Product Owner Review

My role involves introducing new technology into the bank. I work to prioritise requirements, manage stakeholders and third party suppliers, create a vision for my product and manage my team to deliver towards that vision. We work using agile methodology and track activity using kanban boards and daily stand ups.

I have learnt so many new skills having never worked in finance or banking previously. The apprenticeship has given me an understanding of all the key skills I need to thrive through modules including strategy, financial management, managing change, project and agile management, managing people, research skills and international business context.

I really enjoy the learning aspect of the programme and have gained so much from it. With Covid I missed having in-person lectures as I got more from these. The programme is very intense with a lot of assignments with tight turn arounds and I often work 6-7 days a week to meet these.

The assignments could definitely be better organised as sometimes we have two due on the same day. We also didn't have much time to complete our dissertation so this definitely could have been started earlier for us to get the most out of our research. The organisation generally is fine.

I have had various different roles throughout the programme and each of my managers has been brilliant, allowing me to take one study day a week to do apprenticeship work. This time isn't enough to do all the work but I really appreciate the support I've been given.

Our apprenticeship was through Henley Business School and their approach was sometimes quite hands off with a limit to the support we received. Many of us stuggled with the workload. Our apprenticeship tutor however was excellent and really supported us all personally through the apprenticeship and the end point assesment.

On a graduate scheme you don't always get formal training before you start a role. This apprenticeship feels like it's been the training I need to have the foundation to perform well in any management role, not just in a banking context and I think I perform better daily because of it.

There's definitely a variety of extra-curricular activities available. Depending on the team you're in, there's also team socials and activities but this can be harder when teams aren't always in the same location. There's a lot of networks you can get involved with too if you want.

Yes

As such a large organisation I think we have so many opportunities to try out different roles and build different skill sets. I think the pay and the benefits are excellent. The people are great and management are really encouraging. There's also a good learning culture and opportunities for professional qualifications.

Make sure you understand our strategy and our values. If you know someone who works at lloyds, talk to them to get their insight on roles you might be interested in. Really personalise your application both to the role and to the Bank to show you've done your research.