Product Strategy Manager

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Product Strategy Manager

Company: Bupa

Location: Staines, United Kingdom (with hybrid working) / London, United Kingdom (with hybrid working)

Job Type: Full-time

Category: Product Strategy / Operations Strategy

Date Posted: 2026-04-09

Experience Level: Mid-Senior Level (3-5 years)

Remote Status: Hybrid (minimum 1 day in office)

🚀 Role Summary

• Develop and implement comprehensive product and proposition strategies that align with customer needs and Bupa's overarching commercial objectives within the UK Insurance market.

• Translate complex customer, market, and competitor insights into actionable recommendations for senior leadership, driving informed decision-making and strategic prioritization.

• Serve as a product lead for critical strategic initiatives, product enhancements, and regulatory projects, ensuring alignment across various business functions.

• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including pricing, clinical, governance, operations, and distribution, to ensure the viability, compliance, and fair value delivery of product strategies.

• Support business development efforts, such as broker tenders and new distribution opportunities, by providing robust product insight and strategic positioning.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the title is "Product Strategy Manager," the description emphasizes close collaboration with "operations" and the need for strategies to be "viable, compliant and deliver fair value." This suggests a strong operational component to the strategy, requiring an understanding of how product decisions impact operational execution, risk management, and customer outcomes. Candidates should highlight experience in translating strategic vision into practical, executable plans that consider operational feasibility and efficiency.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Strategic Planning & Development: Define, shape, and deliver clear product and proposition strategies that address evolving customer needs and Bupa’s commercial imperatives in the UK insurance sector.

• Insight Generation & Translation: Proactively gather, analyze, and synthesize customer, market, and competitor data to generate actionable insights and practical recommendations that inform senior-level decision-making.

• Strategic Communication: Create compelling strategy papers, presentations, and narratives to articulate product change proposals, investment justifications, and prioritization frameworks to executive audiences.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner effectively with pricing, clinical, governance, legal, compliance, and operations teams to ensure product strategies are robust, compliant with regulations, deliver fair customer outcomes, and are operationally sound.

• Product Leadership: Act as the dedicated Product Lead for key strategic initiatives, product improvement programs, and significant regulatory projects, driving progress and ensuring alignment with strategic goals.

• Business Development Support: Provide expert product insight, strategic positioning, and compelling value propositions to support tender responses for brokers and the exploration of new distribution channels.

• Risk & Outcome Management: Integrate robust risk assessment and incident thinking into all strategic work, maintaining a relentless focus on achieving positive and fair customer outcomes.

• Market Analysis: Continuously monitor the healthcare and insurance landscape, identifying emerging trends, threats, and opportunities to inform strategic adjustments and product innovation.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a blend of strategic thinking and operational execution oversight. The emphasis on "viability, compliance, and fair value" necessitates a deep understanding of how product strategies translate into operational processes, risk frameworks, and customer experience. Candidates should be prepared to discuss how they've ensured operational feasibility for strategic initiatives.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education:

Experience:

• Minimum 3-5 years of experience in strategy-focused roles, such as management consulting, in-house strategy teams, business development, or product strategy environments where shaping strategic direction and influencing senior decision-making were core functions.

• Demonstrated experience in translating complex, ambiguous problems into clear, actionable recommendations and strategic plans.

Required Skills:

• Strategic Planning & Development: Proven ability to define, develop, and articulate long-term product and business strategies.

• Stakeholder Management: Exceptional ability to build relationships and influence a diverse range of stakeholders, including senior and executive-level audiences.

• Communication & Storytelling: Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with a strong aptitude for crafting compelling narratives, persuasive presentations, and concise, senior-ready executive summaries and slide decks.

• Problem-Solving: Demonstrated capacity to tackle complex, ambiguous, and unstructured problems, breaking them down into manageable components and developing clear, data-driven solutions.

• Analytical Thinking: Ability to analyze market trends, competitor activities, and customer data to extract meaningful insights and inform strategic decisions.

• Adaptability & Pace: Proven ability to work effectively in a fast-paced environment, adapt quickly to changing priorities, and manage multiple projects simultaneously.

• Resilience & Persistence: Ability to see complex or long-running strategic initiatives through to successful completion, overcoming obstacles.

• Independent Operation: Confidence and capability to operate autonomously, take initiative, and deliver results with minimal direct supervision.

Preferred Skills:

• Product Management Fundamentals: Understanding of product lifecycle management, market research methodologies, and product development processes.

• Insurance Industry Knowledge: Familiarity with the healthcare and insurance sectors, including regulatory frameworks, market dynamics, and common product types.

• Financial Acumen: Understanding of financial modeling, business case development, and commercial impact assessment.

• Operations Understanding: Awareness of operational processes within the insurance industry, including claims, underwriting, distribution, and customer service, and how strategy impacts them.

• Project Management: Experience in leading or contributing to strategic projects, managing timelines, resources, and deliverables.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "strategy roles or environments" and "consultancy, in-house strategy teams or start-ups" suggests a preference for candidates with experience in structured strategic thinking, problem decomposition, and hypothesis-driven approaches. The "product experience is helpful but not essential" note indicates that strong analytical and communication skills are paramount, with the expectation that product specifics can be learned. Operations professionals with a strong strategic mindset who can demonstrate how they've influenced product direction from an operational perspective would be highly competitive.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Strategic Frameworks & Roadmaps: Showcase examples of strategic plans developed, including market analysis, competitive positioning, and phased implementation roadmaps.

• Business Case Development: Include examples of business cases or investment proposals for new products, features, or strategic initiatives, clearly outlining objectives, scope, expected ROI, and key risks.

• Insight-to-Action Case Studies: Present case studies that demonstrate how you've translated complex data (customer, market, competitor) into actionable strategic recommendations that led to tangible business outcomes.

• Stakeholder Alignment & Communication: Provide examples of materials or projects where you successfully aligned diverse senior stakeholders around a strategic vision or decision, such as strategy papers, executive summaries, or presentation decks.

• Problem-Solving Demonstrations: Include examples of how you've tackled ambiguous or complex problems, detailing your approach, analysis, and the resulting clear recommendations.

Process Documentation:

• Strategic Planning Process: Document your approach to strategic planning, from identifying strategic objectives and conducting market research to developing long-term vision and short-term action plans.

• Insight Synthesis & Recommendation Framework: Outline your methodology for synthesizing disparate data sources into coherent insights and formulating well-supported strategic recommendations.

• Stakeholder Engagement & Communication Plan: Detail how you manage stakeholder expectations, facilitate decision-making, and communicate strategic progress and outcomes effectively.

• Risk Assessment Integration: Illustrate how you incorporate risk assessment and customer outcome considerations into the strategic planning and development process.

📝 Enhancement Note: For this role, a portfolio should emphasize strategic thinking, analytical rigor, and communication prowess, rather than purely operational process documentation. Candidates should highlight examples of strategic initiatives they've led or significantly contributed to, focusing on the problem, their analytical approach, the strategic solution proposed, and the impact achieved. For operations professionals, this means showcasing how strategic insights informed operational improvements or how operational constraints were factored into strategic planning.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: £70,000 - £75,000 per annum (DOE - Depending on Experience)

Benefits:

• 25 Days Holiday: Increasing with length of service, with the flexibility to buy or sell additional days.

• Bupa Health Insurance: A valuable benefit in kind, providing comprehensive healthcare coverage.

• Annual Performance-Based Bonus: Opportunity to earn a bonus based on individual and company performance.

• Enhanced Pension Plan: A robust pension scheme designed for long-term financial security.

• Life Insurance: Providing financial security for dependents.

• Wellbeing Programme (Viva): Comprehensive global wellbeing program covering mental, physical, financial, social, and environmental aspects.

• Flexible Working: Options for flexible working patterns, supporting work-life balance.

• Family Friendly Benefits: Support for employees with family responsibilities.

• Onsite Gyms or Local Discounts: Access to fitness facilities at Bupa locations or through local partnerships.

• Various Other Benefits & Online Discounts: A range of additional perks and discounts available to employees.

Working Hours: 37.5 hours per week (Full-time)

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range is competitive for a mid-to-senior level strategy role in the UK, particularly within the financial services/insurance sector. The "DOE" (Depending on Experience) indicates that candidates with more extensive or directly relevant experience may negotiate towards the higher end. The benefits package is comprehensive, with a strong emphasis on health and wellbeing, aligning with Bupa's core business. The hybrid working model with a minimum of one day in the office offers a structured approach to balancing remote flexibility with in-person collaboration.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Healthcare and Insurance. Bupa is a global health insurance and healthcare provider with a unique structure as it has no shareholders, meaning profits are reinvested into the business to focus on customers and their health outcomes.

Company Size: Bupa is a large, global organization with a significant presence in the UK. While exact employee numbers for the UK division aren't specified, Bupa globally employs tens of thousands of people. This size implies a structured environment with established processes, but also opportunities for impact within specific product areas.

Founded: Bupa was founded in 1947. This long history signifies stability, established market presence, and deep industry expertise.

Team Structure:

• Product, Proposition, and Transformation: The role sits within this central department, indicating a focus on shaping the future of Bupa's offerings and driving strategic change.

• Cross-Functional Partnership: The role requires close collaboration with various departments including Pricing, Clinical, Governance, Operations, and Distribution. This suggests a matrixed or highly collaborative working environment where influence and strong communication are key.

• Reporting: While not explicitly stated, a Product Strategy Manager typically reports to a Head of Product Strategy, Director of Product, or a similar senior leadership role within the Product or Strategy function.

Methodology:

• Customer-Centricity: Bupa's purpose is "to help people live longer, healthier, happier lives," emphasizing a strong customer focus in all strategic decisions.

• Data-Driven Decision Making: The role requires turning "customer, market and competitor insight into practical recommendations," highlighting a reliance on data analysis and evidence-based strategy.

• Agile Adaptation: The need to "respond confidently to a changing healthcare and insurance landscape" and the requirement to "adapt quickly as priorities change" suggest a culture that embraces agility and continuous improvement.

• Risk & Fair Value Focus: Embedding "effective risk and incident thinking" and ensuring "fair value and good customer outcomes" are core to Bupa's operational and strategic ethos.

Company Website: https://www.bupa.com/

📝 Enhancement Note: Bupa's positioning as a customer-focused, non-shareholder entity implies a culture that prioritizes long-term value and customer well-being over short-term profit maximization. For operations professionals, this means strategies are likely evaluated not just on financial return but also on their impact on customer outcomes and operational sustainability.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is positioned as a Mid-Senior level position, typically requiring 3-5 years of dedicated strategy experience. It's a critical role for someone looking to influence the direction of Bupa's product portfolio, bridging strategic thinking with operational considerations. It sits above an analyst or specialist role and below a director or head of department.

Reporting Structure: The Product Strategy Manager will likely report to a senior leader within the Product, Proposition, or Transformation team, such as a Head of Product Strategy or Director of Product. They will also work very closely with peers in related functions like Pricing, Operations, Clinical, and Governance.

Operations Impact: This role has a significant potential to impact Bupa's operations by:

• Defining product roadmaps that dictate the features and services operations teams will need to support.

• Ensuring that new strategies are operationally viable, compliant, and deliver good customer outcomes, thereby reducing operational friction and risk.

• Driving strategic initiatives that may involve process re-engineering, system enhancements, or new operational workflows.

Growth Opportunities:

• Specialization: Deepen expertise within specific product lines (e.g., health insurance, dental, aged care) or strategic areas (e.g., digital transformation, market entry).

• Leadership Progression: Advance into roles such as Senior Product Strategy Manager, Head of Product Strategy, or Director of Product Management, potentially managing a team.

• Cross-Functional Moves: Leverage strategic experience to move into broader leadership roles within Product, Proposition, Transformation, or even into operational leadership positions where strategic insight is valued.

• Industry Expertise: Develop a strong reputation and deep knowledge within the UK healthcare and insurance sector, becoming a go-to expert for product strategy.

• Mentorship: Opportunity to mentor junior strategy or product professionals as the role matures.

📝 Enhancement Note: For operations professionals looking to transition or enhance their career, this role offers a pathway to influence strategy at a higher level. Demonstrating how strategic thinking can be applied to optimize operations, improve customer journeys, and manage risk effectively will be key for growth. The emphasis on "good customer outcomes" is a strong indicator of how Bupa measures success, which can be a guiding principle for operational improvements.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: The role is based in London (Angel Court) and Staines (Willow House) with a hybrid working model. This suggests a professional office environment designed for collaboration, meetings, and focused work, balanced with the flexibility of remote work.

Office Location(s):

• Angel Court, London: A prime city location, likely offering excellent transport links and access to amenities.

• Staines - Willow House: A suburban location, potentially offering a different working atmosphere and accessibility.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Hubs: Office spaces are likely equipped with meeting rooms, breakout areas, and potentially hot-desking facilities to support hybrid working and spontaneous collaboration.

• Technology Enabled: Expect access to standard office technology, reliable internet, and potentially specialized software for strategy development, analysis, and communication.

• Cross-Functional Interaction: The hybrid model encourages intentional in-office days to foster team cohesion and facilitate face-to-face interactions with colleagues from various departments, crucial for a role that spans multiple functions.

Work Schedule:

• Full-time (37.5 hours per week): Standard full-time commitment.

• Hybrid Model: Minimum of one day per week in the office. This allows for structured in-person collaboration while providing flexibility for personal commitments and focused remote work. The specific day(s) in office may be flexible or dictated by team needs.

📝 Enhancement Note: The hybrid model requires self-discipline and effective time management to maximize productivity both remotely and in the office. Operations professionals should consider how they can best leverage their "in-office" time for strategic discussions, stakeholder alignment, and team building, while using remote time for deep analysis, report writing, and focused strategic planning.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: Likely a review of CV and cover letter by HR or a recruitment partner to assess alignment with essential qualifications and experience.

• Hiring Manager Interview: A discussion focused on your strategic experience, problem-solving approach, stakeholder management skills, and understanding of the role's objectives. Expect behavioral questions.

• Case Study/Presentation: A common step for strategy roles. You may be given a business problem or strategic challenge to analyze and present recommendations on. This assesses your analytical skills, strategic thinking, communication, and ability to translate insights into action.

• Panel Interview: Meeting with key stakeholders from Product, Operations, Pricing, and Governance to assess cultural fit, cross-functional collaboration potential, and depth of understanding regarding the operational impact of strategy.

• Final Interview: Potentially with a senior leader (e.g., Director) to discuss overall fit and strategic vision.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Focus on Impact: For each example, clearly articulate the problem, your strategic approach, the actions taken, and the quantifiable results or business impact.

• Showcase Strategic Thinking: Highlight how you identified opportunities, analyzed markets, developed competitive advantages, and created strategic roadmaps.

• Demonstrate Problem-Solving: Present examples of complex, ambiguous challenges you've successfully navigated, detailing your methodology.

• Highlight Communication Skills: Ensure your portfolio materials (e.g., case study summaries, presentation slides) are clear, concise, visually appealing, and effectively tell a story.

• Tailor to Bupa: If possible, align your examples with Bupa's industry (healthcare/insurance) and their stated purpose of helping people live healthier lives.

• Operations Integration: For operations professionals, clearly link strategic initiatives to operational improvements, efficiency gains, or risk mitigation.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand Bupa's Business: Research Bupa's current product portfolio, market position, strategic priorities, and recent news. Understand their unique customer-centric, non-shareholder model.

• Healthcare & Insurance Trends: Be prepared to discuss key trends, challenges, and opportunities within the UK healthcare and insurance sectors (e.g., digital health, regulatory changes, customer expectations, competitive landscape).

• Strategic Frameworks: Refresh your knowledge of common strategic frameworks (e.g., SWOT, Porter's Five Forces, PESTLE analysis) and be ready to apply them.

• Case Study Practice: Practice breaking down business problems, identifying key drivers, developing hypotheses, outlining analytical approaches, and formulating strategic recommendations under time pressure.

• Stakeholder Management Scenarios: Prepare examples of how you've managed difficult stakeholders, influenced decisions, or navigated cross-functional disagreements.

📝 Enhancement Note: Given the role's emphasis on translating insight into action and working with operations, expect case studies or interview questions that probe how strategic ideas are made practical and executable. Demonstrating an understanding of operational constraints and opportunities will be crucial for success.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Presentation Software: Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Slides for creating strategy papers, presentations, and executive summaries. Proficiency in creating compelling visual narratives is essential.

• Data Analysis & Visualization Tools: While not explicitly listed, familiarity with tools like Microsoft Excel (advanced functions, pivot tables), potentially Tableau, Power BI, or similar business intelligence platforms for data analysis and reporting would be highly beneficial.

• Collaboration Platforms: Microsoft Teams or similar for team communication, document sharing, and hybrid collaboration.

• Project Management Tools: Experience with tools like Asana, Monday.com, Jira, or Trello may be advantageous for managing strategic initiatives and tracking progress, though not explicitly required.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Market Research Databases: Access to industry-specific databases and research platforms for competitor analysis and market trend identification.

• Internal Data Sources: Ability to access and interpret data from Bupa's internal systems (e.g., CRM, sales data, operational metrics) to inform strategy.

CRM & Automation:

• CRM Systems (e.g., Salesforce): While not directly managing a CRM, understanding how CRM data can inform product strategy and customer segmentation is valuable.

• Workflow & Automation Tools: Awareness of how automation impacts operational efficiency and customer experience, and how product strategy can leverage or drive such initiatives.

📝 Enhancement Note: The role requires strong analytical and communication skills, which are amplified by proficiency in relevant software. While specific tool requirements are minimal, a candidate's ability to leverage data analysis and presentation tools to derive and communicate insights will be critical. For operations candidates, highlighting experience with data analysis tools and understanding how strategic inputs drive operational workflows will be a strong differentiator.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Customer-Centricity: A fundamental value at Bupa, driving all decisions to ensure positive customer experiences and outcomes. For operations, this means prioritizing efficiency and effectiveness that directly benefit the customer.

• Data-Driven Approach: Decisions are underpinned by robust analysis and insight, ensuring strategies and operational adjustments are evidence-based.

• Collaboration & Partnership: A strong emphasis on working across teams and functions to achieve shared goals, breaking down silos.

• Efficiency & Effectiveness: Striving for optimal resource utilization and process design to deliver value and good outcomes.

• Integrity & Responsibility: Operating with high ethical standards, ensuring compliance, and delivering fair value to customers.

Collaboration Style:

• Proactive & Influential: The role requires actively engaging with stakeholders, influencing their perspectives, and driving consensus on strategic direction.

• Cross-Functional Integration: Expect a highly collaborative environment where close working relationships with teams like Operations, Pricing, Clinical, and Governance are essential for strategy validation and execution.

• Open Communication: A culture that encourages open dialogue, constructive feedback, and transparent sharing of information to ensure alignment and address challenges effectively.

• Outcome-Oriented: A collective focus on achieving measurable business and customer outcomes, rather than just completing tasks.

📝 Enhancement Note: Bupa's emphasis on "making health happen" and their customer-centric, non-shareholder model suggests a culture that values purpose-driven work, ethical conduct, and long-term impact. For operations professionals, this means aligning operational improvements with broader strategic goals and demonstrating how efficiency contributes to customer well-being and fair value.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Navigating Ambiguity: Dealing with complex, often undefined problems in a dynamic market requires strong analytical and problem-solving skills.

• Balancing Stakeholder Needs: Synthesizing diverse perspectives from various departments (e.g., pricing, compliance, operations, sales) to arrive at a unified strategy.

• Driving Change in a Large Organization: Influencing senior leaders and driving adoption of new strategies within a large, established company like Bupa.

• Translating Strategy to Operations: Ensuring that strategic initiatives are practical, executable, and well-supported by operational teams, bridging the gap between high-level planning and day-to-day execution.

• Staying Ahead of Market Shifts: Continuously adapting strategies to respond to evolving healthcare regulations, technological advancements, and changing customer expectations.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Deep Industry Knowledge: Gain in-depth expertise in the UK healthcare and insurance sector, understanding its complex dynamics, regulations, and customer needs.

• Strategic Leadership Skills: Develop advanced strategic thinking, influencing, and stakeholder management capabilities.

• Product Portfolio Exposure: Broaden understanding of product development, lifecycle management, and proposition design within a regulated industry.

• Cross-Functional Acumen: Enhance understanding of diverse business functions, including pricing, underwriting, claims, clinical services, and distribution, and how they integrate.

• Mentorship & Networking: Opportunities to learn from experienced leaders within Bupa and build a professional network across the organization.

📝 Enhancement Note: For candidates with an operations background, the primary challenge will be translating their understanding of operational realities into strategic recommendations and effectively communicating the operational implications of strategic decisions to senior leadership. Growth opportunities lie in developing broader strategic influence and potentially moving into roles that bridge strategy and operational transformation.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you had to develop a strategy for a complex, ambiguous problem. What was your approach, and what was the outcome?" (Focus on your methodology, data analysis, problem decomposition, and the clarity of your recommendations.)

• "How do you ensure that a product strategy is not only innovative but also operationally viable and compliant within a regulated industry like insurance?" (Highlight your collaboration with operations, compliance, and governance teams, and your process for assessing feasibility.)

• "Walk me through a strategy paper or presentation you created that successfully influenced senior leadership. What made it compelling?" (Emphasize storytelling, data visualization, conciseness, and tailoring your message to the audience.)

Company & Culture Questions:

• "Why Bupa, and what attracts you to our mission of making health happen?" (Research Bupa's purpose, values, and recent initiatives. Connect your personal values and career aspirations to their mission.)

• "How would you contribute to Bupa's focus on good customer outcomes and fair value?" (Discuss how your strategic approach prioritizes customer needs and ethical considerations.)

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure Your Case Studies: Use a clear narrative: Situation -> Task -> Action -> Result (STAR method). For strategy, emphasize Problem -> Analysis -> Strategy/Recommendation -> Impact.

• Visualize Data: Use charts, graphs, and diagrams to illustrate key insights, market trends, and strategic frameworks. Keep slides clean and uncluttered.

• Focus on "So What?": For every piece of analysis or recommendation, clearly articulate the business implication and the "so what" for Bupa.

• Demonstrate Strategic Thinking: Show how you connect market dynamics, customer needs, and business objectives to form a coherent strategy.

• Highlight Collaboration: Explain how you engaged with different teams (especially operations) to gather input, ensure alignment, and drive implementation.

• Quantify Impact: Wherever possible, use data and metrics to demonstrate the success and ROI of your strategic initiatives.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview preparation should focus on demonstrating a strategic mindset with a practical understanding of operational execution and regulatory environments. For operations candidates, this means framing their experience in terms of strategic impact and problem-solving capabilities, even if their previous role wasn't explicitly "strategy."

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Product Strategy Manager position:

• Submit your application through the Bupa careers portal via the provided link.

• Tailor your CV and Cover Letter: Highlight your strategic experience, problem-solving abilities, stakeholder management skills, and any experience that demonstrates your capacity to translate complex insights into actionable plans. For operations professionals, emphasize any strategic projects you've contributed to or led, and how your operational understanding informed strategic thinking.

• Prepare Your Portfolio: Select 2-3 key strategic projects or case studies that best showcase your ability to develop and articulate strategy, analyze complex situations, and drive impactful outcomes. Focus on clarity, impact, and your specific contribution.

• Research Bupa Thoroughly: Understand their purpose, values, product offerings, and recent strategic moves. Familiarize yourself with the UK healthcare and insurance market landscape.

• Practice Your Storytelling: Be ready to articulate your experiences and strategic thinking clearly and concisely, using the STAR method where appropriate, especially for behavioral questions. Prepare to discuss how you collaborate with operational teams and ensure strategic initiatives are operationally sound.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and operations industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.