Product Lead

Kainos; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading technology consultancy in Birmingham is seeking a Product Lead. In this role, you will own the product backlog and ensure its quality, leading agile teams to deliver outstanding results. Key responsibilities include coaching team members, engaging with stakeholders, and shaping product strategies within healthcare or public sector projects. Candidates should have experience in bespoke software delivery and a strong commercial awareness. This position offers a dynamic environment where leadership and mentoring are crucial.

Qualifications

• Experience in bespoke software delivery in a consulting environment.
• Healthcare or Public sector experience is required.
• Proven ability to lead product teams effectively.

Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end product backlog, ensuring quality and maturity.
• Shape the approach for various phases of software development.
• Coach and develop staff, managing performance.

Skills

Bespoke software delivery

Agile team collaboration

Stakeholder management

Commercial awareness

Coaching and mentoring

Negotiation skills

Job description

As a Product Lead at Kainos, you will play a lead role across one or more multi-disciplinary agile delivery teams. You will own the end-to-end backlog for a product, responsible for its overall quality and maturity. You will lead the business analysts and product consultants on your project, ensuring that the processes for requirements-gathering and prioritisation are operating effectively.

You will work with delivery managers and solution architects to shape the approach for the work you and the wider team undertakes. You proactively seek commercial opportunities and take a lead role in product-level commercial negotiations.

You will actively support the engagement with product or programme-level business stakeholders, gaining their buy-in and managing their expectations. You will act as a visible leader within the consulting capability, owning the delivery of consulting initiatives. You’ll also manage, coach and develop a small number of staff, with a focus on managing employee performance

Minimum requirements :

• Experience in bespoke software delivery, operating as a part of an agile team working for an external customer (experience in a client-facing role in a consulting environment is a must-have).
• Healthcare or Public sector experience.
• Responsible for owning the end-to-end product backlog and taking responsibility for story quality and maturity.
• Experience in shaping the approach taken in a range of phases of the software development lifecycle – such as analysis, acceptance, launch and live ops. Responsible for ensuring that requirements-gathering, refinement and prioritisation processes are effective.
• Experience devising goal-oriented roadmaps, gaining buy-in from stakeholders and instilling a focus on MVP. Experience leading the collaborative breakdown of goals into small pieces of value-delivering work.
• Experience leading product teams, ensuring the product vision and goals are understood so that the scope is managed by the team effectively.
• Proven ability to lead, providing direction and promoting good product management practices across one or more agile teams.
• Experience coaching and mentoring clients and colleagues in agile techniques and best practices.
• Proven ability of strong team management skills, including effectively managing, mentoring and coaching members of your team and wider community is important.
• Strong commercial awareness and active participation in revenue or sales-generating activity.
• Actively supports and builds relationships with product and programme-level business stakeholders.
• Facilitates workshops with senior stakeholders, negotiating conflicting viewpoints and achieving buy-in for new initiatives.
• Experience implementing appropriate tools / standards / techniques for business analysis and requirements gathering, securing appropriate buy-in from our internal teams and the client.
• Responsible for working with delivery leads and solution architects to manage scope within commercial constraints, such as cost restrictions or project deadlines.
• Demonstrate a good understanding of relevant technologies and architecture concepts.