We are looking for a Senior Product Manager to join our team!

Location: Bristol, UK - Hybrid Remote. 2-3 days per week in the office

Contract: Permanent, full time

Salary: £70-90k if you have all of the right skills & experience we need!

About Vaarst

We are Vaarst, a technology company building cutting edge products to solve real-world problems, using techniques in artificial intelligence, autonomy, and computer vision.

We have a core focus on helping the world become a cleaner, greener, and safer place. We seek to deploy technology for good.

We believe in putting innovation to work and creating a difference in the world with boundary-pushing underwater technology for our clients in offshore wind and the subsea industry. Take a look at one of our products in action https://bit.ly/SubSLAMX2!

We are committed to building an inclusive workplace and flexible workplace that brings the best out of our people.. Our approach is hybrid-remote with 2-3 days a week in our state-of-the-art Bristol Office Hub, designed with creativity, productivity, and wellness in mind. We understand everyone is different and we’ve designed policies to support our whole workforce in establishing a great work-life balance. We support and encourage applicants of all genders and backgrounds. 

The Role

This role is for an experienced Senior Product Manager to join our team to help deliver cutting edge products. You will focus on our ML capabilities and work closely with our cloud platform, AI and Unreal engine technical teams.

You will be responsible for representing the customer voice for the products in your area, working closely with the technical and delivery teams. You will be thinking about the strategic longer-term view and be key to successfully delivering our ambitious and exciting plans.

Responsibilities

We work in an exciting and dynamic environment where every day is likely to be a little different but here are some of the main responsibilities you will have in the role:

• Understand the market landscape and where the opportunities lie for your product area. Along with our UX research manager, you will understand the customer’s needs, research, and define what the products requirements need to be.
• Have full ownership of the products in your area, taking a holistic view of the product through its lifecycle.
• Define and communicate the product vision and roadmap of customer needs.
• Communicate your vision to the delivery teams, senior stakeholders, and external audiences.
• Proactively gather user/customer feedback and use this to revise the backlog of priorities.
• Support the delivery teams, acting as the voice of the customer and prioritising the required product functionality.
• Work at both the strategic level with a longer-term horizon view and regularly with the delivery team to guide and support.
• Work with the sales and marketing team to support their activities, including planning and carrying out product launches.

About you & what you will bring

• We’re looking for an experienced and talented Senior Product Manager who has what it takes to make a real impact in this role. If you have these attributes, skills and experiences this could be you:
  
  • Passion. About the needs of the customer and the difference the offering will make to its users and to the wider world.
  • Self-awareness. The ability to avoid projecting preferences or previous experience. To stand back and avoid bias in interpreting data to fit a pre-decided view.
  • Strong listening skills and empathy. To hear what is really being said. By the customer, technical and leadership teams.
  • A fantastic influencer and clear communicator. With the ability to take people on a journey, sell a vision and build trust. An exceptionally clear communicator across all levels of the organisation.
  • Level-headed. Calm and positive in the face of change, time pressure and multiple viewpoints. A natural leader for teams to look to to steer the product direction.
  • Ability to sift and multitask. A natural ability to sift through multiple data sets, competing requests and multiple needs and wants across the business.
  • Self-starter. Relaxed and motivated by cutting edge areas where customer needs are not well defined and insights and data are not pre-existing.
  
  Experience
  • Strong experience as a Product Manager with a passion for representing the customer voice.
  • Proven experience of delivering Machine Learning tools with clear value add to future of the business whether this is direct to end customer or through internal process.
  • Be able to frame problems in a way that can be solved by ML, or good data practices.
  • You will understand the importance of building AI maturity and capabilities alongside viable products.

• Assist with data and annotation strategies for products using ML.
• Explain the benefits of ML and data practices in layman’s terms.
• Comfortable with working at the cutting edge in a future-looking area where customers may be bound to traditional methods or existing software.
• Good experience of developing product vision and roadmaps.
• Good experience working with delivery teams acting as the voice of the customer.
• Good high-level technical understanding of software engineering products.
• Experience working with Agile frameworks.
• Experience capturing and collating customer requirements.
• Experience of working with internal sales team and external customers.

Application Process

We have a simple process we take all our candidates through to help ensure you are the right person for us and that Vaarst is the right company for you.

• Submit your application with your CV, showcasing your skills and experience against the skills listed in the job advert. There will be a couple of questions on elements that are important to the role.
• A short 20-minute phone screen with our HR partner. We will tell you more about our role, the team and business, and allow us to learn more about you, why you applied, and what you can bring to Vaarst. You’ll have the opportunity to ask any questions you have.
• CCAT Assessment – The Cognitive Criteria Aptitude test will include questions on verbal, numerical and spatial reasoning.
• A 1.5-hour interview with a couple of members of our team. This part of the process allows you to get a real feel for the work the team is doing and allows us to learn more about your skillsets. In the interview, we will talk about your previous experience in quality and testing. We’ll ask some questions around technologies we use, key skills for the role, and what we look for in a team member. Again, you’ll have the opportunity to ask any questions you have.

• A 30-minute follow-up with our CTO to check in with you and get your thoughts on whether the role is for you, answer any of your questions that may have come up throughout the process, and clarify expectations
• Offer! If you are successful in the process, we will follow up with an offer for the role.

We have adopted anonymised recruitment. This means that your name, date of birth and other personal details will not be seen by the sift panel.

Vaarst is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace, should you require any reasonable adjustment throughout the recruitment process, please do not hesitate to let a member of the Talent team know.

Benefits

So, you think you might want to join Vaarst? We don’t blame you - this is an amazing place to work!

People join Vaarst because they are excited by the possibility of leaving their own mark on the world and developing solutions that solve real world problems. Although we share the same vision, we value varied perspectives, and we adapt to fit different people from all walks of life. Not only does that make for a genuinely awesome team of colleagues, but it also makes day-to-day life more interesting, and it’s how we keep evolving and getting better at what we do.

What’s in it for you? Not to blow our own trumpet, but you’ll get to work with a passionate, smart and highly driven team with an incredible range of skills.

We also offer a competitive salary, up to 33 days’ holiday (starting at 25 days), a £500 loyalty reward after 2 years’ service and a flexible approach to hybrid/connected working, because we know that work-life balance is important too. Other benefits include:

• Private medical insurance including dental and optical cover 
• Generous pension scheme 
• Progressive and generous parental leave benefits 

• Additional training and personal development 
• A people focused, inclusive culture with monthly social events 

Don't meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and ethnic minorities are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification/ skill. At Vaarst we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace, so if you're excited about this role but your experience doesn't align perfectly with every skill in the job advert, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Vaarst is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

Vaarst is proud to be an equal opportunities employer