Head of Product Development

ABOUT US

HyperionDev is one of the largest providers of accelerated tech education in EMEA and one of the oldest providers of 'coding bootcamps' in the world. We work with top universities such as Imperial College London, The London School of Economics, The University of Edinburgh, and Stellenbosch University to deliver structured technical courses and bootcamps that accelerate people into fulfilling tech careers. We have been recognised as one of the top education technology startups in the world and gained the financial backing of Meta (previously Facebook) which recognised us as  the most socially impactful startup operating in Africa, where we initially started our work.

We are dedicated to closing the global tech skills gap and we achieve this by integrating tech education with human mentorship and expert code review powered by a workforce in Southern Africa, which lowers the cost of an accessible education in technology. This model has been successful, allowing us to reach millions of learners a year from over 60 countries. We have also partnered with government bodies such as the UK's Department for Education who provide scholarships for students to study on our bootcamps and gain employment at companies such as AstraZeneca and the United Kingdom's National Health Service (NHS).

We're backed by nearly 2000 investors, having raised the largest crowdfunding round of funding for an ed-tech company in history. As a primarily bootstrapped, profitable, and scale up tech business join us as we play our part in making the world a more stable, safer, and fair place.

 

ABOUT THE ROLE 

As a Lead Product Manager, you will be responsible for driving the strategic development and success of a diverse range of B2B and B2C digital products that are central to our mission and user experience. These include:

Student Portal: Enhance the core platform that serves as the hub for our student community, focusing on creating an engaging, user-friendly, and educational experience.

Mentor Portals: Develop and refine platforms designed to facilitate mentor interactions, ensuring they are equipped with the tools needed for effective teaching and guidance.

Placements Portal: Oversee the development of our placements portal, a critical tool for connecting students with career opportunities, requiring a keen understanding of both student needs and industry demands.

Website and Payment Gateways: Manage our main website, focusing on user experience, content, and seamless integration of payment systems, vital for facilitating transactions and user engagement.

Sign-up Flows: Innovate and streamline the sign-up process, making it intuitive, user-friendly, and secure, directly impacting user acquisition and satisfaction.

Data Analysis Platforms: Lead the strategy for our data analysis tools, ensuring they provide insightful, actionable data to both our team and our users, aiding in informed decision-making.

In this role, you will have the opportunity to make a significant impact on our product direction and user experience. Your leadership and expertise will be essential in guiding our products from conception to launch, ensuring they meet the highest standards of quality and innovation.

Our tech stack consists primarily of Python, Django, AWS (EC2, RDS, S3, Lambda, SQS, SNS, CloudWatch, Route53), Postgres, and a little bit of Ubuntu. We don’t require a perfect match with our tech stack, so a solid background in similar languages like Java, and frameworks like Spring, will transfer easily into our environment.

 

RESPONSIBILITIES

As a Head of Product, you will:

• Develop and execute a long-term vision and strategy for our product suite, ensuring alignment with company objectives and market needs.
  
  
• Lead and collaborate with cross-functional teams, including engineering, design, marketing, and sales, to deliver high-quality product enhancements and innovations.
  
  
• Create and maintain a detailed product roadmap, prioritising features and updates to meet user needs and business goals.
  
  
• Utilize data analysis tools to understand user interactions and make informed decisions. Regularly monitor key metrics, such as conversion rates and revenue, to identify opportunities and areas for improvement.
  
  
• Engage in continuous customer research and feedback collection to refine product features and ensure user satisfaction.
  
  
• Mentor and manage a team of product managers, fostering an environment of learning and growth. Lead regular product development initiatives, A/B tests, and optimizations.
  
  
• Effectively communicate product plans and progress to all stakeholders, including team members, executives, and external partners.
  
  
• Process Excellence: Work closely with the Engineering team to define and implement robust product development processes and practices.
  
  
• In-House Platform Expertise: Adopt an in-house first approach to address business needs, thoroughly understanding the technical architecture of our platforms to align product strategy with technical capabilities.
  
  
• Develop a comprehensive understanding of how API integrations bolster our business teams, enhancing product functionality and user experiences.
  
  
• Acquire in-depth knowledge of the SaaS tools utilised company-wide, ensuring our products efficiently integrate with these tools.
  
  
• Collaborate across teams to maximize the use of the platform, integrations, and the Engineering team's capabilities, promoting knowledge sharing and cooperative problem resolution.

 

REQUIREMENTS

Minimum:

• A minimum of 5 years of experience leading the product function, with a proven track record of improving customer experience and lead conversions while delivering incremental value and viable solutions.
• Deep understanding of modern product discovery and delivery techniques.
• A strong technical background is essential, with hands-on coding experience (Python or Java preferred) and familiarity with agile and scrum methodologies.
• Experience in mentoring and developing others, with a demonstrated ability to build collaborative and constructive relationships at all levels.
• Solid understanding of the technical architecture of platforms, the role of API integrations, and the utilization of SaaS tools within a company.
• Strong analytical, strategic thinking, and coordination skills.
• The ability to guide teams in leveraging platform capabilities and engineering resources effectively.

Preferred: 

• University degree preferred.
• Previous startup and EdTech experience is a plus, especially with a focus on developer education.

 

BENEFITS

Equity: As a senior leadership role within the company, you may be eligible for direct ownership in the business through our stock option scheme.  The company has been approached for acquisition by a number of billion-dollar leaders in the tech education space, is backed by investors from the US, UK and South Africa, and we want you to directly share in the success of the business.

Flexible & remote working: We are a remote-friendly organisation and offer flexible work options.

Bootcamp: We offer our employees the opportunity to enrol part-time in our Coding Bootcamps.

Annual leave, life cover and medical benefits: We provide 19 annual leave days as part of our leave policy along with two half-days that can be taken at your discretion. We also provide health insurance/medical aid contribution and group life cover for our team.

Join the heart of tech in Africa, the US, and Europe: You'll work with the best of the best in edtech and developer education. Join one of the most ambitious and highest-performing tech companies in the space, with a founding team that draws their former experience from companies such as Google, Amazon, GetSmarter/2U, and Yoco. 

Life-changing work: Solve real problems that make education and tech careers accessible to those who need it most: you're allowed to brag about it.

 

OUR VALUES

We're a people-forward company with a purpose that underlines everything we do. We're obsessed with the potential in people and challenge them to do their best work. We embrace a culture of growth and learning to deliver on our vision and ours is a relentless quest for improvement.

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Last updated on Aug 13, 2024