Senior Product Development Manager

AI overview

Lead the execution of product enhancements for AJ Bell’s D2C website and apps, managing a team and ensuring high-quality product delivery aligned with strategic objectives.

Purpose of the role

The Senior Product Development Manager is responsible for leading the delivery of enhancements and new functionality for AJ Bell’s D2C website and apps. This role has ownership of the delivery roadmap—ensuring timely, high-quality execution of prioritised product changes that support the company’s strategic objectives.

Working closely with Product Managers, who own the product strategy and enhancement backlog, the Senior Product Development Manager provides oversight, coordination, and delivery leadership across multiple workstreams. Reporting into the Head of Product Development, they also manage a team of Product Development Managers and Senior Product Development Analysts.

What does the job involve?

  • Lead the execution of the product delivery roadmap, ensuring prioritised items from the product backlog are effectively scoped, defined, and delivered in line with business goals
  • Provide oversight and coordination across internal teams (UX, developers, testers, compliance, customer operations, marketing) to ensure timely and smooth delivery of change
  • Manage and support a team of Product Development Managers and Senior Product Development Analysts, providing direction, mentoring, and quality assurance
  • Work closely with Product Managers to understand and plan for upcoming product enhancements and strategic initiatives, ensuring smooth handover from roadmap to delivery
  • Oversee end-to-end delivery—from initial requirements gathering, solution design and stakeholder alignment through to UAT, release, and post-implementation evaluation
  • Ensure detailed business and product requirements are documented and communicated clearly to technical teams and stakeholders
  • Ensure customer feedback, beta testing results, and usability considerations are incorporated into final product releases
  • Work with impacted business teams (e.g. customer support, operations, marketing) to ensure change is embedded, training is provided, and go-live activity is supported
  • Oversee the creation of customer-facing content such as FAQs and landing pages in conjunction with the marketing team
  • Ensure all changes meet regulatory and compliance expectations
  • Champion a delivery-focused, customer-centric approach that ensures AJ Bell continues to deliver good outcomes for retail customers, including adherence to regulatory obligations such as Consumer Duty
  • Perform other tasks as agreed with the Head of Product development

Knowledge and experience

  • Strong experience in digital product delivery and change management, ideally within financial services
  • Proven track record of leading and coordinating delivery across cross-functional teams
  • Experience managing and developing high-performing teams
  • Working knowledge of Agile methodologies and sprint-based delivery
  • Understanding of FCA regulatory framework and delivering compliant change

Competence & skills

  • Understanding of digital platforms and customer-facing technologies, ideally within investment or financial services
  • Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills—able to influence and coordinate across multiple departments
  • Strong organisational skills and attention to detail
  • Comfortable operating in fast-paced environments with competing priorities
  • Analytical mindset with ability to interpret and challenge requirements and identify solutions
  • Skilled in documentation of requirements, process flows, and delivery tracking
  • Committed to continuous improvement and personal development
  • Collaborative team player with a focus on quality and outcomes

About us:

AJ Bell is one of the fastest-growing investment platform businesses in the UK offering an award-winning range of solutions that caters for everyone, from professional financial advisers to DIY investors with little to no experience. We have over 620,000 customers using our award-winning platform propositions to manage assets totalling more than £96.1 billion. Our customers trust us with their investments, and by continuously striving to make investing easier, we aim to help even more people take control of their financial futures.

Having listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange in December 2018, AJ Bell is now a FTSE 250 company.

Headquartered in Manchester with offices in central London and Bristol, we now have over 1,500 employees and have been named one of the UK's 'Best 100 Companies to Work For’ for six consecutive years and in 2024 named a Great Place to Work®.

Our perks and benefits

  • Competitive starting salary
  • Starting holiday entitlement of 27 days, increasing up to 31 days with length of service and a holiday buy and sell scheme
  • A choice of pension schemes with matched contributions up to 8% (Increasing with length of service)
  • Discretionary bonus scheme
  • Annual free share awards scheme
  • Buy As You Earn (BAYE) Scheme
  • Health Cash Plan – provided by SimplyHealth
  • Private healthcare scheme and dental plan
  • Free gym membership
  • Employee Assistance Programme
  • Bike loan scheme
  • Sick pay+ pledge
  • Enhanced maternity, paternity, and shared parental leave
  • Loans for travel season tickets
  • Death in service scheme
  • Paid time off for volunteer work
  • Charitable giving opportunities through salary sacrifice
  • Calendar of social events, including annual Christmas party, summer party and much more
  • Ongoing technical training
  • Professional qualification support
  • Talent development programmes
  • Peer recognition scheme, with rewards including restaurant and shopping vouchers or time off
  • Monthly leadership breakfasts and lunches

Hybrid working

At AJ Bell, our people are the heart of our culture. We believe in building strong connections by working together. That's why we offer a hybrid working model, where you’ll spend a minimum of 50% of your working time per month in the office. For new team members, an initial period will be full-time in the office to help you immerse yourself in our business and build valuable relationships with your colleagues.

AJ Bell is committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and all employees are empowered to bring their whole self to work.

 

    Perks & Benefits Extracted with AI

    • Flexible Work Hours: Hybrid working model, where you’ll spend a minimum of 50% of your working time per month in the office
    • Health Insurance: Health Cash Plan – provided by SimplyHealth; Private healthcare scheme and dental plan
    • Other Benefit: Calendar of social events, including annual Christmas party, summer party and much more
    • Paid Time Off: Starting holiday entitlement of 27 days, increasing up to 31 days with length of service and a holiday buy and sell scheme

    We're now recruiting a Head of Customer Marketing (D2C) to be responsible for the acquisition, engagement and analysis of customers across the AJ Bell retail platform, taking ownership for the deployment of the company’s acquisition strategy, with a lens on delivering excellent customer outcomes and marketing budget. Working directly with the Head of Brand and Marketing Director, the role requires an excellent understanding of brand, marketing and customer behaviours in a digital marketing environment. The position is a strategically senior role, leading the setting of acquisition budgets, communication with customers, deployment of marketing spend and analysis of customer data whilst providing leadership of the retail customer team.What does the job involve?Overall responsibility for creation and deployment of customer acquisition budgetsResponsibility for retail customer communications strategy, with a focus on giving clear and accurate informationLeadership of retail customer team.Deployment of marketing spend to achieve agreed customer acquisition and cross-sell targetsAnalysis of customer behaviour trends, including presentations to executive management and BoardOwnership of media buying agency relationshipOwnership of internal relations with Brand, Product, Strategic Partnerships and Strategic Planning & GovernanceInteraction with Strategic Partnerships on customer pricing and retention strategiesSupporting and enabling the business to deliver good outcomes for retail customers by helping achieve any regulatory requirements, including consumer duty.Key Responsibilities:Execution of customer acquisition strategy, in line with regulatory requirementsWorking with Brand to maximise new funded customer conversionsDelivery of customer communicationsManagement of customer marketing teamReporting and development of customer behaviour modelsParticipation in senior management function for D2C platformCreation and delivery of MI reports for areas of responsibilityAbout you:You'll have the ability to acquire customers effectively in a heavily regulated environmentExcellent knowledge of customer marketing techniques in a digital marketing settingStrong leadership skills and ability to drive results against agreed budget envelopesAbility to negotiate effectively with external partiesEffective management of internal relationships across both D2C and Advised platformsAbility to anticipate trends in customer needsExcellent statistical knowledge and ability to communicate complex data effectively.Strategic planning skillsAbout us:AJ Bell is one of the fastest-growing investment platform businesses in the UK offering an award-winning range of solutions that caters for everyone, from professional financial advisers, to DIY investors with little to no experience. We have over 484,000 customers using our award-winning platform propositions to manage assets totalling more than £76.2 billion. Our customers trust us with their investments, and by continuously striving to make investing easier, we aim to help even more people take control of their financial futures.Having listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange in December 2018, AJ Bell is now a FTSE 250 company.Headquartered in Manchester with offices in central London and Bristol, we now have over 1300 employees and have been named one of the UK's 'Best 100 Companies to Work For’ for six consecutive years.What we offer:Starting salary of £90,000 - £110,000 (DOE)Generous holiday allowance increasing up to 31 days with service, plus bank holidaysHoliday buy/sell schemeHybrid working policyCasual dress codeDiscretionary bonusContributory pension schemeHealthcare Cash PlanBuy as you earn share schemeFree annual share schemePaid study support for qualificationsEnhanced maternity/paternity scheme from day oneBike loanSeason ticket loan portalDiscounted PMI and DentalFree gymPaid volunteering opportunities, free social events and moreAJ Bell is committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and all employees are empowered to bring their whole self to work.We do not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, pregnancy, religion, physical and mental disability, marital status and any other characteristics protected by the Equality Act 2010. All decisions to hire are based on qualifications, merit and business need.

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