Product Manager

The Product Manager – Follow & Fund sits within the Digital Product team in Digital Technology and reports to the Head of Digital Products. The role is accountable for defining product direction, prioritising opportunities and measuring value across the Follow and Fund pillars, which support Strategy 2030 by growing engagement, developing direct customer relationships and improving the digital journeys that support revenue generation. It is a business-facing product role rather than ownership of an individual technology platform, bringing business stakeholders and multidisciplinary colleagues together around agreed customer and business outcomes.

• Define and communicate a coherent product vision and outcome-led roadmap across Follow and Fund, aligned with Strategy 2030, business priorities and the direction set by the Head of Digital Products.
• Act as the product partner for Follow and Fund stakeholders, understanding their goals, challenging solution-led requests and shaping a transparent pipeline of user problems and value opportunities.
• Lead proportionate discovery with research, design, analysis and technical colleagues, using user interviews, behavioural data, market insight and experimentation to validate needs, test assumptions and assess options before committing to delivery.
• Own the prioritised product opportunity backlog and roadmap, balancing customer value, commercial benefit, risk, effort and available capacity, and making trade-offs across Follow and Fund explicit.
• Develop evidence-based investment recommendations with business sponsors and Finance, setting out options, expected benefits, costs, assumptions and risks, and monitoring value against agreed investment to recommend whether to continue, adapt, defer or stop activity.
• Agree success measures, baselines and targets with business owners before delivery, tracking engagement, acquisition of direct relationships, retention, conversion, customer experience and revenue contribution.
• Work with Business Analysts and design colleagues to turn validated opportunities into clear problem statements, customer journeys, outcome requirements and acceptance criteria, resolving product-level ambiguity.
• Partner with Architecture and Platform Leads to identify capabilities, dependencies and reuse opportunities across the shared technology estate, aligning product demand with platform roadmaps and capacity.
• Maintain product direction through shaping, build, testing and release, agreeing scope and value trade-offs with Delivery and confirming whether agreed product outcomes and acceptance criteria have been met.
• Manage products from discovery through launch, adoption, optimisation and retirement, agreeing adoption and benefits-realisation actions with business owners and using live-product insight to prioritise improvement.
• Incorporate accessibility, inclusion, privacy, consent, security and supportability into product requirements and prioritisation, engaging relevant specialists and escalating decisions beyond the role's authority.
• Communicate roadmap decisions, progress towards outcomes, dependencies and changes clearly to business and technology colleagues, and work with external partners on product discovery and value assessment.
• Contribute to consistent product management standards, planning and governance under the Head of Digital Products, sharing learning and coaching colleagues in evidence-led decision-making.
• Collaborate with colleagues to contribute to the development and delivery of current strategic, business and operational plans, and act as an ambassador for the RFU and its culture and core values: Put The Team First, Shape The Future, Respect Each Other.
• Undertake other duties as may be required from time to time that are consistent with the responsibilities of the post and the needs of the organisation.

• Demonstrable experience managing customer-facing digital products across discovery, delivery and live optimisation, with evidence of improved user and business outcomes.
• Ability to translate strategic goals into a product vision, measurable objectives and a prioritised roadmap spanning competing business needs.
• Practical experience of user research, discovery and experimentation, using qualitative and quantitative evidence to validate problems and assess solutions.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary collaboration through influence, working effectively with business stakeholders, analysts, designers, engineers and delivery partners.
• Ability to evaluate value, cost, effort and risk, make transparent prioritisation decisions and constructively challenge requests that do not support agreed outcomes.
• Commercial and analytical capability to develop investment recommendations, define success measures and interpret engagement, retention, conversion and revenue data.
• Experience managing product dependencies and priorities across more than one initiative, making realistic choices within funding and capacity constraints.
• Strong business partnering, relationship building and facilitation skills, building trust and resolving competing stakeholder expectations through evidence and constructive negotiation.
• Clear written, verbal and presentation skills, explaining complex product choices, insights and trade-offs to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Understanding of modern product management and iterative delivery, including the distinction between product value ownership, architecture, delivery execution and platform operations.
• Ability to define clear product requirements and acceptance criteria with specialists and use customer feedback and live performance to guide continuous improvement.
• Working understanding of accessibility, privacy, consent and security considerations in digital customer journeys, with the judgement to involve specialists appropriately.
• Evidence of sound judgement under uncertainty, identifying assumptions, testing options and escalating material risks or decisions beyond delegated authority.
• Commitment to continuous professional development, sharing learning and coaching colleagues to strengthen product practices.
• Ability to use product planning, collaboration and analytics tools to maintain clear priorities, communicate decisions and evaluate outcomes.

• Experience of digital audience growth, direct customer relationships, membership or loyalty experiences.
• Experience improving digital commercial journeys, such as ticketing, premium sales, sponsorship activation or customer conversion.
• Experience working across connected customer relationship management, digital experience, identity and data platforms, without needing to specialise in a particular technology.
• Experience of product management within an organisation undergoing operating-model or digital transformation.
• Relevant product management, discovery or analytics training, or equivalent practical learning.
• Understanding of sport, fan engagement or a membership-led organisation; prior rugby experience is not essential.

• Contractually based at Allianz Stadium, with some flexibility to work from home

• A variety of corporate discounts
• Priority access to purchase match tickets
• 25% discount in the Rugby Store and on EnglandRugby.com
• 25 days of annual leave
• Your birthday day off
• Free access to the stadium gym
• Life assurance of 4x basic salary, an income protection scheme and an Employee Assistance Programme offering anonymous and confidential emotional and practical support 24/7
• Pension scheme in which the RFU will double match individual contributions up to 10% of salary
• Ride-to-work scheme, eyecare vouchers and season ticket loans