Product Manager: Visa Sponsorship Available

Role Overview:

The Product Manager will lead the strategy, roadmap, and delivery of MRI’s Early Years and Integrated Youth Support Services solutions. Although titled Product Manager, the role combines strategic Product Management with hands‑on Product Ownership, requiring both long‑term vision and day‑to‑day delivery leadership.

You will act as the voice of the customer, ensuring our products meet statutory requirements, align with Local Authority workflows, and deliver high‑quality, intuitive user experiences. Working closely with engineering, QA, UX, customer success, and implementation teams, you will drive product quality, innovation, and measurable customer value.

Key Responsibilities:

Product Strategy & Roadmap:

• Define and maintain the product vision and roadmap for Early Years and IYSS solutions.
• Monitor policy changes, market trends, and customer insights to identify opportunities for enhancement and innovation.
• Prioritise features and improvements using evidence‑based decision‑making and clear value assessment.

Product Ownership & Delivery:

• Own and refine the product backlog, producing clear user stories and acceptance criteria.
• Collaborate with engineering and QA teams to ensure high‑quality, timely delivery.
• Support sprint planning, backlog refinement, and release readiness activities.
• Validate product increments to ensure they meet customer expectations and statutory requirements.

Customer & Stakeholder Engagement:

• Build strong relationships with Local Authorities, Early Years providers, youth support teams, and sector partners.
• Lead discovery sessions, user research, and feedback loops to understand real‑world workflows and challenges.
• Represent the voice of the customer across the organisation and champion user‑centred design.

Quality, Compliance & Continuous Improvement:

• Ensure products remain compliant with DfE guidance, funding rules, safeguarding frameworks, and statutory processes.
• Work with QA to strengthen domain‑specific testing and improve release quality.
• Analyse product performance, defects, and customer issues to drive continuous improvement and reduce operational risk.

Cross‑Functional Collaboration:

• Partner with Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success on go‑to‑market activities and customer engagement.
• Provide subject‑matter expertise for bids, demos, and internal training.
• Contribute to knowledge‑sharing, process improvement, and best‑practice development across the Education division.

Skills & Experience:

Essential:

• Strong understanding of Local Authority Early Years and/or Integrated Youth Support Services processes, funding models, and statutory requirements.
• Experience working with software solutions in the education or public sector.
• Ability to translate complex requirements into clear, actionable product deliverables.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and facilitation skills.
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving abilities.

Desirable

• Proven experience as a Product Manager or Product Owner, ideally within SaaS or enterprise software.
• Direct experience working within a Local Authority education or youth services team (Early Years, IYSS, SEND, Admissions, or similar).
• Experience working in Agile development environments.
• Knowledge of DfE funding rules, safeguarding frameworks, statutory returns, and compliance requirements.
• Familiarity with user‑centred design and UX principles.
• Experience collaborating with offshore development or QA teams.
• Understanding of data flows, integrations, and interoperability within Local Authority systems.

Personal Attributes:

• Customer‑focused mindset with a passion for improving outcomes for children and young people.
• Proactive, organised, and comfortable managing multiple priorities.
• Collaborative team player who builds trust and influence across functions.
• Confident communicator who can engage effectively with senior stakeholders.
• Thrives in a fast‑paced environment with evolving requirements and competing demands.

We’re obsessed with making this the best job you’ve ever had!  

• We want our teams to love working here, so we’ve created some incredible perks for you to enjoy:  
• We want our staff to love working here, and so we’ve created a few unique perks such as office breakfasts, quarterly lunches and virtual social events. Additionally, we value your input in your employee experience and have employee-led groups such as our DEI committee, employee resource groups such as Women and Allies, and our Pride Event Group  
• Have confidence in your health with our offered Medical Aid Scheme.   
• Invest in our competitive Personal Pension plan and help set you up for your future.  
• Big on family? So are we! Here at MRI Software we recognise that your family is important, and being able to spend quality time with your family as it grows is a wonderful experience. Therefore, the MRI Software Parental Leave benefit is designed to give you the opportunity to spend time with your new arrival(s).   
• Enjoy a fantastic work-life balance with 25 days of annual leave plus public Holidays, in addition to a bank of 16 hours of “Flex Time Off” to be used whenever and however you choose! 
• Further your professional development with our Tuition Reimbursement Schemes   
• Enjoy the flexibility of working from anywhere in the world for two weeks out of the year!