Technical Product Owner

We are seeking a dynamic and experienced Technical Product Owner to join our technology team. The ideal candidate will possess a customer-centric mindset, exceptional leadership skills, and a proven track record of driving digital product development in an Agile environment. The Technical Product Owner will play a pivotal role in shaping the strategic direction of our technology platforms and services, collaborating closely with cross-functional teams to deliver high-quality solutions that meet the needs of our customers and drive business growth. The Technical Product Owner will collaborate closely with our team of Product Managers, who oversee the management of our educational content (products), to ensure alignment with strategic objectives and customer needs.,

• Customer-Centric Mindset: Collaborate with customer-facing teams to understand pain points and deliver initiatives to address them, ensuring a seamless user experience.


• Define Target Operating Model (TOM): Develop and articulate the TOM for new products and services to align with business objectives and market demands.


• Action-Oriented & Data-Driven: Drive digital product development under tight timelines, leveraging data-driven decision-making to prioritize features and enhancements.


• User Story Development: Translate customer needs and business goals into actionable and detailed user stories and acceptance criteria for development teams/vendors to ensure alignment with product scope.


• Product Champion: Champion digital product security, data strategy, and technical alignment throughout the development lifecycle.


• Customer Experience: Collaborate closely with UX/UI designers to ensure a seamless customer experience.


• Alignment with Global Product and Assessment Teams: Work collaboratively with Global Product and Assessment teams to understand their current processes and integrate Agile methodologies into the product lifecycle, ensuring alignment with organizational objectives and driving continuous improvement.


• Stakeholder Collaboration: Work closely with Business SMEs, Product Managers (the team managing our educational content), Technical Architects, and Technology vendors to align product development with business goals and technical requirements.


• Agile Delivery: Champion Agile principles and lead sprint/release planning activities to ensure timely delivery of features and enhancements.


• Supplier Relationship Management: Collaborate with BAU (Business As Usual) support and maintenance teams to optimize supplier relationships and coordinate product pipeline effectively.


• Usability Metrics & Analytics: Define usability metrics as part of acceptance criteria, plan improvements, and measure product performance against KPIs.


• Roadmap Definition: Work with technology teams to understand requirements, document them, and define roadmaps for product development. Manage the product backlog, prioritizing work and ensuring alignment with product roadmaps and market insights.


• Market Awareness: Engage with customer feedback, conduct user research, and stay abreast of market and competitor products to inform product strategy and positioning.


• Product Health & Optimization: Collaborate with stakeholders to identify and manage defects, maximize product value through data insights, and adopt Product Ownership best practices. Oversee product performance and define usability metrics for improvement.


• Leadership: Lead team sprint meetings, advocate for the product to key stakeholders, and play a leading role in cross-functional collaboration and decision-making.


• Communication: Foster transparency by maintaining a clear and visible product backlog.


• Documentation & Training: Create and maintain documentation, act as a key advocate and trainer for the product.
  
  Previous commercial experience working as a Product Owner for digital products or similar role.


• Previous experience with CRM and Assessment platforms is a plus.


• Proven track record of delivering web-based products and managing the full product management life cycle.


• Experience in Agile environments, with a focus on delivering against product strategy and prioritizing conflicting priorities.


• Strong ability to work with customer feedback, translate it into product developments, and collaborate with UX designers.


• Familiarity with accessibility standards and data-driven decision-making.


• Experience in product marketing is desirable but not essential.


• Familiarity with the schools/education market is a plus.


If you are passionate about driving innovation in digital education, possess excellent leadership and communication skills, and thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative environment, we encourage you to apply for this exciting opportunity. Join us in shaping the future of education through technology.

Hodder Education is the home of accessible, future-proofed educational resources where we put students, teachers and parents at the heart of everything we do. Our goal is to help every teacher and learner across the globe to succeed by creating and delivering high-quality content and support.

Hodder Education is a division of Hachette, one of the largest publishing groups in the UK, with 12 publishing divisions and over 60 imprints. Everyone here is proud to be in the business of opening doors and minds.

As a leading digital education publishing organization, we are dedicated to delivering innovative solutions that empower learners and educators worldwide. We're committed to leveraging technology to enhance educational experiences and drive positive outcomes. Our products encompass various forms of educational materials, such as books, curriculum series, educational videos, and other teaching materials, all designed to facilitate learning within a curriculum framework.

Our company culture, the environment in which we work, and our company values are central to the way we work with each other and with our authors.

Our values, created by the people that work here, are practical characteristics and ideals that underpin our activities. They enable us to evolve and develop as a business and as individuals.

Combined with the Hachette UK Pillars
• (our parent company in the UK) our values shape our day-to-day conversations, decisions, and behaviours around what and how we publish.


Our values:

• All teachers and students at the heart of what we do


• Quality: in everything from our practices to our products


• Trustworthy: in what we publish and how we interact


• Collaboration: key to how we work, internally and externally, The Book Trade Charity offers financial support to people looking to enter the book trade but who may struggle to afford the costs of attending interviews and undertaking junior roles. For more information visit www.booktradeentrysupport.org
  
  £45,000 - £55,000 dependent on experience (+bonus +benefits), 28 annual leave days per year, increases to 29 days after 2 years' service and goes up to 30 days after 5 years' (+ bank holidays)


• Private medical insurance


• Generous pension schemes


• Rent deposit loans


• 2 community days per year


• Summer hours (finishing at 1pm on Fridays during the summer months)


• Retail discounts through Hachette rewards


• Cycle to Work scheme


• Eye care vouchers


• Wide-ranging training library


• Development programmes (including mentoring)


• Up to 70% off book purchases


• A charity bookshelf


• 12 Staff-led employee networks that are voluntary, including Gender Balance, Thrive, Pride, All Together, Wellbeing and religious networks


• Season ticket loans


• And much more!


The role will be based at our London office, Carmelite House, with a blend of in-office (3 days) and homeworking (2 days) per week.

Our commitment

Hachette employs people on the basis of their abilities. We aim to attract and develop talent from a base as broad as the world of readers we want to reach, with a wide and representative range of age, faith, disability, race, gender, sexuality and socio-economic, regional and cultural backgrounds.

If you are shortlisted and need us to make any adjustments to help you attend for interview, please let us know.