At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead product strategy and vision while collaborating with teams to enhance our education platform.
- Company: Zen Educate is a tech startup revolutionising education staffing with an innovative digital platform.
- Benefits: Enjoy competitive salary, visa sponsorship, and the chance to make a real impact in education.
- Other info: Embrace a culture of thoughtful risk-taking and rapid learning in a fast-growing environment.
- Why this job: Join a passionate team dedicated to solving real-world problems in education and driving meaningful change.
- Qualifications: Experience leading product teams, strong customer focus, and a knack for simplifying complex challenges.
The predicted salary is between 72000 - 108000 ÂŁ per year.
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Senior Talent Partner at Zen Educate – We are hiring!
Role: Chief Product Officer
Location: London, on-site
** Visa sponsorship is available for this role**
Hi, I’m Slava, CEO at Zen Educate
We’re looking for a Chief Product Officer to help lead us into the next chapter of growth. If you’re deeply passionate about solving real world problems, and get a kick out of turning chaos into clarity then keep reading.
Why this role exists
Schools in the UK and US spend over £12bn a year on agency staff, and £3.6bn of that goes straight into the pockets of recruitment agencies. That’s why we’ve built an alternative.
Zen is an all-in-one digital platform that gives schools full control over how they find, vet, and manage temporary educators. Think “tech startup,” but solving a painfully human, operational, and systemic issue in education staffing. Our platform is built to be scalable and intuitive, designed in close collaboration with schools and educators to fit seamlessly into existing school workflows. School leaders can search, book, and manage staff in real time, while gaining full visibility and control over their spend and compliance.
We’ve built the foundations:
• A real-time booking platform used daily by thousands of schools and educators.
• Compliance and payroll infrastructure that automates complex tasks
• Tools that save our internal ops team hours a day and scale our service
• £30M+ saved for schools so far, and counting
But the next phase? That\’s bigger. And that’s where you come in. You’ll be reinventing how schools find and trust the people teaching our kids.
What we’re looking for
You’ve led a prod org with multiple teams. You obsess over customer needs, and know how to balance shipping fast with building right. You’re as comfortable in the weeds as you are aligning strategy with execs. You set a high-bar for your team and are skilled at coaching them to be the best versions of themselves.
Some traits that usually correlate with success in this role:
• You drive clarity in ambiguity
• You care more about real world outcomes than rigid roadmaps
• You’re product led, not process led
• You can align teams, not just ideas
• You love finding simple answers to complex problems
This isn’t a Chief Strategy Officer role in disguise. It’s a builder role. You’ll work closely with Engineering, Design, Ops, and Sales to shape and scale the products that power Zen.
What your first 6-12 months might look like
You’ll join a high-performing team that’s already shipping daily, and you’ll help us level up how we:
• Define the product strategy and vision for the short-term, medium-term, and long-term
• Drive the culture of the entire organisation to be product first
• Roll out new products as we extend our offering beyond the core marketplace to Human Capital Management software for Schools. You’ll have experience rapidly iterating to land product-market fit of new products while not losing sight of a core product in hypergrowth
• Be a key member of the management team working closely with your counterparts across the organisation to deliver outcomes that matter
• Build and coach a high functioning product delivery org – you’ll inherit a great team of PMs and you’ll coach them to be generational talents in their domain
• Support the priorities of multiple teams without losing focus on the bigger picture
Along the way, you’ll probably try three experiments and two of them might fail. That’s fine with us. We value thoughtful risk-taking, fast learning, and momentum over perfection. Our only competitive advantage is the velocity of learning.
Who you’ll work with
We’re a 300+ (and growing!) team operating across the UK, US, and Canada. We’re well funded, default alive, growing fast, and have tremendous unit economics. Simply put, we’re doing really well by doing good. As such, we’re a passionate group of missionaries rather than mercenaries. We’re looking to find someone who shares our passion for the mission of making education better.
What you might like or dislike
Every place makes tradeoffs based on what they value and where they are in their journey. Here’s a list of things you might find useful in figuring out if this is the right role for you. If we end up chatting, feel free to dig deeper into any of them.
• Outcomes over dogma – we’re practical in trying to drive an outcome. That means we make tradeoffs to lean heavier on other levers like sales and operations when it makes commercial sense to do so. We want a leader who will obsess about driving a Product First culture, but understand that Product is one of many ways we win
• First principles reasoning rather than replicating other companies best practices – we believe every situation has nuance. Experience is an input in decision making, but not the only input. The executives at Zen that do best are endlessly curious and looking to deconstruct problems to first principles. They’re not just making decisions because they’ve seen them work at previous companies.
• Slope and passion over Y Intercept. High-trajectory individuals with a passion for what they do very quickly lap those with a higher initial starting point in their domain but slower trajectory. That means Executives at Zen often end up spending more time up-front investing in the upskilling of colleagues from non-traditional backgrounds but it quickly pays dividends many times over.
Interested? Let’s go!
If you’ve made it this far and you’re excited then hit apply. If the timing isn’t right or you’re not sure it’s a right fit, reach out anyway. We’re always open to talking to those who believe in our mission.
Let’s build something that actually matters.
Seniority level
-
Seniority level
Not Applicable
Employment type
-
Employment type
Full-time
Job function
-
Job function
Strategy/Planning and Product Management
-
Industries
Software Development, Staffing and Recruiting, and Education Administration Programs
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Chief Product Officer employer: Zen Educate
Contact Detail:
Zen Educate Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Chief Product Officer
✨Tip Number 1
Network with professionals in the education technology sector. Attend industry events, webinars, or meetups where you can connect with people who work at Zen Educate or similar companies. Building these relationships can give you insights into the company culture and potentially lead to referrals.
✨Tip Number 2
Familiarise yourself with Zen Educate's platform and its unique selling points. Understanding how their product addresses the challenges faced by schools will allow you to speak confidently about your vision for the role and how you can contribute to their mission during interviews.
✨Tip Number 3
Prepare to discuss your experience in leading product teams and driving product strategy. Be ready to share specific examples of how you've navigated ambiguity and delivered successful outcomes, as this aligns closely with what Zen Educate is looking for in a Chief Product Officer.
✨Tip Number 4
Showcase your passion for education and technology. Zen Educate values candidates who are genuinely interested in making a difference in the education sector. Share your thoughts on current trends in edtech and how they can impact the future of learning during your conversations with them.
We think you need these skills to ace Chief Product Officer
Some tips for your application 🫡
Understand the Role: Before applying, make sure you fully understand the responsibilities and expectations of the Chief Product Officer role at Zen Educate. Tailor your application to highlight how your experience aligns with their needs.
Craft a Compelling CV: Your CV should clearly showcase your leadership experience in product management, particularly in tech startups or educational platforms. Use quantifiable achievements to demonstrate your impact in previous roles.
Write a Tailored Cover Letter: In your cover letter, express your passion for education and how you can contribute to Zen Educate's mission. Highlight specific experiences that demonstrate your ability to drive product strategy and lead teams effectively.
Showcase Your Problem-Solving Skills: Zen Educate values individuals who can find simple solutions to complex problems. Include examples in your application that illustrate your ability to navigate ambiguity and deliver results in challenging situations.
How to prepare for a job interview at Zen Educate
✨Understand the Mission
Before your interview, take some time to really understand Zen Educate's mission and how it aims to transform education staffing. Be prepared to discuss how your values align with theirs and how you can contribute to their goals.
✨Showcase Your Leadership Style
As a Chief Product Officer, you'll need to demonstrate your leadership capabilities. Prepare examples of how you've successfully led product teams, coached team members, and driven clarity in ambiguous situations. Highlight your ability to balance fast shipping with building the right products.
✨Prepare for Problem-Solving Questions
Expect questions that assess your problem-solving skills, especially in complex scenarios. Think about past experiences where you turned chaos into clarity and be ready to share specific examples that showcase your analytical thinking and innovative solutions.
✨Emphasise Collaboration
This role requires close collaboration with various teams. Be ready to discuss how you've aligned teams around a common vision and how you foster a product-first culture. Share instances where you've successfully worked with engineering, design, and sales to achieve product goals.