Overview of the National Transport Authority

The National Transport Authority (NTA) is a statutory body established by the Minister for Transport on 1 December 2009.

At national level, the Authority has responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger land transport services, including subsidised bus and rail and light rail services. The Authority also licenses public bus passenger services delivered by private operators and has responsibility for the regulation of the small public service vehicle (SPSV) industry (taxis, hackneys and limousines). Other areas of responsibility include the State’s rural transport programme, integrated information systems for public transport customers, management of the Integrated Ticketing Scheme for Ireland (the Leap Card system), and regulation of vehicle clamping.

Within the Greater Dublin Area (GDA) the Authority carries additional responsibilities including:

· Strategic planning of transport;

· Development of an integrated, accessible public transport network;

· Promoting cycling and walking;

· Provision of public transport infrastructure generally including light rail, metro and heavy rail; and

· Effective management of traffic and transport demand.

The GDA includes the local authority areas of Dublin City, Fingal, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, South Dublin, Kildare, Meath and Wicklow.

The Authority’s Capital Investment Programme includes an exciting and challenging range of projects and programmes for development and delivery over the coming years. These include mega-projects such as MetroLink, BusConnects Dublin and the DART+ Programme, together with numerous other major projects/programmes in the heavy rail area, light rail area, bus infrastructure and public transport fleet, in addition to a large portfolio of projects in the active travel area. Along with other initiatives in the areas of micro-mobility, transport technology and climate adaption, there are stimulating and rewarding opportunities to make a real contribution to enhancing Ireland’s overall transport system.

Further information on the Authority is available on its website www.nationaltransport.ie

The National Transport Authority wishes to recruit a suitably experienced and qualified individual to the role of Senior UI UX Product Manager. Successful candidates may be placed on a panel from which future vacancies may be filled.

Transport Technology Department

The NTA’s Transport Technology (TT) department is responsible for overseeing the delivery and subsequent operation of technology solutions across four principal areas: Ticketing (Transport For Ireland (TFI) Leap Card, TFI Go, Leap Top-Up), Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL), Real-Time Passenger Information (RTPI) and National Journey Planner systems (TFI Live).

The Transport Technology Systems Team sources, develops and delivers new systems and enhancements, both via dedicated project teams involving external suppliers as well as via in-house resources. The Transport Technology Operations Team ensures that the supplied systems are operated and maintained within agreed service levels, manages service delivery, and handles all incidents and outages with live systems.

The Transport Technology department is responsible for several high-profile consumer mobile applications and websites on both iOS and Android, including TFI Live, Leap Top-Up, Leapcard.ie and TFI Go. Currently the Transport Technology department is working on the Next Generation Ticketing (NGT) project, which will ultimately replace the successful Leap Card system and associated apps. The NTA wishes to recruit a suitably experienced and qualified individual to the role of Senior UI/UX Product Manager to lead the design of apps and websites across the Transport Technology Directorate

Duties and Responsibilities

Reporting to the Head of Transport Technology Systems, the principal function of this role is to oversee the design of externally developed customer facing apps, user interfaces, and websites across all systems and projects within the Transport Technology Directorate, which includes: TFI Live, TFI Leap Top-Up, TFI Go, NGT mobile app(s) and future potential apps.

The successful candidate will put the customer first and will champion the importance of User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI) design. The successful candidate shall collaborate closely with external app developers to ensure that all features are intuitive, visually appealing, and aligned with customer needs. The role shall advocate for user-centred design principles, ensuring that usability and accessibility are prioritised in every product iteration, from wireframes to final releases. It is anticipated that multiple apps would be consolidated into fewer apps over time.

This role requires a clear thinker who can align the UI and UX across the range of apps, websites and device interfaces (e.g. on customer facing ticket machines). The role shall ensure that the suppliers design apps that meet NTA’s requirements and are consistent in terms of UI/UX and terminology and messaging used. The successful candidate will work closely with internal stakeholders in driving mobile app design, factoring in accessibility compliance in

coordination with NTA’s accessibility team, as well as Irish language support, and will work with CX and PR teams for the launch and promotion of the apps. The successful candidate would also be expected to stay on top of evolving trends (social media etc.) and best practices.

The Senior UI/UX Product Manager will need to understand app development processes and how to define user stories with appropriate User Interface and User Experience design.

The successful candidate will be required to fulfil the following principal duties and responsibilities:

· Define and communicate a clear vision for each mobile app taking into account the overarching strategy;

· Lead the UX/UI design process for new apps, websites and systems, including guiding and reviewing UI including wireframes, mock-ups/prototypes;

· Oversee the external supplier’s implementation of the UX/UI design across the apps and websites;

· Write and review NTA defined user stories, and ensure all new features and enhancements are comprehensive, unambiguous, aligned with NTA’s needs, and ready for implementation by external suppliers;

· Ensure consistent and appropriate branding and terminology across all customer facing elements;

· Act as the primary point of contact between the NTA and external suppliers responsible for mobile app design;

· Work with supplier app development teams to drive usability of mobile applications at design meetings, during prototyping and acceptance testing;

· Review, and approve supplier deliverables, including prototypes, wireframes, and app releases;

· Engage with internal stakeholders (Customer Experience (CX), Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Operations, etc.) to gather requirements, define features, and manage expectations for mobile app development;

· Provide regular updates to leadership on the progress of mobile apps and explain solution and application features to non-technical teams and other stakeholders;

· Define approach to continuously gather user feedback, perform market research, and analyse app usage data to inform product decisions and backlog prioritisation;

· Work with suppliers to identify opportunities for feature improvements;

· Ensure that mobile apps meet expectations for usability, performance, and functionality; and

· Ensure that app/product documentation is appropriately documented and maintained.

Note: The functions and responsibilities initially assigned to the position is based on the current organisational requirements and may be changed from time to time. The person appointed requires the flexibility to fulfil other roles and responsibilities at a similar level within the Authority.

Essential Criteria

Please note: In order to satisfy the shortlisting panel that you meet these criteria you must explicitly reference how you meet same in your application. Failure to demonstrate these may prevent your application progressing to future shortlisting stages.

Each candidate must meet the following requirements at the time of the competition closing:

a) Hold a minimum of a NFQ level 7 qualification in computing, engineering, information technology or a related discipline;

b) Have a minimum of 7 years’ recent satisfactory experience working as a User Interface (UI)/User Experience (UX) designer or similar relevant role, with at least 3 of these years leading the design of mobile apps;

c) Have substantive experience in defining user stories and wireframes for implementation by external app developers;

d) Experience managing multiple products simultaneously, preferably in collaboration with external suppliers; and

e) Experience of conducting beta testing involving public focus groups or equivalent.

Desirable Criteria

Please note: Should further shortlisting be required after essential criteria above, a selection of the following may be assessed.

The ideal candidate will also:

f) Have experience as a UX/UI designer of an app including in-app payments, and/or of an app involving financial transactions;

g) Have experience of tools such as JIRA and Trello or similar;

h) Training in human-computer interaction (HCI) and/or user-centric design principles; and

i) Experienced in supplier management, particularly outsourced app development teams.

Remuneration

Salary Grade: Engineer Grade I

Salary Scale: €83,272, €85,887, €88,509, €91,123, €93,736, €96,845, €100,383 (LSI 1), €103,925 (LSI 2)

Personal Pension Contribution (PPC) rate. This salary is payable to an individual who is required to make a personal pension contribution (PPC) to their main pension (in general those persons whose initial appointment to the Public Service is on or after 6th April 1995).

€79,162, €81,591, €84,081, €86,571, €89,049, €92,002, €95,366 (LSI 1),

€98,732 (LSI 2)

Non-Personal Pension Contribution (non-PPC) rate. This salary is payable to an individual who is not required to make a personal pension contribution (PPC) to their main pension scheme.

Annual Leave: 30 days per annum. This leave is based on a five day week and is exclusive of the usual public holidays.

Note:

· entry will be at point 1 of the scale and will not be subject to negotiation;

· different pay and conditions may apply if, immediately prior to appointment the appointee is already a serving Civil Servant or Public Servant;

· the rate of remuneration may be adjusted from time to time in line with Government pay policy.

Contract: Permanent Contract

Probation: There is a 6 month probationary period which may at the discretion of the CEO be extended to 10 months.

Selection Process

Prior to completing your application please read the Important Candidate Information Booklet on our careers page here: www.nationaltransport.ie/about-us/careers

How to Apply

Please submit your application in one single word document or PDF referencing the title of the role you wish to apply for in the subject of the email to careers@nationaltransport.ie with the following:

1. A comprehensive cover letter outlining why you wish to be considered for the post and where you believe your skills and experience meet the requirements for the role of Senior UI UX Product Manager;

2. A comprehensive CV (not to exceed 3 pages); and

3. A fully completed Key Achievements Form (attached).

Please note that omission of any or part of the 3 requested documents, as set out above, will render the application incomplete. Incomplete applications will not be considered for the next stage of the selection process.

Closing Date

The closing date and time for applications is strictly 12pm (noon) on Friday, 29th November 2024. Applications received after the specified deadline cannot be accepted.

If you do not receive an acknowledgement of receipt of your application within 2 working days of applying, please email careers@nationaltransport.ie.