Product Owner, Digital Solutions

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.

We have a global network of more than 200 sites in over 50 countries and employ more than 6,000 people worldwide. We partner with our customers to help them keep their operations safe, reduce downtime, improve efficiency, and meet the latest environmental standards.

John Crane is part of Smiths Group. For over 170 years, Smiths has been pioneering progress by engineering for a better future. We serve millions of people every year, helping to create a safer, more efficient, productive, and better-connected world across four global markets: energy, security & defence, space & aerospace, and general industrial. Listed on the London Stock Exchange, Smiths employs approximately 16,000 colleagues in over 50 countries.

Job Description

At John Crane, we are accelerating the growth of our digital solutions portfolio through innovative condition monitoring and predictive maintenance technologies. We are looking for a Product Owner to drive the execution and delivery of our John Crane Sense portfolio, including Sense Monitor and Sense Turbo.

Reporting to the Digital Director, you will play a critical role in translating product strategy into executable plans, ensuring successful delivery of quarterly roadmaps while coordinating internal teams, external suppliers, and software development partners. You will act as the bridge between product strategy and execution, managing priorities, delivery schedules, product backlogs, and stakeholder expectations to ensure high-quality product releases.

This is an exciting opportunity for an individual who thrives in Agile environments and enjoys working at the intersection of technology, operations, and customer value.

What You'll Be Doing

Product Delivery & Roadmap Execution

• Own and deliver quarterly roadmap commitments for the John Crane Sense portfolio.
• Translate product priorities into actionable user stories, sprint plans, and delivery activities.
• Manage and prioritise product backlogs to ensure alignment with agreed business objectives.
• Support the successful delivery of both Performance+ and Aftermarket growth initiatives.
• Track progress against delivery milestones and proactively address risks and dependencies.

Agile Product Ownership

• Work closely with software development teams to define, refine, and prioritise requirements.
• Lead backlog grooming, sprint planning, and delivery reviews.
• Make day-to-day delivery and sprint-level prioritisation decisions within agreed roadmap objectives.
• Ensure development activities align with business priorities and customer needs.

Supplier & Partner Management

• Act as the primary day-to-day interface for key technology partners and suppliers.
• Coordinate activities across offshore software teams and external partners including Tribosonics and Sensoteq.
• Monitor supplier performance and ensure timely completion of agreed deliverables.
• Drive accountability and responsiveness across all delivery partners.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Collaborate with Product Management, Product Operations, Engineering, Compliance, and Digital leadership teams.
• Provide clear communication of project status, risks, dependencies, and delivery timelines.
• Build strong relationships with technical and non-technical stakeholders across the organisation.
• Support governance activities and ensure alignment with wider digital strategy.

Quality, Compliance & Continuous Improvement

• Support certification and compliance activities associated with product releases.
• Drive improvements in release quality, stability, and reliability.
• Minimise defects through effective planning, testing, and stakeholder collaboration.
• Champion continuous improvement across product delivery processes.

What Success Looks Like

Delivery Excellence

• Quarterly roadmap commitments delivered on time.
• Achievement of sprint objectives and delivery milestones.
• Effective management of risks, dependencies, and delivery challenges.
• Reduction in delivery slippage and execution delays.

Product Quality

• Improved release stability and reliability.
• Reduced defect leakage into production environments.
• Successful support of certification and compliance activities.

Supplier Performance

• Timely closure of supplier actions and commitments.
• Improved responsiveness and accountability from delivery partners.
• Effective coordination of external technology providers.

Stakeholder Satisfaction

• Clear and proactive communication.
• High confidence in delivery planning and execution.
• Strong collaboration across internal and external stakeholder groups.

Qualifications

• Experience as a Product Owner, Delivery Lead, Business Analyst, Project Manager, or similar role.
• Proven experience working within Agile delivery environments.
• Strong expertise in backlog management using Jira.
• Experience coordinating offshore software development teams.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong stakeholder management and supplier engagement skills.