Senior Technical Product Owner (Mat Cover)

At Hachette Learning (formerly Hodder Education), there's one thing we're certain about. No two students learn the same way. That's why our approach to teaching begins by recognising the needs of individuals first. Our mission is to enable every learner to fulfil their unique potential by empowering those who teach them. From our expert teaching and learning resources to our digital educational tools that make learning easier and more accessible for all, we provide solutions designed to maximise the impact of learning for every teacher, parent and student.

Aligned with our parent company, Hachette Livre, founded in 1826, we're proud to deliver high-quality learning solutions on a global scale. We make it easier for everyone to unlock a new world of learning.

Hachette Learning is a division of Hachette, one of the largest publishing groups in the UK, with 12 publishing divisions and over 60 imprints. Everyone here is proud to be in the business of opening doors and minds.

We are seeking a dynamic and experienced Senior Technical Product Owner to drive the evolution of our technology platforms as we transition from educational publishing to a cutting-edge EdTech company. The role is a Maternity cover, so Fixed term for up to one year.This is a high-impact role that requires strategic vision, deep technical acumen, and strong leadership to shape the future of our digital products. The ideal candidate will be an expert in Agile methodologies, customer-centric product development, and cross-functional collaboration. You will work closely with Product Managers, Technology teams, and key business stakeholders to ensure our digital platforms align with business objectives, drive customer engagement, and enhance learning outcomes.

Key Responsibilities:

• Customer-Centric Mindset: Champion a deep understanding of user needs by collaborating with customer-facing teams, leveraging analytics, and gathering market insights to enhance the customer experience.
• AI & Emerging Technologies Leadership - Drive AI implementation using the agentic model and identify opportunities to integrate AI into product strategies.
• End-to-End Ownership of Technology Product delivery : Work with Product Managers and Technology team in all stages of digital products lifecycle , from ideation and roadmap definition to execution, launch, and continuous improvement.
• Action-Oriented & Data-Driven: Drive digital product development under tight timelines, leveraging data-driven decision-making to prioritize features and enhancements.
• User Story Development: Translate customer needs and business goals into actionable and detailed user stories and acceptance criteria for development teams/vendors to ensure alignment with product scope.

• Product Governance & Security: Advocate for digital product security, data strategy, compliance, and technical alignment, ensuring adherence to industry best practices.
• UX & Customer Experience Optimization: Partner with UX/UI designers to deliver intuitive and engaging user experiences that enhance learning outcomes.
• Alignment & Stakeholder Engagement: Collaborate with Global Product, Assessment, and Business teams to integrate Agile methodologies and drive efficiencies across the product development lifecycle.
• Stakeholder Collaboration: Work closely with Business SMEs, Product Managers (the team managing our educational content), Technical Architects, and Technology vendors to align product development with business goals and technical requirements.
• Agile Delivery & Execution: The candidate should be well-versed in Agile methodologies, proactively identifying gaps in current processes, ceremonies, and documentation. They should lead improvements to optimize efficiency and collaboration within teams.
• Vendor & Supplier Management: Optimize supplier relationships, ensuring alignment with business goals, cost-effectiveness, and high-quality delivery.

• Usability Metrics & Analytics: Define usability metrics as part of acceptance criteria, plan improvements, and measure product performance against KPIs.

• Roadmap & Backlog Prioritization: Define and maintain a clear, strategic roadmap, prioritizing initiatives based on impact, feasibility, and alignment with company goals.

• Product Health & Optimization: Collaborate with stakeholders to identify and manage defects, maximize product value through data insights, and adopt Product Ownership best practices. Oversee product performance and define usability metrics for improvement.

• Communication & Transparency: Foster alignment by maintaining a clear, visible product backlog, ensuring stakeholders have visibility into progress, priorities, and trade-offs.
• Documentation: Maintain clear and comprehensive product documentation and act as a knowledge-sharing advocate within teams.

Qualifications & Experience:

• Previous experience working as a Product Owner for digital products or similar role.
• Strong technical understanding of LMS, CMS, and scalable digital platforms (experience in EdTech or education-related industries is a plus). Familiarity with the schools/education market is a plus.
• Proven track record of delivering web-based products and managing the full product management life cycle.
• Experience in Agile environments, with a focus on delivering against product strategy and prioritizing conflicting priorities.
• Strong ability to work with customer feedback, translate it into product developments, and collaborate with UX designers.

• Strong leadership, influencing, and negotiation skills, with the ability to drive change and innovation across an organization.

• Familiarity with accessibility standards and data-driven decision-making.

If you are passionate about driving innovation in digital education, possess excellent leadership and communication skills, and thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative environment, we encourage you to apply for this exciting opportunity. Join us in shaping the future of education through technology.

Our staff are our greatest asset, and our benefits reflect this:

• 28 annual leave days per year, increases to 29 days after 2 years' service and goes up to 30 days after 5 years' (+ bank holidays)
• Private medical insurance
• Generous pension schemes
• Rent deposit loans
• 2 community days per year
• Summer hours (finishing at 1pm on Fridays during the summer months)
• Retail discounts through Hachette rewards
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Eye care vouchers
• Wide-ranging training library
• Development programmes (including mentoring)
• Up to 70% off book purchases
• A charity bookshelf
• 12 Staff-led employee networks that are voluntary, including Gender Balance, Thrive, Pride, All Together, Wellbeing and religious networks
• Season ticket loans
• And much more!

The role will be based at our London office, Carmelite House, with a blend of in-office (3 days) and homeworking (2 days) per week.

Hachette employs people on the basis of their abilities. We aim to attract and develop talent from a base as broad as the world of readers we want to reach, with a wide and representative range of age, faith, disability, race, gender, sexuality and socio-economic, regional and cultural backgrounds.

If you are shortlisted and need us to make any adjustments to help you attend for interview, please let us know.

The Book Trade Charity offers financial support to people looking to enter the book trade but who may struggle to afford the costs of attending interviews and undertaking junior roles. For more information visit www.booktradeentrysupport.org