Product Owner

Arriva is a leading European passenger transport partner, operating in 11 countries across the UK and Europe.  The company employs around 35,000 people, delivering more than 1.5 billion passenger journeys connecting people and communities safely, reliably and sustainably.

We have strong roots dating back to 1938, an ambitious growth and sustainability agenda, and a continuously developing relationship with I Squared Capital – a global infrastructure investment fund manager - who acquired Arriva in 2024.

The Product Owner responsible for translating business needs and product vision into actionable requirements for delivery teams, ensuring that products deliver maximum value. This role maintains a prioritised backlog, provides clarity throughout the development process, and works closely with business units, support teams, IT business partners, and the Platforms team to validate technical feasibility and manage dependencies. The Product Owner acts as the bridge between business priorities and technical delivery, requiring strong collaboration, communication, and decision-making skills.

Each role holder will be assigned to one primary domain — Back Office, Operations, or Customer & Commercial — but this job description is intentionally generic to support recruitment across all three areas.

This role will either be based from our Sunderland or London office on a hybrid working basis with a requirement to be present in the office a minimum of 3 days per week, the rest where you can best deliver to your customers.

Product Vision & Backlog Management

• Translate the product vision and business goals into actionable user stories and acceptance criteria.
• Own and maintain a prioritised product backlog that reflects business objectives and customer needs.
• Continuously refine backlog items based on stakeholder feedback, technical constraints, and changing priorities.
• Ensure backlog items are well-documented, estimated, and ready for development.

Delivery

• Actively participate in sprint ceremonies, including planning, daily stand-ups, reviews, and retrospectives.
• Provide timely clarification and guidance to development teams to ensure successful delivery.
• Monitor sprint progress, identify risks or blockers early, and work with teams to resolve issues.

Collaboration with Key Teams

• Work closely with business units, support teams, IT business partners, and the Platforms team to validate technical requirements and manage dependencies.
• Ensure solutions are scalable, secure, and aligned with platform standards.
• Support integration planning and testing activities to guarantee smooth deployment.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Engage with key stakeholders across the different teams to gather feedback and prioritise features.
• Facilitate workshops and discussions to align on requirements and delivery expectations.
• Communicate progress, risks, and changes clearly to all stakeholders.

Performance Monitoring

• Track product performance metrics and adoption rates post-launch.
• Use data-driven insights to inform backlog prioritisation and future enhancements.
• Ensure continuous improvement through iterative delivery and feedback loops.

Domain allocation

Each Product Owner role will be aligned to one of the following domains. Allocation will be confirmed at the appointment:

Back Office - HR, Payroll, Finance, Compliance, Risk, and Corporate Systems

Operations - Operational planning, scheduling, fleet, asset, safety, control, and onboard systems

Customer & Commercial - Customer experience platforms, ticketing and retail, CRM, revenue management, digital and marketing solutions

While the role is domain‑aligned, collaboration across domains is expected where initiatives overlap.

Key success criteria for this role are:

• A well-maintained and prioritised backlog aligned with business objectives.
• Backlog items refined, groomed, and linked to strategic goals.
• Features delivered on time and aligned with stakeholder expectations.
• Demonstrable improvement in engagement metrics.
• Decisions supported by analytics (e.g., user behaviour, adoption rates).
• KPIs tracked and reported consistently.
• Adoption of new features that enhance operational efficiency and stakeholder satisfaction.

This job description sets out the main duties and responsibilities of the job-holder. It does not constitute an exhaustive or comprehensive description of duties and the job holder will be required to carry out any additional tasks as and when requested to do so by their manager. Responsibilities and duties may also change in light of future business needs and personal development.

The closing date for applications is Friday 13th March 2026. Arriva group reserves the right to close this vacancy early.