At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead the strategy for Vault Core, ensuring top-notch performance and client satisfaction.
- Company: Join a rapidly growing fintech valued at $2.7bn with a fantastic workplace culture.
- Benefits: Enjoy competitive salary, flexible hours, generous leave, and a vibrant team environment.
- Other info: Diverse and inclusive workplace encouraging applications from all backgrounds.
- Why this job: Make a real impact in modern banking by working on cutting-edge technology.
- Qualifications: 5+ years in product management with strong technical and client-facing skills.
The predicted salary is between 48000 - 84000 £ per year.
Thought Machine's mission is bold – to properly and permanently rid the world's banks of legacy technology. To achieve this, we have developed the foundations of modern banking through core and payments technology which run natively in the cloud. We have grown rapidly in the past few years – growing our team to more than 550 individuals across offices in London, New York, Singapore and Sydney. We have raised more than $500m in funding and are now valued at $2.7bn.
Vault Core is our flagship core banking platform, designed to run any bank product, from mortgages and savings to complex corporate lending using our unique, Python-based Smart Contracts. Today, more than 50 clients, including multiple systemically important Tier 1 banks, run their most critical banking workloads on Vault Core. This platform can be self-hosted by clients or consumed as a SaaS offering operated by Thought Machine, with support across major cloud providers such as AWS, GCP, and Azure.
This role is highly technical. You will work in lockstep with Engineering leadership to tackle challenges in data integrity and consistency, performance at scale, and the developer experience for those creating and launching financial products on our platform. You will define APIs and user journeys that enable our clients to deliver outstanding experiences to their customers, designing for the wide variety of banks we work with and their unique products and ways of working.
This role is ideal for someone who thrives at the intersection of deeply technical domains and high-level product strategy, with good commercial instincts. You understand that your clients' success depends on a platform that is not just functional, but has best-in-class design, is performant and resilient. By building alignment across Engineering, GTM, and Customer Success, you will ensure that platform capabilities drive adoption and deliver measurable outcomes.
Duties
- Own the Core Roadmap: Define and drive the strategy for Vault Core, ensuring the engine remains the industry leader in configurability, performance and resilience.
- Be a product evangelist: Champion Vault Core externally and within Thought Machine, clearly communicating the scale of the ambition within our product vision and the technical functionality that will excite our clients.
- Be the voice of the customer: Represent the world's largest banks and their developers internally, collecting feedback, pursuing the highest levels of quality, and enabling engineering teams to be laser-focused on solving core banking problems.
- Support client delivery: Work closely with the Client Services team and partners to guide complex implementations. Ensure effective alignment between client product requirements and the technical capabilities of the Vault Core engine.
- Develop best practices: Help drive Product Management best practices and processes, working with Engineering Managers to ensure adoption and alignment across the core engine domain.
Essential
- 5+ years of product management experience in a product-led technology company.
- Proven track record of delivering deeply technical, API-driven, or infrastructure products.
- Able to think from first principles, debate complex technical ideas (e.g., consistency vs. availability in a ledger), and rapidly learn new concepts.
- Strong client-facing interpersonal skills and an equally strong ability to engage in technical conversations with Enterprise Architects and CTOs.
- Comfortable writing simple scripts in languages such as Python (which powers our Smart Contracts).
Desirable
- Experience working in regulated industries such as banking or financial services.
- Prior experience as a software engineer or in a highly technical role.
- Experience building enterprise software or working within a B2B infrastructure/platform vendor.
Benefits
- Highly competitive salary and commission.
- Pension plan (match up to 5%).
- Life insurance - three times annual salary.
- Competitive maternity (six months fully paid) and paternity leave (four weeks fully paid).
- Shared parental leave (matched to our maternity leave for the same point in time).
- 25 days holiday and bank holidays.
- Flexible working hours.
- Cycle-to-work scheme.
- Electric car scheme.
- Season ticket loan.
- Access to outstanding learning materials and courses.
- Sports and hobby clubs, subsidised by Thought Machine.
- All the latest tech you need.
- Start the day properly with fresh fruit and cereals.
- Huge range of healthy (and not-so-healthy) snacks, smoothies and drinks.
- A talented and experienced team as your colleagues.
- An environment where we encourage learning and progress.
- Two charity days a year.
- Weekly food pop-up.
We actively hire candidates who demonstrate technical excellence in their field and welcome people of all ages and backgrounds, providing everyone with equal access to professional development. You are encouraged to apply even if your experience doesn’t accurately match the job description. We also encourage applications from those with different abilities, including candidates with ADHD, autism, dyslexia or dyspraxia.
Senior Technical Product Manager - Vault Core in London employer: Thought Machine
Thought Machine is an exceptional employer, offering a dynamic work culture that fosters innovation and collaboration. With a focus on employee growth, the company provides ample opportunities for professional development while ensuring a healthy work-life balance through flexible working hours and comprehensive benefits. Located in the UK, Thought Machine stands out for its commitment to empowering engineers to work closely with clients, making a tangible impact in the cloud technology space.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Senior Technical Product Manager - Vault Core in London
✨Join Product Management Meetups
Get involved in local product management meetups or workshops. These events are perfect for meeting industry folks, sharing ideas, and staying updated on trends. Plus, you never know who might be hiring—it's a fantastic way to make connections that could lead to a job at places like Thought Machine!
✨Show Off Your Product Sense
Create case studies or mini-projects showcasing your product management skills, and share them on platforms like Medium or LinkedIn. This not only puts your skills on display but also boosts your visibility in the product community. Imagine how impressed the hiring team at Thought Machine would be by your initiative!
✨Utilise Online Communities
Dive into online product management communities like Product Coalition or Mind the Product. Engage in discussions, ask questions, and share your insights. These platforms are goldmines for networking and finding hidden job opportunities—many companies often scout talent from within these circles.
✨Leverage Your University Network
If you’ve recently graduated or are still in uni, tap into your alumni network for connections in product management. Many universities have their own job boards and affinity resources to help graduates land roles. Don't forget to keep an eye out for job openings at Thought Machine through your school's career services!
We think you need these skills to ace Senior Technical Product Manager - Vault Core in London
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Off Your Product Passion:When applying for a product management role like Senior Technical Product Manager - Vault Core, let your passion for developing products shine through in your cover letter. Share specific examples of products you've managed, how you solved user needs, and any successful outcomes you've achieved. This is your chance to showcase your understanding of the product lifecycle!
Highlight Your Cross-Functional Skills:Product management isn't just about understanding the product; it’s about collaborating with different teams! Make sure to emphasise your experience working with developers, designers, and marketers. Use your CV to showcase your ability to bridge gaps between these areas, and include relevant experiences that demonstrate your communication and leadership skills!
Include Your Metrics and Achievements:In a full-time product management application, data speaks volumes! Quantify your achievements wherever possible. Did you increase user retention by a certain percentage? Launch a product ahead of schedule? Include these metrics in your CV to paint a picture of your impact and effectiveness in previous roles.
Tailor Your CV to the Role:Make sure your CV is tailored for the Senior Technical Product Manager - Vault Core position at Thought Machine. Use keywords from the job description and ensure your relevant experiences are front and centre. Highlight any certifications or relevant training you’ve completed that will make you stand out as a strong candidate for the role. And remember, we’re excited to see your application on our website!
How to prepare for a job interview at Thought Machine
✨Understand the Product Life Cycle
As a product management candidate, we need to get our head around the complete product life cycle. Be prepared to discuss real-world examples of how you’ve managed product development from ideation to launch. Bring specific insights on tools like JIRA or Trello that can help streamline these processes.
✨Showcase Your Cross-Functional Skills
Product management is all about collaboration. We should be ready to highlight how we’ve worked across teams—think marketing, engineering, and design. Prepare to discuss scenarios where you had to mediate differing opinions and how you got everyone on board with a shared vision.
✨Prepare for Case Studies
In a full-time role, we can expect to encounter case study questions during our interviews. Practise solving hypothetical product problems on the spot, such as prioritising features for a new app or improving user engagement metrics. This will show our analytical thinking and decision-making skills.
✨Know Your Metrics
Let’s face it, numbers are our best friends in product management. We should prepare to discuss key performance indicators (KPIs) and how we've used analytics to inform product decisions. Dive into examples where data has driven our strategy for improvements or justified product changes.
