Chief Product Officer (CPO)

Location: London (Oval)

Type: Full-time

Our Mission: 

We are creating a world where teachers and schools are no longer wasting time with expensive agencies because Zen allows them to reliably connect and get back to what really matters … our children! 

UK schools spend well over £2bn per year on covering short-term absences with supply teachers. The current model exclusively relies on agencies that charge a massive commission and are terribly inefficient (everything is paper and phone-call-based). We are consolidating this analogue, fragmented, and inefficient marketplace onto a digital platform. Think Uber for supply teachers. In the process, we're pulling hundreds of millions of waste out of the education system and making a huge positive impact on teachers and schools.

We are well-funded by high-profile investors and are led by start-up veterans behind two of London's most prominent tech companies. We have recently raised our Series B funding of $37mil, the largest round in European EdTech this year. This is an exciting opportunity to make a difference and be part of a high growth start-up that is expanding rapidly in the UK and US markets!

Looking to make a difference?

You’ll be joining Zen in a key position leading an organisation of over 30 individuals across Product, Engineering, and Design.. Product is at the heart of how we deliver for schools and teachers and you’ll play a key role in building and running our product function to make sure we are building the right thing and building it right.

We’re still young and you’ll play a significant role in the development of the company and team. The product delivery team is a crucial part of how Zen will help both transform the supply and recruitment experience for schools and generate the savings the education system needs. This is a great opportunity for someone looking to apply themselves for a great cause and with great responsibility and autonomy to shape the product for years to come.

What we are looking for:

- Top performer that wants to be part of a high-performing, motivated team

- Growth mindset – dedicated to improving your skills as a professional 

- Passion for building great products and companies that have a positive social impact 

- Strong bias to action

- Excellent people skills for working with both our customers and teams at Zen

What you’ll be doing:

- Own and execute on Zen’s product vision balancing both customer and business needs, which should Emphasize strategic product leadership and alignment with the company's overall vision and goals​​

- Identify customer problems, ensuring we are 100% customer centric, and our product decisions are data-driven

- Work with the CEO and other Executives defining, clarifying and reviewing key product objectives as we improve our existing product and launch in new areas

- Develop our high-performing product delivery team through effective collaboration between product managers, design and development, and enhancing our agile development practises

- Hire, train, and manage product managers, engineers, and designers, including our existing high–performing team

- Shape the product roadmap for key projects through a deep understanding of our space, key problems, customer needs and robust prioritisation

- Help solve complex business problems, bring people together and deliver user-friendly products that meet customer needs

- Be the voice of the customer and embed strong customer research practices within our product delivery teams

Ensure our product meets key regulatory, compliance, data and security requirements

- Select and manage third party tools and vendors on which the product depends

Ideal experience:

- 10+ years of relevant experience

- Experience working with executives to build a product vision and objectives aligned with business strategy and priorities. 

- Prior experience leading teams

- Strong leadership and communication skills, comfortable presenting to the team and senior executives

- Strong analytical and technical skills in data collection and analysis

- History of creating products with strong user experience and high-quality design

What's in it for you?

- Work that you want to talk about

- Competitive salary

- Ownership in the company

- 25+ days of holiday (increases with tenure)

- Life Insurance

- Health Insurance

- Electric Car Scheme 

- Cycle to Work Scheme 

- Central London office with perks like fresh fruit, bike parking, showers and an on-site gym and café

- Fun-loving, tight-knit team solving a problem that makes a difference

Diversity and Inclusion

At Zen, we strive to build a culture of equity and inclusion, where everyone is respected, valued, and appreciated for their unique traits, experiences and perspectives. We are committed to creating a safe, inclusive, and equitable environment where our team can thrive, regardless of age, ethnicity, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, disability, religion or beliefs. We value our differences and believe that practices of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion help us create a fairer, more compassionate environment for all. 

We welcome applicants with diverse backgrounds and different experiences and perspectives — just like the staff who teach through Zen and the children at the schools we work with. We believe in hiring the best people from the widest pool and creating an inclusive culture where people’s voices are heard and all our team can look forward to coming to work. 

We are committed to building a team that reflects the diversity of our community and promoting an equitable and inclusive environment for all. We seek out diverse opinions, beliefs, and experiences because they collectively make us stronger; we’ve had former teachers, pilots, fundraisers, engineers, lawyers, marketers, social media experts and more join our team.

How to apply

Upload a CV and short introduction for why you would be a great fit on our careers page (https://jobs.lever.co/zeneducate).