Who we are
We are an established award-winning B2B FoodTech startup, founded in 2014 by two female entrepreneurs who brought together their knowledge and experience of digital technology and hospitality. Kafoodle SaaS and apps are used by catering and foodservice businesses in the healthcare, education and retail sectors, including Compass Group, OCS, Vacherin, Greene King, Laines Pub Company and HC-One. Our underlying belief that health and food are intrinsically linked, and by providing transparency to customers about the food they are being served will lead to healthier choices and outcomes. Our business is growing and we are looking for some brilliant new people to join our team.
Why work with us?
We are probably not your typical London tech start-up – our UK team of 10 is diverse with a wide range of backgrounds and interests outside of work – family, dogs, keeping fit – but we do all share a common passion for healthy food and finding innovative yet simple solutions to meet our clients’ needs.
As a small business, there are plenty of opportunities to get involved in all areas of the business, as well as make your role your own.
We work out of a modern London office, have a casual dress code, and also offer the ability to work from home with a competitive salary.
The Role – Product Owner
Reporting to the CEO, this role will be challenging yet rewarding; you will have the full support of the Kafoodle executive team and the opportunity to make the role and function your own. This is a demanding position, and the perfect applicant will need to understand the vision of our products from the point of view of the customer, end user or stakeholder. They will take responsibility for the delivery of the complete Kafoodle product roadmap and ensure the company can achieve its strategic aims through the effective use of its available technical resources and drive Kafoodle product excellence as the company grows and scales.
The Product Owner will work with the leadership team in the development and delivery of the Kafoodle product strategy and roadmap and be responsible for the whole product lifecycle through to release; effectively balancing product priorities, stakeholder requirements, resources and tech limitations. They will be responsible for the design, usability, quality and delivery of products and features, understand both the engineering and business side of the product and ultimately responsible for representing the end users’ needs.
They will act as the primary point of contact with the Kafoodle offshore development team; being a conduit between them, the leadership team, the business and customers. They will act as a consult and support all members of the Kafoodle team and liaise with key clients as needed and contribute with their expertise and knowledge to help us shape and improve the business. There will be some travel and time spent on client sites.
We don’t believe in hiring talented people and then telling them exactly what to do, so you’ll need to be proactive, problem-solving and self-motivated, and ready to hit the ground running and thrive in a quickly changing environment.
Key Responsibilities & Accountabilities:
- Develop and deliver the company’s product strategy and roadmap and lead all aspects of the company’s product development.
- Lead, manage and collaborate with cross-functional teams, business partners and stakeholders during the visioning and concept development of a product.
- Maintain and prioritise the product backlog for all releases for the platform, dependencies and convert the translation of software features into technical requirements using an Agile software development approach.
- Scope and define new products and features into specs and user stories for the development team.
- Assess value, develop cases, and prioritise stories, epics and themes to ensure work focuses on those with maximum value that are aligned with product strategy.
- Act as the primary liaison with the current offshore in-house development team giving instruction and working directly with the off-shore technical project manager.
- Make decisions on development priorities, estimate technical delivery times and oversee all aspects of the company’s product roadmap.
- Consult with other teams and provide leadership to department heads, including marketing, client services and operations, be an advisor of technologies that may improve their efficiency and effectiveness, and provide input to client proposals, project plans and key account plans as required.
- Keep up to date with the ever-changing competitor advances and conduct research, development and case studies on cutting edge new features for the continued improvement of our products.
- Act as a good steward of Kafoodle resources and ensure control of the product budgets and delivery.
- Provide steer and advice to the leadership team regarding all product matters.
- Liaise with clients on matters such as IT questionnaires, SLAs, development and rollout project plans.
- Build relationships with key technology vendors/partners and be a Kafoodle ambassador in the sectors in which we operate.
- Develop and implement effective policies, procedures and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
You will have:
- Degree with a focus on technology or business, or equivalent education and experience
- >5 years BA, product owner/manager experience, with ideally 2 years in a senior/lead role, including client-facing experience, preferably in a technology business. SaaS and mobile product experience preferred
- Experience in technical, consulting or commercial roles would be of additional value
- Ideally worked in a startup environment before
- At least one clear example of end to end project lifecycle management, with an understanding of work specifics at each stage of the software lifecycle
- Understanding of the main principles of software design, development, testing and delivery
- Experience in managing and motivating people, including working with remote teams
- Excellent and persuasive written and verbal communication skills – able to inspire and motivate all levels of staff and external customers
- Self-motivation, and be able to manage multiple concurrent projects independently and proactively to deadlines
- Ability to quickly establish a good understanding of our solutions and processes and hit the ground running
- Ability to adapt to the changing requirements of the business and stakeholders
- A willingness to learn new skills and develop professionally to help further the team and the business
Knowledge & Skills
- Strong project management skills
- Can effectively manage both technical and human resources using Scrum or similar agile methodologies in order to deliver regular improvements and new features
- Able to validate, analyse, design and coordinate the implementation of new technical features and business requirements
- Able to translate technical problems and solutions in order to effectively communicate with the different team members
- Can manage and participate in testing and quality control for all deliverables.
- An understanding of what makes a good user experience and an ability to identify and correct potential UX issues.
- Able to ensure all public facing content is in line with brand guidelines on identity, style and tone.