Product Owner

 

Role Context:
Over the last eighteen months, Creative Skillset, has, under new leadership, reshaped the organisation and refocused our strategy on the screen industries – clarifying our purpose and value.
Our mission is to lead on building inclusive skills and talent to achieve a world beating UK screen industries sector.

We have a new industry Chair and our Board and Advisory Councils comprise committed senior industry leaders from across the screen sector – film, television, visual effects, animation and games – representing large and small organisations across the UK.

Product Owner, Hiive is an exciting opportunity for someone entrepreneurial and user focused to take ownership of our digital products and shape their new phase of development, specifically around the provision of a dynamic industry-endorsed online careers service providing comprehensive and consistent information on job roles and career paths in the screen industries
You will be working in a fast-moving environment that operates very much like a start-up. The role will suit someone who is passionate about the screen industries, and understands the power and significance of an effective digital platform in order to deliver to our users and our mission.
Launched in 2015, Hiive is an international community of 120,000+ creatives and 4,000+ businesses working across the full spectrum of creative disciplines including Film, TV, Art & Design, Photography, VR/AR/MR, Music, Performing Arts & much more! Hiive is free to join and open to anyone around the world.

Hiive connects creatives with careers information, courses, jobs, competitions, and opportunities to pitch for paid work. We connect companies with creative talent. We’re a not-for-profit, and our remit is to support our industries effectively.

Hiive is a key platform within Creative Skillset’s wider careers and outreach strategy, which includes working with creative businesses, educational institutions (e.g. schools, Further Education, Higher Education), local and national partner agencies to create engagement, networking and learning opportunities for people to find out how to start or develop a career within the screen industries.

Role Purpose:

The Product Owner is responsible for the development and growth of the Hiive community and the Creative Skillset website.

We are looking for an energetic and ambitious person to lead the next stage of our digital development. This is a role with broad scope requiring collaboration with all the functions of the organisation. You will act as a key spokesperson for your products internally and externally and will need to be comfortable engaging with customers, partners and internal teams.

As Product Owner, you will be highly visible and you will play an important leadership role within the Creative Skillset Management Team. As such, you will have the opportunity and responsibility to help monitor and shape the performance of the business, taking on critical challenges and contributing to the overall strategy and success.

Key responsibilities

• Manage the Hiive platform and Creative Skillset website
• Take responsibility for the strategic direction, enhancement and financial performance of Hiive
• Work collaboratively with the careers team to ensure Hiive supports and enhances Creative Skillset’s wider careers strategy.
• Provide a dynamic industry-endorsed online careers service providing delivering comprehensive and consistent information on job roles and career paths in the screen industries
• Define and develop Hiive’s communications and content strategy and plan, working closely with the Marcomms team
• Continue to develop on Creative Skillset and Hiive’s platform strategy.
• Work with the Financial Director on the creation and management of pricing models for each product
• Oversee Creative Skillset and Hiive’s digital content output across the website and social
• Measure the success of marketing activities to determine the most effective means of driving engagement and sales
• Work collaboratively with the business development team to grow and nurture sales and new business
• Work collaboratively with the business development team to develop effective sales tools such as pitch decks, presentations, data reports and explainer videos
• Develop and manage budgets and resource requirements
• Provide strategic input into the company’s business plan
• Keep abreast of latest developments within the internet industry
• Keep abreast on technical developments within our competitor set
• Champion agile management and practices within the organisation.

This job description is not intended to be either prescriptive or exhaustive. It is issued as a framework to outline the main areas of responsibility at the time of writing.

Essential skills and experience

If you love business, creativity and are passionate about making a difference then this for you.

Must haves:
• Proactive: We work in a very fast moving set of industries, so it is important that you are a self-starter. There is a lot of autonomy with this role, so it is important you will thrive when given the independence
• A love for the startup ecosystem: You should have a passion for early-stage business and their journeys. Our work means that we are living and breathing start-ups every day.
• Digital is your thing: Previous experience of digital services and/or passion for the internet and related emerging technologies is essential. We want you to be the kind of person that is constantly showing off the latest app or technology you have just discovered.
• Positive energy: You will be taking the reins of a platform that has grown to over 120,000 members in two-and-a-half years and it needs stimulation every single day. We want someone who will relish this opportunity to generate thousands more opportunities for this voracious community
• A can-do attitude: We are a very ambitious team, so you should be able to multitask and prioritise projects.
• Strong written and verbal communications skills: This role will have you interacting with users, our industries, the Creative Skillset team and the wider creative community. You need to be thoughtful, passionate and tactful in your communication,
• Agile Ambassador: We’ve successfully built an award winning platform using agile management practices and we’re keen to keep that winning formula. We’re looking for someone who uses the principles wisely to ensure we think about what we build, how we built it and most important who we’re building it for!
• Numbers don’t scare you: We’re looking for someone who is comfortable with numbers whether that is analysing data from our digital products, managing budgets or pricing products and services
• Market Awareness: You should be a keen consumer of news and information. We need someone who knows what the competition is doing, what trends are occurring in digital and what market forces are in play within the creative industries and the wider economy.
• Passion: There is no two ways about it, you are going to need to love this job. You will be able to directly influence thousands of aspiring entrants wanting to join our industries, and those within understand job roles, courses and opportunities. Curiosity, passion, a lot of energy and a great sense of humour will get you far in this role!

Desirable

• Experience with running an editorial schedule, creating and distributing content
• Experience in design tools
• Operating experience in a start-up
• An understanding of the UK Creative Industry landscape
• Experience working within the Creative Industries

Benefits
We aim to provide you with:
• Exciting learning opportunities as a key member of our management team
• A passion for our target segments in the creative industries
• A broad view of the digital industry with many concepts, a lot of pitches and real data points on how creative businesses perform
• A great network across the Creative Industries
• A community of 120,000+ talented creatives and 4,000+ creative businesses to tap into