Mike
Senior Product Manager,
Department of Premier and Cabinet
Length of service: 4 months
My journey so far
My early career started in information technology as a developer. I ended up working across three continents in a variety of sectors and company sizes from agency, start up and multinational companies.
In 2014, I moved into product management where I could apply my passion for identifying and solving customer problems. Sitting in-between the needs of the customer and needs of the business is where I thrive. I have worked in various industries and on different products servicing B2B & B2C, across e-commerce, wagering, and health insurance.
At DPC I am the senior product manager for the Single Digital Presence (SDP) project. We are improving citizen access to the Victorian government through a consolidation of information onto a single technical platform.
My day-to-day work
No two days are the same. I usually start by checking emails and our Slack channel to see what’s come through. After that it is a mix of agile ceremonial meetings and stakeholder meetings throughout the day.
My role is balanced across new product development, delivery and in-market management. An average day may see me kicking off new features, reviewing user stories and pulling reports to measure how the product is performing. The main goal is to protect and align the team to key objectives and give them autonomy within their work.
How my work contributes to the Victorian community
Single Digital Presence has clear goals and benefits to the Victorian community. SDP is making it easier for citizens to find, understand and use Victorian government information whilst providing a consistent user experience.
For the Victorian government, SDP aims to reduce the cost, time and effort involved with developing and maintaining secure digital assets.
The end goal is to build out SDP so that it can be adopted by multiple government agencies and departments, not only here in Australia but globally.
Opportunities like no other
Being able to make an impact which is ethically and morally right, whilst being able to drive a positive impact on people’s day to day lives.
As government has a vast depth of talent within various departments and agencies, the networking opportunities are vast. The opportunity to learn from others is a great asset and you wouldn’t necessarily get that exposure to others in other types of jobs.
Experiencing diversity and inclusiveness
The Recognition Matters program used Single Digital Presence for their campaign. Understanding their journey and why we need to get higher diversity of women recognised for an Australian honours award. Currently only 30% of nominations for Australian honours are for women.
Their journey and approach to closing the gap on their diversity for women being nominated, definitely resonated with me.
Proud of my work
It makes me proud to be part of the journey to change the way we present government information to our citizens.
Within the team, I am surrounded by experts with a wide variety of skill sets – project management, content, user experience / user interface research, technology and communications. We all come together to drive the same goals and we complement each other well.
Although it’s still early in my Victorian government career, I can see how I can make a difference and look forward to a future here.
What do you enjoy most about working in the Victorian Public Sector?
The flexibility of the job allows for a good balance between work and life. I have colleagues here in DPC who can balance their job around school / family commitments, which is supported by senior management.
Join me in the Victorian public sector
Moving from the private to public sector can be daunting from the outside, but many people from the private sector have made the jump recently.
With my transition I was up and running quickly. Government is evolving and it’s an exciting time to join.
If you see any roles which you think would suit you, I would advise you to check LinkedIn to see if you have any connections in government and reach out to get a better understanding of how we work
Mike