Associate Director, Product Owner - IP

The Associate Director, Product Owner - IP is responsible for maximising the value of the intellectual property tech portfolio within the Legal, Compliance & WREF domain.

Key Responsibilities:

• Partner with IP business stakeholders to understand functional needs and define product outcomes.
• Own and manage the IP Product backlog, ensuring requirements are well-defined and supported by minimum data inputs.
• Make prioritisation decisions for the Product backlog based on value, cost, risk, business continuity, and resource capacity.
• Lead the Product team's delivery activities, guiding Product Analysts and working with Engineers, Architects, and Testers.
• Drive operational readiness by applying a delivery readiness checklist.
• Define and maintain the Product performance dashboard, tracking adoption, cycle time/throughput, stability/defects, UX signals, and support effort.
• Ensure product changes follow required digital & tech governance.
• Support Solution Architects to assess design options and manage cross-Product dependencies.
• Act as an escalation point for the Product team and business users on functional product issues.
• Contribute to the improvement of delivery practices within the Product.
• Support the Director, Legal product manager in ensuring the technology stack in intellectual property is top quartile.

Required Skills:

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in a relevant field.
• 15 to 19 years of experience working in product delivery, digital solutions, business systems, or process-led technology roles.
• Proven experience defining and prioritising functional requirements and managing a product backlog.
• Experience working within Legal technology, with a focus on IP systems.
• Experience working directly with business stakeholders to translate needs into feasible, value-led technology changes.

Preferred Skills:

• Strong communication and influencing skills.
• Skilled in coaching and guiding Product Analysts and delivery team members.
• Able to interpret business processes, user feedback, and operational data to identify opportunities for process simplification, automation, and improved user experience.