Associate Director, Product Owner - Time & Absence

About the Team: Enterprise Systems is the backbone of GSK’s internal operations in Digital & Tech, enabling GSK Global Functions teams such as Finance, Procurement, HR, Legal, Compliance, WREF, CGA and Corporate Secretariat to run seamlessly. This team designs and delivers cutting-edge digital platforms that power critical processes, ensuring efficiency, compliance, and scalability across the enterprise. Our HR Digital & Tech team transforms how GSK attracts, develops, and retains talent through innovative technology solutions. From managing global HR platforms to delivering data-driven insights, this function ensures our people have the tools and experiences they need to thrive. Partnering closely with HR business teams, we create solutions that simplify processes, enhance employee engagement, and enable strategic workforce planning. If you’re passionate about technology that empowers people, this is where you can make an impact. Job Purpose: The Associate Director, Product Owner -Time & Absence is responsible for maximising the value of their HR Product portfolio by translating business needs into a prioritised backlog and leading delivery across the HR product lifecycle, within strategic and financial guardrails set by the Senior Director People Services & Reward, and VP HR 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 Time & Absence Product Owner guides delivery and operational support teams to ensure requirements are clear, value-driven, and data-informed, while overseeing iterative delivery that improves product performance, adoption, and operational effectiveness. 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: Serve as the functional and technical SME for Workday Time and Absence , offering expert guidance on configuration, statutory compliance, and best practice. Partner with business stakeholders to understand functional needs, refine requirements, and define product outcomes that support business priorities, within guardrails set by the Senior Director, People Services & Reward, and VP HR Digital & Tech. Serve as the escalation point for HR Product teams and business users on functional product issues, guiding decisions within agreed financial, risk, and architectural guardrails set by the Director, Workday, Payroll & Time Product Manager and VP, HR Digital & Tech. Own and manage the 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 Senior Director, People Services & Reward, and VP HR Digital & Tech. Lead the Product team’s delivery activities, guiding 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 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. 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. Lead your team in using approved AI tools to improve productivity and ways of working, role-modelling responsible use and follow GSK’s Responsible AI, privacy and security requirements. Required Skills & Qualifications: Bachelor's or Master's degree in a relevant field (e.g., Computer Science, Information Technology, or Engineering), or equivalent experience. 15 to 19 years of experience working in product delivery, digital solutions, business systems, or process-led technology roles. Hands-on experience in Workday Time & Absence configuration, including at least one full implementation or major re-configuration project. Proven experience defining and prioritising functional requirements (e.g., epics, features, user stories) and managing a product backlog. Experience working directly with business stakeholders to translate needs into feasible, value-led technology changes. 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; experience with Workday release testing and regression cycles. 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. Industry certifications highly desirable (e.g. Agile Methodologies, CPM). 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 Associate Product Owners 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. Ability to work in a very fast-paced and fluid environment Comfortable with ambiguity and change Skills Attendance Management, Automation, Cross-Functional Teamwork, Design Thinking, Product Ownership, Product Strategies, Time Management, Workday Absence Management, Workday Implementation, Workday Time Tracking Why GSK? Uniting science, techno