Product CoE
Better product management means better products that translate into customer value and revenue for Ampol Group. The Product Centre of Excellence will partner with Business Units to lift performance and capability across the Group's product portfolio.
The Product Centre of Excellence (CoE) is the function responsible for Ampol Group's product management practice. It owns the model, methods, Playbook and Library that define how Ampol manages products. It partners with Business Units to apply them well, lift product performance, and grow capability across the Group's product portfolio.
Ampol Group's product capability is a strategic asset. The CoE strengthens it by owning the product management practice, building capability across Business Units, and creating the portfolio view that no single team can see alone.
The three priorities below respond to problems identified through interviews, a survey, and workshops with people in product and product-adjacent roles across the Group.
How Ampol Group defines, organises, views and evaluates its product portfolio.
Not everything Ampol Group takes to market is a Product. Some are Enablers that make products work. Others are Magnifiers that amplify their reach and value. Understanding the difference matters because the CoE's involvement and advice depend on what type of item is being assessed.
In this charter, a Business Unit (BU) refers to one of Ampol's organisational teams that owns and manages products. Products are grouped into four customer experience domains. This is a portfolio lens for organising and aligning product work across the business, not a change to reporting lines.
Secure digital and payment experiences that unify mobility and energy offerings.
Convenient and predictable experiences across fuel, EV charging, food and amenities.
Reliable fuel, lubricant and energy solutions that prioritise safety, continuity and uptime.
Integrated mobility solutions that optimise cost and simplify fleet operations.
Customer experience domain refers to one of the four areas above. Portfolio refers to the collective set of products across all domains, viewed at group level.
Ownership of products remains with Business Units. The CoE works alongside the business and shares in the outcomes of the support it provides.
| Area | Authority | In practice |
|---|---|---|
| Product management practice | Decide | Owns and evolves the model, methods, product management stages, Playbook, and Library that define how Ampol manages products. |
| Product Library | Decide | Designs, maintains and evolves the Product Library as the reference record for portfolio composition, classification, ownership and status. |
| Product management stages | Decide | Defines the product management stages and what each one requires. Business Unit teams apply them to their products. |
| Product classification | Decide | Determines what counts as a Product, Enabler or Magnifier. |
| Dashboard metrics and reporting | Decide | Defines what gets measured - for the dashboard - and how it is reported at portfolio level. |
| Initiating reviews | Decide | Decides whether and when to initiate a product management review (which assesses both a product's health and the Business Unit's capability to manage it). Most are agreed directly with the BU. Cross-BU reviews are escalated to the Customer Steering Committee. |
| Cross-BU coordination | Decide | Convenes Business Unit teams when dependencies or overlaps are identified. |
| Framing documents | Decide | Designs and applies the framing document used to scope every CoE engagement. |
| Portfolio prioritisation | Recommend | Provides evidence-based recommendations at group level. Decisions sit with Business Unit leadership and executive forums. |
| Product management stage transitions | Recommend | Proposes stage changes (including launch and iteration/retirement) based on evidence. Business Units decide. |
| Owner assignment | Recommend | Identifies ownership gaps and recommends named owners. Business Unit leadership decides. |
| Capability interventions | Recommend | Conducts capability assessments and recommends specific interventions for the BU. |
| Day-to-day product delivery | Out of scope | Operational product management remains with Business Unit teams. |
| BU commercial decisions | Out of scope | The CoE provides insight. Business Units make commercial decisions. |
| Technology platform choices | Out of scope | Technology decisions sit with Technology, Digital and Data. |
| Customer research execution | Out of scope | The CoE supports the use of evidence in decisions but does not conduct customer research directly. |
| Product and CX design execution | Out of scope | Design execution sits with Business Unit teams. |
A product moves through six product management stages. These are distinct from a product's lifecycle stages (the phases of a product's life in market, such as growth, maturity and decline). At each one, there are things the CoE works with the Business Unit to ensure are in place, so that decisions rest on sound evidence and the BU builds its own product management capability over time. The depth and form of each engagement is agreed through a framing document.
At each stage the CoE engages with the relevant BU to ensure these things are in place. Some reflect a shared commitment to building product management capability across the practice. Others are partnership opportunities the BU agrees with the CoE through a framing document.
A steady rhythm of touchpoints with the Customer Steering Committee, Business Units, and leadership.
Success for the CoE is measured by what changes in the business and how Business Units experience the partnership, rather than how much activity the CoE generates.
The Product, Enabler and Magnifier model and product management terminology are used consistently in governance forums, reviews and everyday conversations.
The Product Playbook is being used to guide development and management decisions. The Product Library is the reference record for portfolio composition and status.
Ambiguity about who owns products and Enablers has measurably reduced. Named product owners exist where they did not before.
Cross-BU risks and dependencies are identified through proactive CoE activity, business stakeholders are acting on them, and the CoE is consulted early in product-related decisions.
Understanding of customers has deepened and product performance across Ampol Group has improved across the engaged domains.
Business Unit teams describe engagements with the CoE as useful, well-scoped, and worth their time. Framing documents are seen as a way to guide and facilitate the work, not a barrier to it.
Business Unit teams have stronger product management capability after working with the CoE than before. Confidence, judgement and shared practice have all improved.
KPIs that keep the CoE accountable for delivering on this charter. Each one connects to a specific commitment and measures impact, not activity. Each individual Framing Document will also contain it's own KPIs agreed between the CoE and BU.
| # | KPI | What it proves |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
BU capability uplift score
Baseline each BU's product management maturity at engagement
start using the CoE's capability assessment. Re-measure at 6
and 12 months.
Example Target: measurable improvement in at least 2 of 4 engaged BUs
within the first year.
|
The CoE is actually building capability. Teams are better at
product management because of CoE involvement.
|
| 2 |
Product Playbook adoption
% of engaged BU teams actively using the Product Playbook for
stage transition decisions, measured via product management
review artefacts and governance forums.
Example Target: 80% of engaged BUs using it within 12 months.
|
The CoE's frameworks are being used in practice, not shelved.
|
| 3 |
Engagement value rating
After each CoE engagement, BU teams rate the value of the
engagement on a 4-point scale. Aggregated quarterly.
Example Target: average 3.0+ out of 4.
|
BU teams find the partnership useful. The CoE is perceived as
valuable.
|
| 4 |
Framing document discipline
% of CoE engagements with a completed framing document
covering scope, outputs and outcomes, agreed with the BU.
Example Target: 95% of engagements within 12 months.
|
Proactive engagement is disciplined and shared, not freeform
or imposed.
|
| 5 |
CoE initiative delivery
% of CoE-led initiatives (Playbook build, Library rollout,
discrete engagements, product management reviews, BU coaching
programmes) delivered on time, within scope, and with
documented BU satisfaction. Measured via close-out assessment
at the end of each initiative.
Example Target: 85% of initiatives rated as successfully delivered by
the receiving BU.
|
The CoE delivers what it commits to.
|
| 6 |
Ownership clarity index
% reduction in unowned or ambiguously owned products across
the portfolio. Measured at baseline and at 6 and 12 months.
Example Target: 50% reduction in ownership ambiguity within 12 months.
|
Tangible structural improvement. Products that had no clear
owner now have one.
|
| 7 |
Customer domain performance trend
Year-on-year movement in customer domain performance metrics
as defined by each domain. The CoE reports its contribution
narrative alongside the data, demonstrating connection to
outcomes rather than claiming sole credit.
Example Target: positive trend across engaged domains within 18
months.
|
Long-term impact on the business. The CoE is connected to
outcomes that matter.
|
This charter is endorsed by the following signatories, confirming the mandate, scope and authority of the Product Centre of Excellence.
This Charter was developed through consultation and co-design with leaders and product practitioners from across Ampol Group, facilitated by Opposite.
The workshop was facilitated by Opposite as part of the Products@Ampol engagement.