Product Development Lead (Hands-On Product Technical Leadership)

Madfish; United Kingdom; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

A fast-growing deep-tech startup in the UK is seeking a Product Development Lead to drive product delivery and provide technical leadership. The ideal candidate has 5–10 years in software development, strong Python experience, and knowledge of distributed systems. You will manage the delivery process, ensure technical soundness, and facilitate team collaboration on product goals. Join us in building world-class sales departments by shaping our product roadmap and guiding engineering decisions.

Qualifications

• 5–10 years of experience in software development, including system design and delivery.
• Strong Python development experience.
• Solid knowledge of distributed systems design — scalability, reliability, observability, and performance.
• Experience leading small teams or projects balancing leadership and delivery.

Responsibilities

• Drive product delivery, translating goals into actionable plans and releases.
• Provide technical leadership, guiding system architecture and ensuring scalability.
• Stay hands-on by reviewing code, prototyping solutions, and occasionally contributing.
• Balance priorities between new features, technical debt, and performance.
• Shape team processes for planning, sprints, and delivery.
• Collaborate across functions to align efforts with product goals.
• Define success metrics and use data to drive improvement.

Skills

Python

Distributed systems design

Technical leadership

Software development

Communication with stakeholders

Adaptability

Job description

Our mission: build the best sales departments in the world and make elite coaching available to every team. It’s big. That’s where you come in.

We’re a fast-growing deep-tech startup backed by the investors behind Anthropic, TensorNet, and GROQ. In two weeks, we’re launching a self-serve product for mid-market—while continuing to scale wins with enterprise. Two motions. One team. Zero passengers.

We’re looking for a Product Development Lead who combines product ownership, delivery management, and hands‑on technical leadership. You’ll help shape our roadmap, guide engineering decisions, and ensure our team builds the right things the right way.

Your Mission

Turn vision into execution. You’ll own the delivery process, ensure technical soundness, and keep the team aligned on priorities. You’ll stay close to the code — reviewing PRs, diving into backend problems, and helping design robust systems.

What You’ll Do

• Drive product delivery — translate high‑level goals into actionable plans, milestones, and releases.
• Provide technical leadership — guide system architecture, ensure scalability and reliability, and support engineers with complex design and implementation challenges.
• Stay hands‑on — review code, prototype solutions, and occasionally contribute directly.
• Balance priorities — manage the trade-offs between new features, technical debt, and performance.
• Shape team process — introduce pragmatic structure for planning, sprints, and delivery.
• Collaborate across functions — align backend, frontend, and design efforts with product goals.
• Measure and iterate — define success metrics and use data to drive improvement.

You Might Be a Fit If You

• Have 5–10 years of experience in software development, including system design and delivery.
• Have strong Python development experience.
• Have solid knowledge of distributed systems design — scalability, reliability, observability, and performance.
• Have led small teams or projects where you balanced technical leadership and product delivery.
• Communicate clearly with both engineers and business stakeholders.
• Thrive in early‑stage environments — adaptable, resourceful, and delivery‑focused.
• Are comfortable getting hands dirty while maintaining strategic perspective.

Nice to Have

• Experience scaling early‑stage products to production reliability.
• Experience with agentic coding.
• Experience mentoring developers and shaping engineering culture.