We have a unique opportunity for you to be our first Chief Product Owner!
This is a critical and key function for us at StudyPortals. As a world-class Chief Product Owner (CPO) you have a proven track-record in online product development. You will ensure StudyPortals is the undisputed number one platform in the world that helps students enrol in the best fit program, and universities to recruit best fit students. You know the product innovation and engineering challenges of a fast growth company inside out.
As we have recently concluded an investment round, our growth ambitions have increased significantly. Having a great product is key to reaching these ambitions. In fact, it is leading. We aim to provide the world’s best decision information for international students, achieving the ‘best match’ between students and universities. In order to achieve these ambitions, we are quickly scaling our product development capacity from 36 to 63 FTE in 1.5 years, which includes a growth from 5 to 9 Scrum teams.
As a visionary product leader, you can think BIG towards global disruption. You are focused and dare to make bold choices. As you can easily synthesize information, you will translate data, user feedback, and expert input into a laser-sharp long-term vision and product strategy.
You are an excellent communicator, and people respect you as an inspirational leader. Your expertise on agile product development will assist in the long-term planning, backlog prioritization, analytics, and stakeholder involvement.
As CPO you will lead the “Product Innovation” team, including the Product Owners, user research, and the StudyPortals Labs team which focuses on more radical innovations. You will work closely with amongst others the marketing director, the CCO, and the CTO (who leads the Engineering department). You will report directly to the CEO and be a part of the Management Team.
Company Profile
StudyPortals’ mission is to bring transparency to the wealth of study opportunities in the World’s Higher Education Market. We aim to empower the world to choose education.
Our sites receive more than a million visits on a monthly basis, which makes us the most popular study choice platform worldwide. In the last 12 months our user numbers have grown with more than 65%. We currently serve more than 2,400 participating universities in 110 countries worldwide.
StudyPortals is now 150 people worldwide with 35 different nationalities. The center of our operations is in Eindhoven, the Netherlands and our headquarters are located in the old Phillips building, at Strijp-S, an exciting hub of entrepreneurship, technology, and design.
Your goals & responsibilities
- Build the best and most sticky information platform that stays relevant to students throughout their decision-making process
- Develop the world’s leading marketplace that facilitates the best match between international students and universities, based on their profiles and ambitions, resulting in hundreds of thousands of international enrolments
- Grow number of users with >70% per year
- Put student satisfaction on the map of international study-choice: using reliable student reviews and ratings to guide student decision making
- Lead the Product Innovation team, expand it from the current 8 FTE to 16 FTE by the end of 2018, and coach your team members in their steep personal growth
- Build on our long-term product vision – change, improve and sharpen It and execute it with rigour
- Improve the product innovation processes to be world class. Our aim: to be one of the leading companies in effective agile product innovation
Requirements:
- Minimum 10 years work experience with a track record of success in online product owner roles, ideally with experience in leading online marketplaces
- Technical affinity or background (being able to code would be a plus)
- Good UX/UI skills
- Proven experience with the product management process and intimately familiar with principles behind Agile and Scrum
- People management experience with a track record of (early) success
- Entrepreneurial by spirit, driven to get things done, appreciate open feedback, dedicated, and serious about having fun
- A great match with our mission and core values
- University degree required – study abroad experience is a plus
- Native or, near native English, both oral and written (level C1 of the Common European Framework).
- A good team player, enjoys contributing to the personal development of his/her colleagues
Benefits:
- A full-time position.
- Competitive salary, including an excellent bonus scheme.
- Informal, entrepreneurial, and flexible atmosphere where self-initiative is highly appreciated. Apart from your contribution to the company, your personal development has high priority.
- Main office in the Centre of Eindhoven, the Netherlands, 5 minutes from the central station, 10 minutes from the airport.
- A company environment that is serious about having fun with everything we do, including frequent memorable team events, table tennis, slide, etc.
- An annual personal development budget, because personal growth is KEY!
- An attractive discount for a collective insurance package with IAK, covering public and private insurances from healthcare and home insurance to car and liability insurances
- The opportunity to make our world a little better, and be at the core of the growth phase of a study choice giant that the Global market is desperately waiting for