Head of Product Management and Innovation

The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) seeks a Head of Product Management and Innovation on a permanent full-time (35-hour week) basis.

At the RSC we are embarking on a digital transformation programme as an organisation-wide transformation in human and technological capability, to enable digital-first delivery for every product and service.

The Head of Product Management and Innovation will lead a team of product managers focussed on user-led product and service delivery, and as our Digital Transformation programme develops, they will seek opportunities for innovation across our existing products and services, with opportunities to introduce new product and service offerings. The Head of Product Management and Innovation will also play a key role in establishing best practice in Product Management at the RSC, through the development of a centre of excellence, bringing together direct reports, dotted line reports (product managers within Publishing) and other staff in related roles across the organisation.

We are looking for:

• Product management: Experience in technical product roadmap management and prioritisation, and delivery of both developed and procured solutions, taking into account market requirements, current and future customer needs and corporate strategy.
• Management: Demonstrable experience in team management. Coach, mentor and motivate team members while demonstrating a business outcomes approach to work.
• Technology:
  • The ability to understand the wider digital economy and technology trends and see how they impact the product roadmap and drive innovation.
  • Hands-on experience of agile delivery methodologies. Able to successfully lead teams through the full product lifecycle, developing sustainable approaches to development and support. Demonstrable understanding of the technologies required to build a product and how they fit together.
• User Experience: Exemplary customer focus and a passion for delivering products that deliver customer value. The ability to translate complex issues in terms of customer needs and to apply best practice in the area of user research.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills: to motivate and gain support from other internal departments and stakeholders as well as with external contacts. Able to develop excellent working relationships with development teams (in-house or external suppliers), project managers, business analysts and architects to in order to communicate and deliver on requirements.
• Innovation: Success in the area of new and strategic business development, new opportunity creation and diversification of portfolio offering and revenue streams is essential. Commercial acumen and financial numeracy are essential.
• Strategy: Experience in business planning, with a real focus on strategy, the external market and risk management, able to translate top-level strategies into meaningful actions to deliver on longer-term organisational priorities.

We offer a competitive benchmarked salary plus benefits. The contractual base for this role is our Cambridge office, however we are about to enter a period of piloting hybrid working, and you may be able to work from a location other than this, as agreed with your line manager. Applicants should be aware that there is an expectation that employees will attend the offices as needed for their role, and that permanent working arrangements away from the office may not be agreed in the future. 

We’re keen to consider people with varied backgrounds and want to build teams which represent a variety of experiences, perspectives and skills. If you're excited about this opportunity and think you have much of what we're looking for, even if you're not 100% sure, please apply before the end of the closing date, as we’d love to hear from you. 

View the full job description here.