We’re looking for an experienced Product Manager to help ensure BFBS’s products are the best they can be, and most importantly, fulfil our customers’ and users’ needs.
The ideal person will be someone who puts the customer at the heart of what they do and must be eager to take ownership and lead on the product evolution of some of our key products. You will be happy to challenge stakeholders, be comfortable consulting data to drive decisions and be a great communicator.
You’ll be able to combine a mix of working from home and from our head office in Chalfont.
About the Company.
BFBS is a not-for-profit corporation and registered charity with a 70-year heritage, providing Radio and TV to Britain’s Armed Forces and their families around the world. Broadcasting under the BFBS and Forces brands, its mission is to “serve those who serve”, by providing a vital welfare service which maintains efficiency and morale in all three Services.
Operating under a long-term contract with the Ministry of Defence (MoD), BFBS’s worldwide network of 30 radio stations and 16 TV channels has studio centres in eight countries and a global transmission network covering 16 time zones. It is responsible for the entire end-to-end broadcast system, from programme acquisition and original production, to end-user delivery to barracks, homes and Navy vessels at sea.
BFBS also operates a number of related armed forces welfare businesses including digital cinemas, a UK national TV station, UK national radio station, library and production services.
About The Department.
The Technology Division has around 50 broadcast and IT engineers who are responsible for the design and operation of all of BFBS’s technical operations, facilities and capital projects.
BFBS’s technology challenges are at the cutting edge of broadcast and IP technology, demanding a visionary approach, with practical experience and proven management ability. This role is a rare opportunity within the broadcast industry to work on truly innovative solutions which make a real difference to lives of people who serve their country.
About The Role.
The Product team are a central team responsible for solving our customers’ needs with products, while designing a coherent user experience across platforms. The data and analytics function also sits within this team. The portfolio includes our web publishing platform Forces.net, BFBS TV and BFBS Radio streaming apps, and custom products such as MiPlayer.
Key Responsibilities & Prerequisites.
• Reporting to the Head of Product, you will oversee one or more product streams, projects or brands within the digital product portfolio and take responsibility for their vision and roadmaps.
• Work with stakeholders to elicit customer problems and business requirements and articulate the ‘why’ behind a particular initiative. This might include running workshops or requirements gathering sessions and conducting customer research.
• Communicate the ongoing product roadmap on a regular basis to internal stakeholders and product teams
• Define the outcomes the product should achieve alongside owning, measuring and sharing key product metrics, impacts and learnings
• Collaborate with UX, design and developers to design and deliver user-centric and data-led solutions and present these to stakeholders, sometimes getting involved in user research and testing
• Document detailed requirements, user cases, functionality, processes.
• Use data to inform decision making
• Oversee user acceptance testing of delivered user stories
• Researching potential technical solutions, new solutions, editorial tools, new software, suppliers etc.
• Supporting users in use of products and internal tools such as content management systems
• Keep abreast of best practice in product development and agile practices as well as the media and broadcast industry
• Deputise for the Head of Product from time to time in meetings or periods of leave
• Adhoc support tasks and troubleshooting Desirable Qualifications and Experience.
• Strong experience in a product role with responsibility for supporting or managing digital products
• Excitement, creativity and the ability to communicate concepts, ideas and the art of the possible to generate discussion and feedback from internal stakeholders & customers
• Strong collaboration & facilitation skills – bringing multiple teams & functions together to drive discussions
• A desire to learn quickly and to learn about new products, markets, and customer challenges
• Previous Product Management experience, and knowledge around the software development life cycle and agile methodologies
• Use of collaboration tools such as Jira, Trello, Slack
• Experience in digital publishing/media industry and content management systems
• Excellent communication and presentation skills
• Confidence to present ideas, designs and roadmaps to senior stakeholders
• Some project management experience – comfortable managing multiple initiatives at once
• Appreciation of good UI/UX design and its impact on product success • Use of data, metrics and tools such as Google Analytics • Product Owner/agile qualifications/certificates