Head of Product

About Candide
Candide is a market platform helping businesses and the public break new ground in the gardening sector, through the application of technology. We motivate the public to connect with nature and enable everyone to grow big and shop small, with curated online catalogs of plants, tools, and accessories from exceptional independent businesses.

Based in central Bristol, surrounded by the greenery of Queen Square and the floating harbor, we enable people to progress their passion for plants and nature. We are a team of over 70, openly putting our people first; we’re proud to be building a team that genuinely loves working and learning together. We know how important a positive, inclusive culture is, so have a read and see if you think we might be a good fit.

The Role
We are looking for an experienced senior product leader to head our Marketplace product development, including both the buyer and seller side of the platform. This is a great opportunity to be at the forefront of building a global marketplace for a sector that is ripe for digital innovation – gardening.

You will build a 3-year vision for the Marketplace Team which outlines a path to profitability through the delivery of market-leading marketplace solutions for suppliers, customers, and all the parties in the gardening eco-system. This will predominantly focus on building a state-of-the-art end-to-end marketplace for any product and service within the gardening sector.

This means creating, embedding, and delivering a product strategy for the team that aligns to the marketplace business plan and delivers our GMV, revenue, and other key results. You will be required to create, communicate and maintain a 12-month rolling roadmap and backlogs for delivering product features that meet the needs of both sides of the marketplace.

In parallel you will ensure that the team is aligned and able to deliver products in a timely, data-driven, and agile way: responding and adapting delivery as appropriate and removing blockers.

Finally, you will leverage relationships inside the team and across the business to align on strategies, culture, and help raise the bar on how we work across our growing organisation.  You will work closely with the Head of Growth and Head of Trading to understand key customer needs, pain points, and opportunities to improve and innovate whilst collaborating with your peer Engineering and BI manager to manage team backlogs. This will involve regular prioritisation of key initiatives and smaller iterative work that aligns to goals and roadmap.

Your Background
With a proven track record of successfully launching and iterating online products, you will have significant experience of working in product management roles within eCommerce businesses where you will have developed, owned, managed, and communicated Product Roadmaps to multiple stakeholders.

You will be able to demonstrate the ability to synthesise qualitative and quantitative data, strategy, and commercial reality in building plans and prioritising work.

You will be given the opportunity to utilize your expertise in building and leading teams within this complex organisation, mentoring and coaching team members to develop personally and professionally.

Numerate and articulate, you will have proven ability to build detailed plans and strategies that are clear to understand and action and experience of designing services around software that address user and customer needs.

Above all, you will need an entrepreneurial mindset with a strong bias towards action.

Working at Candide 
We offer an amazing work environment – both in the office and outside of it, and a fast-paced development cycle that moves the product forward quickly and is very responsive to opportunity. We have a solid strategic plan, long-range funding, and a very experienced and capable team making it happen.

Great communication means there is an inherent no-blame culture, and our collaborative and inclusive structure encourages everyone to share ideas on how we can improve our processes, growth, and product. Our teams have a short daily stand-up, this ensures we remain aligned, and those who build products stay very close to our customers that enjoy them.

To encourage innovation, we hold monthly hack days where everyone can build something new that falls outside our current roadmap – an idea, a campaign, or even a small product – with whomever they like.

Our Values
For plants and people
● We aim to be the most useful tool in a gardener’s pocket and to accentuate the social, environmental, and physical benefits already associated with gardening.

● We respect the backgrounds of everyone we interact with – within Candide and across the broader society in which we operate – and actively promote the inclusion of all.

For the collective win
● We work together openly in a transparent and no-blame culture, encouraging innovation to leverage new, emerging technologies and continuously adapt to rapidly seize opportunities

● We always act with honesty and integrity, whilst focussing on the needs of our customers.

For good
● We respectfully use our platform to encourage conscious, informed decision-making and work with individuals and companies to progress our values

What You’ll Get From Us
● 25 days holiday (plus bank holidays), because the rest of your life is important too

● An extra paid day off to spend among plants

● Regular team socials

● An amazing plant-filled office in Queen Square

● Your choice of equipment

● Pre-paid training budget for whatever you need to do your job more effectively

● Grant of SARs (Stock Appreciation Rights) after two years of employment

● Flexible working hours (core hours 10 am – 4 pm)

● Enhanced shared parental leave

Application Process
Please send a 1 or 2 page CV covering your employment history, relevant experience and education to recruit@candidegardening.com. We recommend that you research the Candide website (candidegardening.com) and app (Candide) before submitting an application.

Everyone is Welcome
Please do not hesitate in contacting recruit@candidegardening.com if you want to find more before you apply.

To find out more about Candide, visit our homepage and download the app candidegardening.com.

Recruitment agencies
Please read this. tl;dr: please don’t send us candidates unless you are on our preferred supplier list. Any candidates you do send will be treated as a gift.

To find out more about Candide, visit our homepage and download the app candidegardening.com.