Lead Product Manager

N Brown Group; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A well-regarded fashion retailer is seeking a Lead Product Manager to join its team in Manchester. The ideal candidate will manage a product through its lifecycle, ensuring effective performance by collaborating with stakeholders and driving product discovery. Key responsibilities include documenting requirements, setting team goals, and leading Agile practices. This hybrid role offers various perks, including a competitive salary, annual bonus, and enhanced maternity leave. The company fosters a diverse and inclusive work environment, committed to employee wellbeing and development.

Benefits

Hybrid working

24 days holiday (+ 8 bank holidays)

Annual bonus scheme

Enhanced maternity and adoption leave

Company pension with up to 8% contribution

Mental Health support

Financial wellbeing support

Colleague discount

Onsite café with subsidised rates

Life Assurance

Private Medical Insurance

Paid volunteer time

Qualifications

• Experience in coaching and leading Agile teams.
• Knowledge of the wider digital economy.
• Understanding product marketplace benefits.
• Ability to research and evaluate existing products.
• Skills in anticipating and managing problems.
• Capability in defining product strategies.
• Experience coordinating product launch schedules.
• Ability to develop long-term vision and objectives.
• Strong communication with stakeholders.
• Championing user research in product development.
• Skill in working with and managing senior stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Understand key user personas and stakeholders.
• Manage product features from discovery to delivery.
• Document new requirements using user stories.
• Break down work into deliverable chunks.
• Set clear team goals and review results.
• Conduct performance appraisals and provide feedback.
• Collaborate with digital product leadership.
• Drive transparency in product performance tracking.
• Present product vision and execution plans.
• Identify new opportunities in product areas.

Skills

Agile Working

DDaT (Design, Data and Technology) Perspective

Financial Ownership

Attain and Distribute Product Knowledge

Problem Management

Product Ownership

Product Delivery

Strategic Ownership

Communication

User Focus

Working within Constraints

Job description

We’re looking for a Lead Product Manager to join our team here at N Brown.

What will you do as a Lead Product Manager at N Brown?

• Understand key user personas, customers & stakeholders and their pain points
• Manage and own a product, tool or feature through discovery through to live (and beyond - ensuring effective performance and value being driven from product of feature)
• Effectively document and explain new requirements to the DT team using user stories, personas, and acceptance tests.
• Help the team in breaking down pieces of work into smaller, deliverable chunks of value that can be delivered faster whilst maintaining the high level roadmap for your product area
• Set clear goals and KPIs for team members and periodically review all the KPIs owned by the team spanning across multiple products as well as providing feedback/ suggestions on improving those
• Conduct fair performance appraisals and provide constructive feedback for colleagues to improve and facilitate the development of individuals in the team
• Collaborate with Head of Digital Product to understand future demand and direction of your product area
• Perform the role of the product manager where necessary
• Ensure appropriate documentation and reporting is in place to gain commitment from executive board
• Ensure value created by your product is tracked and reported on in a transparent way
• Drive product discovery for new opportunities in your product area
• Effectively present the vision, roadmap, key KPIs and execution plans (release/ sprint plans)you’re your product

What experience will you have?

• Agile Working- You can coach and lead teams in Agile practices, determining the right approach for the team to take and evaluating this through the life of a project. You can think of new and innovative ways of working to achieve the right outcomes.
• DDaT (Design, Data and Technology) Perspective- You can show knowledge of the wider digital economy and advances in technology.
• Financial Ownership- You understand the marketplace and realise the benefit of a product and persuade others that it’s the right one to use.
• Attain and Distribute Product Knowledge- You can research existing product types (this may be a service, solution, feature or journey) on offer and find out which company/brand makes the best version of those.
• Problem Management- You can anticipate problems and defend against them at the right time. You can understand how the problem fits into the larger picture.
• Product Ownership- You can start to define and create approaches, coach others and show an awareness of what other sectors are doing.
• Product Delivery- Coordinate with the relevant stakeholders and teams on creating an effective launch schedule for future releases, ensure that future roadmap features and onward optimisation have ownership and will report on outcomes/KPIs
• Strategic Ownership- You can effectively get buy-in from the organisation, develop a strategy and connect the work in tribe or squad to the business strategy in addition to developing a long-term vision and objectives.
• Communication- You can effectively communicate clearly and consistently with your squad, tribe and business stakeholders.
• User Focus- You can collaborate with user researchers, explain the difference between customer needs and the desires of the customer and champion user research. You can give direction on which tools or methods to use as well as demonstrate experience in meeting the needs of users across a variety of channels whilst applying strategic thinking to provide the best service for customers.
• Working within Constraints- You can work with and challenge senior stakeholders as well as prioritise and mitigate constraints, and turn them into an advantage.

What’s in it for you?

• Hybrid working(2-3 days in the office at a minimum)
• 24 days holiday (+ 8 bank holidays)
• Annual bonus scheme
• Enhanced maternity and adoption leave
• Company pension with up to 8% N Brown contribution
• Mental Health support both internally and externally, including access to our wellbeing champions and counselling services
• A range of financial wellbeing support
• Stream - a financial wellbeing tool that helps you track your pay, access earnings early and manage your money with confidence
• Colleague discount across all N Brown brands
• Onsite café with subsidised rates and local restaurant discounts!
• Life Assurance and Private Medical Insurance
• Paid volunteer time – all our colleagues can take a full day paid to volunteer for a charity of their choice

N Brown – who we are and why work for us?

At N Brown, we’re committed to building a diverse workforce and creating an inclusive environment that values equality for all. Our vision is that by ‘championing inclusion, we’ll become the most loved and trusted fashion retailer’. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging are, therefore, at the heart of our culture.

We’re a forward-thinking digital retailer with a financial services proposition to be proud of. We’re customer-obsessed, serving them through three core brands: JD Williams, Simply Be, and Jacamo. We’re experienced, with over 160 years of trading under our belt. We’re inclusive, as we believe in fashion without boundaries; and we’re sustainable, striving to make as little impact on the planet as possible.

In May 2024 we were delighted to be named one of The Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2024. We work hard to create a happy and inclusive culture for everyone and we’re so proud to have made this list - as voted for by our very own colleagues!

Ways of Working

We offer hybrid working which varies across the business depending on the role you’re in. Our Head Office is located in the Northern Quarter in Manchester City Centre. So if you are travelling by train, tram or bus we’re perfectly located, plus we’re surrounded by cool cafes, trendy bars and the best places to eat!

Our working hours are 36.17 per week and our core working hours are between 10am - 4pm. Given we don’t have strict working hours you can find the working pattern that’s right for you.

Our promise to you:

We’re an equal opportunity employer and value diversity. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, colour, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

Please know your application is being reviewed by a real human being, not AI. We value your interest in joining us and appreciate you taking the time to submit your application.

What happens when you apply to a role at N Brown?

As soon as we receive your application, we’ll send you an email to let you know. We always aim to come back to you as soon as possible with an update and we really appreciate you taking the time to apply for a role with us. Good luck!