Head of Product - Buyer Products

Europe’s leading used vehicle marketplace and automotive services business with revenues of over £3 billion and operating profits of over £100 million. With 4.4m physical and 17m digital annual vehicle interactions, we are a critical support partner and link to the entire value chain in automotive, whether that is the manufacturer, the dealer, the vehicle financier or the end

consumer. Automotive is an increasingly data-driven industry; our multiple touch points across the life of a vehicle supported by considerable investment in data quality, data warehousing and analysis, give our customers a genuine advantage in everything from smart transport solutions to transactional margins. Through acquisition, simplification and innovation we aim to drive

accelerated growth. Over the last 4 years the management team have built the leading change of life business in the UK. The strategy is to build upon these strengths and to broaden our horizons into in-life services.

Why work in our Group IT Function?

Group IT function is based in Farnham, Surrey and Birmingham and provides a group-wide shared service, including the delivery of IT projects and digital products. The Head of Product – Buyer role will require travel within the UK, across different locations.

Over the last 5 years we have expanded its product portfolio to support all parts of the Automotive Value Chain, delivering digital products to Dealers, Buyers, OEMs, End Customers, Transportation etc., across both the UK and Europe. We now require an experienced Head of Product to drive the

Buyer Journey across all our Digital Products and physical interactions.

The role

The Head of Product will be responsible for the development, delivery and optimisation of all the Buyer products, working with the existing Product Managers and Product Owners. This will also extend into the delivery of the next generation of these products. The role will serve as the day to

day technology leader of the Buyer products, tightly aligned to our commercial team in order to execute against our strategy, and deliver the right commercial benefits. This role is the custodian of the Buyer Product Roadmap, and ensures that the product and features released are done so securely, robustly and methodically. They will work with teams to instil increasingly effective product

success.

Key Responsibilities

Product Strategic

 Works with commercial leaders and Product Director to provide Strategic and Technical Product direction for all Buyer products

 Educates business leaders and the wider business on how our products can be utilised to expand and leverage the multi-service automotive value chain.

 Drive the best Buyer experience and journey through our digital platforms, to ensure a seamless and frictionless experience.

 Work with Commercial and Marketing counterparts on the Strategic Direction for our Buyers, offering a truly Omni-Channel experience.

 Devise and implement the digital/physical touchpoints and crossovers, that enable Buyers to attend Physical sites, but with minimal human interactions.

 Responsible for the creation and maintenance of the Buyer Product Roadmap, in consultation and approval with business and commercial owners.

 Leading key interactions with the business community and users - ensuring we constantly listen to our internal and external customers and drive value into our products.

Product Development and Delivery

 Lead the day-to-day execution of all Buyer products delivery and development.

 Champion a discovery-led, agile, product line-based delivery model for the Buyer products.

 Ensure the Buyer Product Teams have effective product development and delivery processes in line with organisational expectations.

 Implementing product processes that align to the required standards, working with Security, Legal/Compliance and Infrastructure teams.

 Deploy Development processes that focus on stakeholders receiving market-leading, innovative, tested products, which maximise the commercial benefit for our company.

 Coordinating, managing and carefully choreographing rapid and complex product development.

 Maintain strong working relationships with all development and technology partners

 Work with other technology leaders to establish best sourcing model and partners for delivery and development, i.e. build, buy, insource, outsource.

 Ensure the Buyer products are delivered to the required quality; minimising any disruption to business activities.

 Identify and recognise gaps in processes and continually implement improvements to optimize the velocity of the Buyer products.

 Ensure the Buyer product teams have the right tools in place to effectively manage their workload and resources; and provide status reporting to the Portfolio Office.

 Be the main point of contact and decision maker for escalations related to product delivery and development of all Buyer products Staff and Leadership Development

 Providing line management for all Buyer Product Managers/Owners

 Work to creatively improve the product through leading an inspired product team, extolling innovation, new ways of thinking and customer obsessive behaviours.

 Developing the Product Teams to the next level of Agile/Product Ways of Working to maximise the efficiency and velocity of product delivery.

 Work with Finance to create and manage team budget and run the Product Team to this budget.

 Encourages learning from failures and creates a climate of openness to new ways of working, risk, and uncertainty.

 Ensure all Team members have appropriate Development Plans and follow the Talent Mgmt. processes

 Drive talent selection, development and succession planning for the wider IT function

Requirements

 Hands-on Senior Product Manager/Head of Product, who has led an Agile product teams to deliver end-user products

 A clear balance of both technology and soft skills

 Is comfortable operating in an organisation going through transformational change and leading this change for the Buyer Products

 Ability to develop and define strategic / long-term proposals and manage day-to-day product development and support

 Ability to challenge, convince and manage multiple stakeholders within technology and business functions

 Ability to effectively communicate, motivate, and inspire a cross-functional team with professionalism and clarity

 Execution focused to effectively drive business, culture, and technology change in a dynamic and complex operating environment

 Being detail oriented and having the ability to work at both strategic and detailed levels

 Strong commercial acumen; understands the key financial drivers and dynamics related to growth and revenue goals

 Strong written and oral communication skills with the ability to present complex data and arguments in clear and compelling manner

 High level of personal ownership and unimpeachable business integrity

Experience

 Extensive experience, 7+ years, in Product Management

 Extensive experience in an Omni-Channel or Retail environment with Online and Physical channels

 Extensive experience working directly with commercial owners, and have a strong commercial focus

 Experience of managing different development platforms, apps and products

 Deep understanding of software development processes and cycles

 Knowledge and experience of Agile product development frameworks

 Deep understanding of operating products in the cloud, and or migrating products to the cloud

 Extensive experience working directly with customer and external stakeholders

 Significant, demonstrable repeat experience of delivering successful products

 Demonstrated motivational ability and inspiring leadership

 Cultural awareness and emotional intelligence, backed by demonstrable experience working closely with diverse cultures

Our policy is to employ the best qualified people and provide equal opportunity for the

advancement of employees including promotion and training and not to discriminate against

any person because of gender, race, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, religion, belief or

disability.