Head of Product Management - Control Room Solutions

The purpose of this role is to lead the Product Management team responsible for NECSWS Control Room Solutions including Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD), Contact Management, Communications, Location Solutions and multi-media streaming solutions used by Emergency Services globally. NECSWS has significant growth potential with its depth and breadth of portfolio and experience, geographic reach and established routes to market both through NEC Country Affiliates and Partners.

The product portfolio and how NEC engages with customers needs to evolve towards driving innovative new propositions, standardised (COTS) offerings and products that can be profitably sold at scale. The Product Management team needs to ensure that products are fit for current/target markets, compelling, unique, differentiated, delighting customers, and able to effectively compete against current and emerging threats. This leadership role is therefore critical to the future success of NEC, driving best practice Product Management within your teams to ensure the current/future portfolio delivers its maximum potential aligned to NEC SWS strategic and financial objectives. This role reports to the Product Director and is one of 3 capability pillars within the NECSWS Product portfolio.

Key Responsibilities

• Working with the Product Director and other stakeholders to define and execute the strategy for your portfolio aligned to business objectives.
• Be accountable for the success (and failures) within your portfolio.
• Drive a culture of ‘ownership’ with Product Management; building and mentoring a team that is externally facing, customer obsessed and commercially skilled for your portfolio aligned with the NECSWS business goals.
• Manage the commercial aspects of customer pricing, go-to market strategies and product launch / product offer throughout the full product lifecycle from initial concept through to retirement.
• Drive a culture of innovation and thought leadership, identify new products and service opportunities, define plans for their realisation and bring to market quickly.
• Ensure effective relationships are built within your teams and other key stakeholders across the business including other Product Managers, Sales, Development, Delivery, Finance and Support to ensure effective Product Management with ownership end-to-end.

Market

• Understand your customers and market, analyse, conclude, and determine how NEC can effectively compete and steal share both in current and potential new markets.
• Understand technology, both current and emerging to help shape roadmaps, identify innovation, new propositions and stay ahead of the competition.
• Build and maintain contacts and relationships with customers and other influential organisations to build deep domain knowledge, inform and shape product strategy and how to drive maximum value.
• Use and share this knowledge with the Product Director and other product teams to identify and exploit synergies across related products, other Public Sector experience and wider NEC SWS capabilities.

Sales

• Work with the appropriate Sales teams to identify, qualify, influence and close opportunities.
• Help the business to understand your portfolio, the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ so that we can clearly articulate complex solutions in language that resonates with customers.
• Lead and influence the solution strategy for your bids and sales opportunities always with a COTS approach in mind.
• Make sure we are clear what we are selling, is deliverable within the required timescale and the customer understands what they have bought.

Product Management

• Drive Product Management with a COTS product mentality that is sold at scale, profitably.
• Help the business drive and influence customers so that solutions are delivered with configuration, not customisation.
• You and your Product Managers own the roadmap for each product, including product features and benefits, the future investment plans and the return expected on that investment, drive to the sales strategy and product pricing strategies.
• Work with the Product Director to evolve and refine current product governance.
• Ensure product governance is always followed and appropriate toolsets are implemented and used consistently across your portfolio.
• Ensure each product has a market driven and clearly defined short/medium/long term strategy.
• Define product release content, balancing conflicting needs of clients and NEC SWS budgets.
• Liaise with Safety colleagues to plan and coordinate resources, ensure close relationship with Development leads to implement and maintain effective product management processes to ensure Development and Support teams are adequately resourced to meet the investment plan and customer funded work.
• Ensure all defined collateral is maintained with comprehensive and consistent roadmap documentation, battlecards, marketing materials and competitor insights to ensure customer facing teams can effectively sell the value of our solutions.

Qualifications

Essential

• Degree or equivalent in a business or technical discipline.
• Proven track record in a Product Leadership role in technology industries.
• Demonstrated ability to innovate and inspire team, colleagues, partners and customers.
• Demonstrated ability to execute at pace, running multiple parallel projects.
• General understanding of IT and emerging trends.

Desirable

• Knowledge of the public safety market and delivery of technical solutions.

Additional Information

We are proud of the benefits we offer employees of NEC Software Solutions:

• 25 days paid holiday with the option to buy/sell.
• 4 x basic salary life assurance cover funded by NEC (with the option to increase cover at an additional cost).
• A Group Pension Plan.
• A fantastic selection of flexible benefits to suit your individual needs.
• We are an employer who cares, we have an invaluable employee assistance programme which can help in every area of your life.

Candidates must be able to demonstrate a pre-existing right to work and travel within the UK. Documentary evidence will be required.