service online to tax a car, the occupation has developed a service replacing a paper process with a wholly digital service. Digital Product Managers are responsible for Government services we regularly use such as Gov.Uk, renew your passport, book your covid vaccination. In the private sector the occupation owns applications and services used by a commercial or public sector organisation’s staff, their users, or citizens. This could be across installed applications, mobile applications, web sites and web applications across nearly all market sectors.
In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with a wide range of people both inside and outside of their digital and technical development team and their organisation. These include members of their multi-disciplinary digital and technical development team (Software Engineers, Testers, Business Analysts, Delivery Managers, UX Designers), customers or internal users, subject matter experts across their organisation or sector, commercial teams within their organisation, other members of the digital product community including peers and leaders and any stakeholders interested in or with influence over their digital product.
An employee in this occupation will be responsible for the end-to-end lifecycle management of their digital product(s). They are responsible for prioritising user driven and commercial changes which leads to the prioritisation of the work of the digital and technical development team. They will be responsible for ensuring they deliver value for money but are unlikely to directly manage a budget. They will be physical or virtually office based and may have occasional direct working with customers or users. They are unlikely to have complete autonomy over their product, they will need approval or agreement from senior product colleagues in key decisions, including strategic direction. They are unlikely to be a line manager as they be will junior members of the digital product team. They are likely to report to a more senior member of the digital product team. However, some organisations may have different structures and they could report to a more senior leader in another areas.
This is a summary of the key things that you – the apprentice and your employer need to know about your end-point assessment (EPA). You and your employer should read the EPA plan for the full details. It has information on assessment method requirements, roles and responsibilities, and re-sits and re-takes.
An EPA is an assessment at the end of your apprenticeship. It will assess you against the knowledge, skills, and behaviours (KSBs) in the occupational standard. Your training will cover the KSBs. The EPA is your opportunity to show an independent assessor how well you can carry out the occupation you have been trained for.
Your employer will choose an end-point assessment organisation (EPAO) to deliver the EPA. Your employer and training provider should tell you what to expect and how to prepare for your EPA.
The length of the training for this apprenticeship is typically 24 months. The EPA period is typically 4 months.
The overall grades available for this apprenticeship are:
The EPA gateway is when the EPAO checks and confirms that you have met any requirements required before you start the EPA. You will only enter the gateway when your employer says you are ready.
The gateway requirements for your EPA are:
Professional discussion underpinned by a portfolio of evidence
You will have a professional discussion with an independent assessor. It will last 60 minutes. They will ask you at least 8 questions. The questions will be about certain aspects of your occupation. You need to compile a portfolio of evidence before the EPA gateway. You can use it to help answer the questions.
Project with report
You will complete a project and write a report. You will be asked to complete a project. The title and scope must be agreed with the EPAO at the gateway. The report should be a maximum of 1500 words (with a 10% tolerance).
You will have 10 weeks to complete the project and submit the report to the EPAO.
You need to prepare and give a presentation to an independent assessor. Your presentation slides and any supporting materials should be submitted at the same time as the project output. The presentation with questions will last at least 60 minutes. The independent assessor will ask at least 8 questions about the project and presentation.
You should speak to your employer if you have a query that relates to your job.
You should speak to your training provider if you have any questions about your training or EPA before it starts.
You should receive detailed information and support from the EPAO before the EPA starts. You should speak to them if you have any questions about your EPA once it has started.Reasonable adjustments
If you have a disability, a physical or mental health condition or other special considerations, you may be able to have a reasonable adjustment that takes this into account. You should speak to your employer, training provider and EPAO and ask them what support you can get. The EPAO will decide if an adjustment is appropriate.
| Version | Change detail | Earliest start date | Latest start date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | Approved for delivery | 11/05/2023 | Not set |
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