Remote Senior Director of Product | Remote (UK)
3 days ago
Lancaster
Description At Spotted Zebra, we're building something we genuinely believe in: an AI-native end-to-end hiring platform that helps the world's leading organisations find the right people, faster and fairer than ever before. In short, we're making hiring something everyone loves again - both talent teams and candidates alike. We're a multi-award-winning Series A company giving talent leaders the solution they've always needed. Skills science native. AI-amplified. Built by people who've lived and breathed TA and knew there had to be a better way. Spotted Zebra brings Interview Intelligence, Skills Assessments, and AI Interview Agent together in one powerful platform, designed for intelligence and action. One powerful agent and assistant: Spot. Working the way talent teams need it to, always with humans in control. The result is talent teams get the insight to predict who will succeed, the speed to move before competitors, the governance to defend every hiring decision, and the capacity to focus on the human moments that matter most. But our product is only part of the story. Spotted Zebra isn’t just building an AI-native product; we’re building an AI-native company. AI is changing how we build, sell, support customers and make decisions. We use it to move faster, stay closer to customers, reduce unnecessary processes, and give talented people more leverage in their roles. That means joining Spotted Zebra isn’t just a chance to work on the future of hiring. It’s a chance to help shape what the future of work looks like inside a scaling company: compact, ambitious teams using AI to collaborate better, make decisions quickly, and deliver meaningful impact at speed. The FTSE100 and Fortune500 companies trusting us include British Airways, NIQ, Domino's, Lidl, Merlin Entertainments, AWE, United Utilities, and Paramount. We've been named Personnel Today's Talent Acquisition Supplier of the Year 2025, secured gold across multiple industry awards, and were recently named on the UK Top 100 Startups List. But what we’re most proud of is the team. People join Spotted Zebra because the mission is real, the product is genuinely exciting, and the opportunity to shape the future of hiring is huge. What makes it special is the way we work: smart, committed people in compact teams where trust is high, decisions happen quickly, and everyone has the chance to make a visible impact. If that sounds like the kind of place you want to do your best work - read on. Fun fact: A group of zebras is called a dazzle – and ours truly is dazzling! We create a culture in which our team thrives and gallops ahead. As we roam free and empower our dazzle, we gallop ahead on the journey to achieving our goals. We understand this journey will pose challenges along the way, yet we brighten the trail with our positive mindset and encouragement of others. The dazzle continuously moves, gaining knowledge and skills so that we can graze new grounds. You’ll join Spotted Zebra at a defining moment, with the opportunity to turn an ambitious product vision into the company that defines AI-native hiring. As Senior Director of Product, you’ll work closely with the CEO to set the direction across Product and Design, shape the priorities of the wider Product, Design and Engineering organisation, and translate rapid advances in AI, deep customer insight and commercial opportunity into a focused strategy that wins. You’ll influence the company’s biggest bets, help take our product into new global markets, and tell a compelling product story to enterprise customers, partners, investors and the board. You’ll also build the organisation and operating model capable of delivering that ambition. You’ll lead and develop a growing, high-performing Product and Design organisation, building on the five crews already in place, each with dedicated Product Management and support from specialist Design SMEs. You’ll embed AI-augmented ways of working that materially increase our speed and quality, and create a close partnership with Engineering so strategy, discovery and delivery move as one. You’ll stay close to customers and hands-on with the work when it matters, while creating the clarity, culture and capability Spotted Zebra needs to scale without losing the pace, ownership or product craft that makes us special. Key responsibilities: 1. Product & Design organisation leadership - Own and lead both the Product and Design function, providing strategic direction, clear priorities, and a high-performance culture across all teams. Directly manage and coach high-performing individual contributors, being a trusted thinking partner and raising the bar for quality and craft. Stay hands-on where it matters — rolling up your sleeves on strategy, discovery, or delivery when the work calls for it. Own organisational design, budget and headcount planning across Product and Design, ensuring the function has the structure, capability and investment needed to deliver the company’s ambitions., 2. Engineering influence & collaboration - While Engineering has its own leadership, act as a senior cross-functional partner who shapes how Product, Design, and Engineering work together. Influence technical roadmap prioritisation, drive alignment on delivery trade-offs, and ensure the Engineering organisation has the strategic context it needs to make great decisions. Step in to provide leadership continuity across the broader build organisation when needed., 3. AI Augmented Delivery (AAD) - Set the standard for AI-Augmented Delivery across Product and Design, building on the five crews already in place, each with dedicated Product Management and support from specialist Design SMEs. You will embed AI throughout strategy, discovery, research, prototyping, design, specification and decision-making, enabling crews to move from customer insight to high-quality implementation with greater speed, accuracy and ambition. This will be a deeply hands-on part of the role: you will model the behaviours and tooling you expect from others, develop the team’s capability, and evolve the operating model so that AI increases individual leverage and organisational capacity without compromising product craft, customer understanding or enterprise-grade quality., 4. Talent attraction through personal brand - Use your own professional profile and reputation to attract exceptional talent to Spotted Zebra. Whether through an active social media presence, published writing, speaking engagements, or thought leadership in the product and AI community, you will help put Spotted Zebra on the map as a destination for ambitious, talented people., 5. Global product strategy - Define and champion the long-term product vision across all markets. Lead the expansion of our product strategy to serve enterprise customers in the United States and other international markets, ensuring that global growth needs - from regulatory requirements to local customer behaviours - are embedded in how we build and position our product. Champion the voice of the customer and user at executive level, and ensure product strategy remains closely aligned with commercial priorities through strong partnerships with Sales, Customer Success and Marketing., 6. Executive leadership & CEO partnership - Serve as a true strategic partner to the CEO, stepping in to represent the company and lead across Product, Design, and Engineering during key moments such as fundraising, board engagement, and major partnership discussions. Bring the product and technology perspective into investor conversations, presenting with confidence on roadmap, vision, and competitive positioning. Represent Spotted Zebra externally with prospective enterprise customers, at industry events, and across the press and analyst community., 7. Cross-functional ownership beyond Product & Design - Take accountability for functions that sit at the boundary of product and go-to-market, including Solutions Architecture. Ensure these teams are well-integrated with Engineering and customer-facing colleagues, are resourced appropriately, and contribute effectively to both pre-sales and post-sales success., 8. Scaling through fundraising & growth stages - Bring proven experience of navigating and shaping businesses through funding rounds. Help the company build the operating foundations, processes, and team structures needed to sustain rapid growth without losing speed or quality, while supporting the CEO in building a compelling narrative for investors. We are looking to double the size of the team over the next 6–12 months, and you will play a central role in making that growth successful. Lead organisational design decisions as the company scales, including when to hire, restructure or introduce greater specialisation, and proactively identify and manage strategic risks to delivery, growth and product quality. Requirements • Product & Design leadership at scale: Demonstrated experience leading a Product and Design organisation across multiple teams and disciplines, with a track record of directly managing and elevating high-performing individual contributors while maintaining a hands-on presence in the work, • Engineering partnership at senior level: Proven ability to work as a true peer and strategic partner to Engineering leadership - influencing technical direction, driving cross-functional alignment, and stepping up to provide broader leadership continuity when needed, without needing to hold direct line management of Engineering teams, • AI-native delivery: Proven experience building or transforming a product function to operate in an AI-native way - embedding AI tooling into discovery, design, and delivery workflows to increase the speed, quality, and ambition of what the team can produce, • AI tooling fluency: Hands-on proficiency with AI tools relevant to product and design work - from prototyping and research synthesis to writing, analysis, and delivery acceleration. Sophisticated understanding of AI and its application in B2B products, including an informed view on how AI will reshape the competitive landscape and what that means for product strategy and build decisions. You don’t just advocate for AI use; you model it, • IC management & coaching: Proven ability to directly manage, coach, and develop team members across Product and Design - up to and including a Head of Design - setting high expectations, giving honest feedback, and creating the conditions for great work without needing a management layer between you and the team, • Hands-on capability: Comfortable and willing to get hands-on when the situation demands it - whether that’s diving into a discovery problem, shaping a strategy document, or stepping in to unblock a critical piece of work, • Scaling through funding rounds: Hands-on experience helping a high-growth startup navigate the transition from early-stage to scaled operations, including building the processes, structures, and culture that sustain growth without sacrificing agility, • Global product experience: Proven ability to develop and execute product strategy across international markets, with particular weight given to experience building for or expanding into the United States enterprise market, • Executive presence & investor readiness: Comfortable operating at board and investor level, with experience contributing to or leading fundraising narratives, due diligence processes, or strategic partnership discussions, • Cross-functional ownership: Experience owning functions beyond core product and design - such as Solutions Architecture, Technical Pre-Sales, or Implementation - and integrating them effectively into the broader product and go-to-market motion, • B2B SaaS at enterprise scale: Deep experience building and scaling enterprise SaaS products, with a strong understanding of the commercial dynamics, implementation complexity, and stakeholder management that enterprise customers require, • Strategic product thinking: Ability to operate across multiple time horizons simultaneously - holding a clear long-term product vision while ensuring near-term execution remains focused, well-resourced, and commercially grounded, • Customer co-creation at executive level: Experience engaging executive stakeholders at enterprise customers to shape product direction, co-develop solutions, and build deep, long-term relationships that drive retention and expansion, • Experience in HR technology, talent assessment, or adjacent people-tech markets, • Track record of building products that serve both enterprise and mid-market customer segments simultaneously, • Experience establishing or scaling a product presence in the United States, including hiring and managing distributed teams across time zones, • Background operating as or alongside a Chief Product Officer or VP of Product in a high-growth environment Benefits Meaningful share options Health insurance Enhanced pension Nursery salary sacrifice scheme ️ 25 days holiday (excluding bank holidays) Remote-first Work from home budget L&D budget Dental cover Eye-care support Co-working space budget Wellbeing allowance ✈️ Travel insurance Electric car scheme Beyond our core benefits, you'll get access to the latest AI-powered tools and technologies, giving you everything you need to do your best work. At Spotted Zebra, we welcome people of all stripes. We are committed to providing equal opportunities and an inclusive and diverse culture. We believe that each and every one of us possesses an extraordinary set of skills and abilities, waiting to be discovered, nurtured, and harnessed for the benefit of all. We are a team. And no matter your race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, civil or family status, age, or disability, we will empower you to unleash your superpower to help us create a world where everyone is able to utilise their unique blend of skills and abilities to contribute to the greater good. Everyone is unique and we encourage you to let us know in your application, or share with your recruiter directly, if there is anything we can do to make your interview experience with us more comfortable and positive. At Spotted Zebra, everyone is welcome. So even if you don't meet all the requirements, we would still love to hear from you. We are always keen to speak with people who are passionate about our mission. Ready to gallop ahead with us? We're a team that moves fast, thinks big, and isn't afraid to challenge how things have always been done. If you're excited about using AI and skills science to transform how the world hires, apply now and a member of our dazzle will be in touch!
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