Product Manager – Language Assessment Platform in Birmingham

FlashAcademy® is a UK-based SaaS platform providing language learning and assessment solutions to schools, local authorities, FE colleges, trusts, virtual schools, and workplaces. Our assessment platform is a core product, combining Item Response Theory (IRT), adaptive testing and LLM‑powered evaluation to deliver reliable, scalable and pedagogically sound language assessments.

We operate across a range of educational contexts and align our assessments to multiple language proficiency and educational frameworks, depending on customer and regulatory requirements.

This role is based in the UK on a hybrid or remote basis.

The role

You will be the Product Manager for assessment products at FlashAcademy®, responsible for shaping and delivering a modern, AI‑assisted language assessment system. This includes adaptive testing, automated marking and skill profiling, underpinned by statistically robust scoring models and aligned to recognised language proficiency and assessment frameworks.

This role sits at the intersection of:

• Psychometrics (IRT / CAT)
• Applied AI and LLMs
• Language education and assessment
• Scalable SaaS product delivery

You will not be expected to build models yourself, but must have prior experience working in this field or leading products alongside psychometricians, data scientists and AI / ML experts.

Key responsibilities

Product strategy and vision

• Work with the Head of Product to build the product vision and roadmap.
• Identify and prioritise problems using statistical analysis or direct work with end users where appropriate.
• Define how IRT‑based adaptive testing and LLM‑assistant marking evolve together.
• Balance innovation with validity, reliability, fairness and explainability.
• Ensure assessments and related learning experiences are defensible across educational and regulatory contexts.

Assessment and AI domain leadership

• Work closely with AI engineers and potentially psychometricians and data scientists.
• Manage the structure and strategy around assessment product delivery e.g., item calibration, scaling strategies and adaptive flows.
• Shape LLM‑based marking, feedback and skill extraction.
• Communicate complex statistical and AI concepts internally and externally.

Delivery and execution

• Craft and own specifications, user stories and acceptance criteria.
• Work closely with Engineering, AI, Design and LX teams.
• Make trade‑offs between speed, accuracy, cost and rigour.

Stakeholder and customer engagement

• Collaborate with Sales, Customer Success and Leadership.
• Engage educators and assessment specialists.
• Deliver pilots, trials and validation exercises.

Governance, quality and trust

• Champion responsible AI and assessment practices.
• Ensure fairness, reliability, transparency and explainability.
• Support audits and formal evaluation documentation.

Required experience and skills

Essential

• Honed problem solving skills and experience.
• Strong communication skills, working with varied audiences.
• Product management experience on complex SaaS products.
• Defining, assigning and sequencing cross‑functional work towards agreed milestones.
• Experience in language or educational assessment, or close collaboration with experts.
• Understanding of IRT and / or Computer Adaptive Testing.
• Experience delivering LLM or ML‑powered features.

Strongly desirable

• Speaking and writing assessment experience.
• Assessment validation and evaluation.
• Regulated or high‑stakes education environments.

Not required (but a bonus)

• Hands‑on data science or engineering.
• Academic background in linguistics or educational measurement.