Remote aywhere in the UK with main offices is London, Manchester, Bristol and Harwell

Our client is the UK higher, further education and skills sectors’ not-for-profit for digital services and solutions.   You can look forward to a rewarding job with opportunities to develop and make a real difference to the education and research sectors. 

You will be joining our client's Group CTO Directorate, which is responsible for the operation and transformation of the technical and IT strategy, including internal IT and Software Development Group, member-facing networking, cyber security, and cloud services.

Eighteen million users in education and research organisations, science parks and public sector bodies rely on the client's Network to stay connected, providing stable, secure, and high-speed connection to cloud providers. The group GCTO also runs several innovation functions, for example developing products for the future including collaborations with start-ups and commercial partners, and showcasing the application of new technologies.

About the role:

This is a newly created role to help with transformation of networking capability and shape the future for connectivity in the UK higher and further education sectors. As Director of Product, you will lead the client's product vision and strategy to take them to a next generation network. (e.g., Automation, Software Defined Networking (SDN), Virtual Network Functions (VNF's)).

As an industry expert you will have experience with large scale carriers, both fixed and mobile, including an appreciation of outsource and managed services, the technical and commercial aspects of peering, some 5g experience, including packet core and RAN and take a creative approach to innovation support in areas such as hybrid cloud and SD Wan.

You will be responsible for the whole product lifecycle and engaging successfully with a wide range of stakeholders, including suppliers, technical teams and customers.

Strong technical expertise and experience of modern technologies and vendor solutions in these areas is critical for the role but also a high appreciation of the very highest levels of customer service. You will need to steer the network from being very product focused to a more service focused model.

Skills and Experience required:

• Product Management in a telco/IT tech-oriented business setting
• Experience with carriers, fixed and mobile (especially 5G), peering, packet core network architectures
• Experience in the following Telco environments is required: Dark Fibre, BT, NEOS, Virgin, Openreach, COLT
• Strong commercial understanding of cyber security marketplace
• Strong grounding in product lifecycle management and product development methodologies
• Strong leadership with the ability to drive operational and cultural change and build strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders
• Demonstrable technical skills and domain expertise in next generation networking.
• Skills to develop and lead a high performing product management team
• Strong listening, influencing and communication skills across a range of technical and operational teams
• Excellent organisational and planning skills, able to influence at a strategic level, but with a strong handle on the detail

Salary and Benefits :

• Salary from £75,000 per annum negotiable depending on experience
• Flexible work pattern, which can adapt to suit your schedules and personal commitments
• 28 days annual leave (plus bank holidays) and an additional three closure days over Christmas
• A generous pension scheme with above average employer contributions
• A range of leave options, including parental leave, volunteer leave and even career breaks.
• A generous budget to attend conferences and in-person training
• Allocated allowance of up to £250 to equip your home office
• A company culture which supports and promotes personal learning and development, including access to thousands of courses on LinkedIn Learning
• Mental health first aid trained staff and supportive environment, plus your own Wellbeing allowance to spend on wellbeing for you
• Financial well-being support
• Discounts on big-name high-street stores
• Cycle to work scheme
• Employee recognition awards and travel loans
• Remote/Hybrid with some travel to the client's offices