Senior Product Manager in Leeds

Opportunity to bring a pragmatic approach to product management for our clients in the public sector, education, and financial services – as part of a growing, award‑winning consultancy. We value expertise and will invest in you and your profile. You’ll work with peers who’re also experts, and have helped to shape the field of product management.

At a glance:

• Salary: £58,000‑£63,000
• Location: Hybrid. You must be based in or able to regularly travel to one of the following locations: York, Leeds, Newcastle, Sheffield, London, Bristol, Warrington, Worcester, or Crewe.
• Onsite expectations: Mainly remote, plus at least one day per week on‑site at client locations or Herd’s Sheffield office.
• Flexibility: We’re looking for people who could work equally well as a Senior Business Analyst or Senior Delivery Manager if needed.

How we practice product management at Herd (and how we interview): We do not believe there is one “true” version of product management. We believe there is a mindset needed for good product management. But in real organisations, product managers need to operate in different modes, depending on the problem. This role expects you to recognise those modes and move between them. We’ve attached a copy of “How we practice product management at Herd” so you can check if this aligns with your approach to the role.

Requirements of the role:

Essential Experience:

• Demonstrable product management skills: You can show evidence of owning outcomes, making product decisions, prioritising based on value, and delivering iteratively, whether or not you’ve had a “Product Manager” title.
• Central or local government delivery: You’ve worked in the public sector and understand the context, constraints, and how to be effective within them.
• Meeting GOV.UK Service Standard or similar frameworks: First‑hand experience applying service design and digital delivery principles in practice.

Desirable experience:

• Experience working across multiple government departments or agencies.
• Familiarity with techniques like Opportunity Solution Trees, outcome‑based roadmapping, or continuous discovery.
• Background in Business Analysis, Delivery Management, or Service Ownership with a track record of product thinking.
• Data literacy – comfortable working with evidence and using it to inform decisions.

Right to work: You must have the right to work in the UK. Applicants without this will not be progressed. Herd Consulting does not currently offer sponsorship.

Security clearance: Due to the types of clients we work with, you may be expected to undergo security vetting up to and including Security Check (SC) or Developed Vetting (DV) levels. If you have any reason to believe that you may not pass such vetting, you must declare this as soon as possible, and this must be before any job offer is accepted.

The role in detail:

Package and benefits:

• Salary: £58,000‑£63,000 (dependent upon experience) plus the following perks:
• 25 days annual leave, in addition to Bank Holidays
• An additional day off to celebrate your birthday
• £1,000 annual personal development fund to spend as you wish
• Employee perks programme – exclusive discounts & savings with 100’s of retailers
• Electric Vehicle (EV) salary sacrifice programme (available after you pass probation)
• 3 × Salary – Life assurance cover
• 24/7 Virtual GP access
• Dog friendly employer – bring your dog to the Herd office
• Pet bereavement leave – we offer paid bereavement leave if you lose your cat or dog
• Cycle to work scheme
• Discounts with retailers in Leah’s Yard
• Regular Herd Socials (both virtual & physical) including lunches, beer tasting, award nights, crazy golf, and more
• Proudly named one of the Sunday Times Best Places to Work for two years running, 2024 and 2025

Who is this great for?

Our Senior Product Managers help teams make great decisions in ambiguous conditions. You will help our clients radically focus on the best opportunities to achieve outcomes that actually matter for their users and the organisation itself. You might not have “Product Manager” on your CV yet. Maybe you’re a Business Analyst who’s been making product decisions all along, a Delivery Manager obsessed with outcomes over outputs, or a Service Owner doing product work without the title. What matters is demonstrating the skills: making decisions when the path isn’t clear, balancing user needs with organisational constraints, delivering tangible value in messy, real‑world environments. It’s about operating independently, influencing without authority, and thriving when the answer isn’t just a framework.

As a Senior Product Manager you’ll be:

Decision‑maker in ambiguity: You assess what’s in front of you, work out what matters, and make calls that move things forward – even without all the information.
Outcomes‑obsessed: Success is what changes for users and the organisation, not what gets shipped or how many story points you close.
Experienced in government delivery: You’ve worked in central or local government, or NHS England – and are familiar with the GDS Service Standard.
Pragmatic, not dogmatic: You know frameworks and best practices but aren’t constrained by them. You adapt your approach to the context.
Credible across disciplines: You hold your own in conversations with delivery, design, technology, business analysis, and leadership.
Relationship builder: You create trust with clients and teams, building Herd’s reputation as a partner who gets it and gets things done.
Commercially aware: You understand what value for money looks like and make decisions accordingly.
Self‑sufficient but collaborative: You run with work independently but know when to pull in the “Power of Herd” – sharing knowledge, seeking input, contributing to collective capability.
Committed to continuous learning: You refine your craft, expand your toolkit, stay curious about what works.
A net gain to the team: You contribute to keeping Herd a great place to work – inclusive, supportive, focused on doing good work with good people.

Key elements of the role:

• You’ll own product delivery within projects, programmes, or transformation initiatives – sometimes as part of a Herd team, sometimes embedded solo in blended client teams.
• You’ll work across different delivery stages – from early discovery and problem framing through to delivery and continuous improvement.
• You’ll manage stakeholder relationships, balance competing priorities, and influence decisions at all levels.
• This means listening to our clients and their needs, and respecting their insights.
• You’ll assess each piece of work independently and determine the right approach – outcome‑based roadmapping, iterative delivery, or something else entirely.
• You may be placed on discrete pieces of work across different parts of a large organisation – each requiring you to quickly understand context, build relationships, deliver results.
• You’ll engage with wider professional communities, share experiences internally and externally, and contribute to building Herd’s profile through blogs, events, or case studies.
• You’ll support business development – contributing to bids, tenders, pre‑sales, and Statements of Work.
• You’ll support the development of your colleagues in Herd, and may manage more junior colleagues when needed.

We’re a small but growing scale‑up. We’re looking for people who’ll embrace that and get stuck in where needed.