Director of Product, Lab Execution

Location: Stone, Staffordshire (Hybrid working, 2 days a week in our Stone Office)

Status: Permanent

Package: Competitive Salary, Flexible Working, Development & Opportunity (Personal & Technical), Private Medical (Optical & Dental options), Matching Contributory Pension, 25 Days Leave + Public Holidays + Buy and Sell Scheme, Life Insurance, Referral Scheme, Employee Assistance Program, Benefits Hub.

At Instem, you’ll empower pharmaceutical companies, CROs, government agencies, academic institutions, by providing cutting-edge SaaS solutions and consultancy services designed to help researchers make discoveries, and to accelerate and advance their research programs. You’ll work with technology that supports over 50% of global drug discovery and is trusted by leading pharmaceutical, biotech and CRO organisations worldwide.

The Director of Product, Matrix-Gemini, is accountable for driving the commercial success and strategic evolution of the Autoscribe Matrix-Gemini Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) product line. This role leads the long‑term vision, positioning, and financial performance of the Matrix-Gemini portfolio, ensuring it meets revenue, margin, and customer value objectives across Instem’s customer base. The Director maintains deep awareness of the LIMS market, evolving life sciences regulatory landscape, customer workflows, and competitive pressures, translating these insights into clear priorities to improve revenue durability, profitability, and market relevance. This includes full lifecycle ownership of the Matrix-Gemini product family, from strategy and business case development through execution, adoption, and end‑of‑life decisions.

Our Culture & Work Environment: You’ll be part of a friendly, solutions-focused environment within a global business of over 400 people. Here, you’ll experience a high-performance culture balanced with genuine flexibility - we trust you to take ownership, deliver meaningful results, and work in a way that suits you. You’ll be encouraged to grow, share your ideas, and make a real impact. We’re passionate about creating a place where you can develop your skills, contribute confidently, and succeed in your career.

What You’ll Be Doing:

• Commercial & Financial Leadership: Partner with the CPO to define and execute strategic and commercial plans to drive recurring revenue growth, margin expansion, and profitability. Build rigorous, data‑driven business cases with clear cost, revenue, margin, and time‑to‑profitability projections. Develop and maintain deep understanding of cost drivers, revenue levers, and unit economics to support financially grounded decision‑making and scenario modeling. Partner with Finance and Commercial leadership to validate assumptions, define success metrics, and ensure product choices improve near‑ and long‑term EBITDA.
• Product & Portfolio Strategy: Translate corporate and product strategy into actionable plans for Matrix-Gemini, spanning roadmap prioritization, lifecycle management, and investment allocation. Set and govern prioritization of features and initiatives based on business needs, stakeholder input, regulatory drivers, and technical dependencies, ensuring the team’s backlog reflects the highest‑value work. Facilitate alignment between product vision and technical implementation, ensuring that roadmaps are realistic, achievable, and resourced appropriately. Oversee the translation of strategic product priorities into clearly defined requirements, ensuring engineering teams have the context, acceptance criteria, and technical, regulatory, and risk considerations needed to execute, and that delivery aligns with the product vision. Monitor product and portfolio performance, recommending course corrections when financial or commercial outcomes deviate from plan.
• Market, Customer, & Competitive Insight: Serve as the subject matter expert on Autoscribe Matrix-Gemini and the broader LIMS market serving Instem’s customer base. Interpret the needs of the market for the product, track industry and regulatory trends, and identify cost‑effective, user‑friendly approaches to meeting those requirements. Engage with key customers, partners, and complementary solution providers to strengthen value propositions and improve commercial success. Gather, analyze, and communicate competitive and market intelligence to support strategic decisions for the Matrix-Gemini portfolio.
• Cross Functional Alignment & GTM Enablement: Work closely with Sales, Marketing, Development, Delivery, and Operations teams to ensure aligned execution, consistent value messaging, and commercial readiness for Matrix-Gemini. Collaborate with both internal and external stakeholders to gather feedback, clarify requirements, and ensure that product features meet business goals. Work closely with operations and customer‑facing teams to ensure smooth product rollout, monitor user feedback, and ensure post‑launch issues are addressed. Support go‑to‑market activities, including positioning, sales enablement, and stakeholder alignment across revenue‑facing teams.
• Performance Monitoring & Reporting: Provide regular reporting on Matrix-Gemini product performance, financial outcomes, market trends, and competitive position. Monitor recurring revenue, profitability, and market traction to identify and proactively communicate emerging risks or opportunities.
• Compliance & Quality: Ensure adherence to the company’s Quality Management System, maintaining secure, professional, and compliant work practices.

What We’re Looking For:

• Several years of product management experience in software products.
• Bachelor’s degree in the life sciences, advanced degree preferred.
• Market, Customer & Domain Insight: Strong knowledge of Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) and the life sciences industry. Experience with Matrix-Gemini or comparable LIMS solutions is highly desirable. Deep understanding of the LIMS market landscape, buyer dynamics, laboratory workflows, and user needs, translating insight into commercially sound decisions. Act as a subject matter expert in product strategy, customer engagement, and industry thought leadership for the Matrix-Gemini product family.
• Modern Product Management Expertise: Demonstrated expertise in modern product management practices, including business case development, outcome driven roadmapping, value proposition design, and prioritization frameworks. Strong understanding of the full development lifecycle, ensuring decisions balance customer needs, technical constraints, and commercial impact. Proven track record in a software product business, with direct contribution to the development, launch, or scaling of at least one successful commercial product.
• Influence, Leadership & Cross Functional Alignment: Strong ability to influence across the organization, including Sales, Marketing, Engineering, Delivery, Operations, and Finance, to drive alignment and execute against commercial goals. Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams toward clear, measurable outcomes. Strong interpersonal and communication skills with the credibility and presence to engage executive stakeholders, customers, and external partners.
• Commercial Acumen: Present and influence both technical and non-technical audiences and support go to market and sales enablement activities. Strong commercial awareness, balancing customer value, cost, revenue impact, and long-term EBITDA contribution.

What We Offer: We invest in you because you’re at the heart of our success. Depending on your location, you’ll have access to a range of benefits, including: Comprehensive Healthcare (Medical, dental, vision, life, and more), Comprehensive wellbeing and support initiatives, Clear career pathways to support you with getting to the next level, Pro-rated and immediate vacation days, Continuous training and development, Generous retirement plans.

Ready to Make a Difference? Join a team that values your perspective and supports your growth, while helping shape the future of life sciences. Apply now - we’d love to hear from you, and our Talent team will be in touch.

An Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.