Product Manager

Established in 2004, BioPhorum is a business-to-business membership organisation that has created an unparalleled environment for life science companies and executives, to collaborate and accelerate progress across the sector. The company uses a subscription model and has created 12 highly targeted “Phorums” (forums) with tailored content across multiple areas including Drug Substance, Drug Development, Fill Finish, Technology Strategy, Supply Chain Resilience, IT, Data and Digital, Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products, Quality, Regulatory, and Sustainability. BioPhorum’s expert facilitators currently lead more than ninety initiatives involving over 7,000 subject matter experts.

BioPhorum has built a diverse and extensive client base of over 150 organisations, including 18 of the 20 largest global (bio)pharmacos. Beyond pharma, BioPhorum has also built relationships with other types of life science organisations, including those that provide services across the outsourced value chain (e.g., CDMOs), and academia.

Over the last year, BioPhorum has established an exciting growth strategy, launched its first data product and completed an acquisition. Further growth opportunities are being planned in both the core Phorum business as well as adjacent markets. Against this backdrop, BioPhorum is looking to hire a Product Manager: Phorums to provide operational product management services across BioPhorum’s Phorum organisation, owning the delivery and member experience of BioPhorum’s collaboration tools, The Hub and Ask BioPhorum.

The Role

Overview

The Product Manager: Phorums will report to the Product Director: Phorums, providing operational product management services across the Phorum organisation, and owning the delivery and member experience for BioPhorum’s existing collaboration tools, The Hub and Ask BioPhorum. The Product Manager, through the mining of usage data, focus groups, and other primary and secondary sources, will define the existing and potential future use cases for these tools, driving further value out of the existing versions and pushing boundaries to transform these tools into professional social networks, complementing the existing in-person collaboration experience with new online approaches. The Product Manager will also own the Programme Coordinators Group, support Phorums as they define impactful workstream topics, and drive member experience improvements as part of the Net Promoter Score process.

Main Responsibilities

• Develop, own, and deliver the operational product management for BioPhorum’s existing collaboration tools — The Hub and Ask BioPhorum. Identify current use cases and ensure the tools are delivering as required; develop the overall vision and strategy for BioPhorum’s collaboration tools
• Using the available data from the tools, analyse usage patterns and behaviours. Additionally, gather information from credible primary sources such as focus groups, enhancement suggestions, and inbound queries. Based on this data, develop a plan for future versions of The Hub and Ask BioPhorum. The aim is to create virtual collaboration and social networks/communities that bring BioPhorum members together in new ways, enhancing collaboration and interaction
• Own and write the requirements documentation specifying the use cases, functional and technical process flows, wireframes, and system behaviours for future versions of The Hub and Ask BioPhorum. Ensure these are written in ways that allow developers to build the intended product and suitable quality test scripts can be written to support launch processes
• Work with Operations to identify development partners who can improve the current state of The Hub and Ask BioPhorum and develop future versions, providing the necessary technical support. Ensure there are clear member and BioPhorum processes in place that drive and support our espoused member experience
• Create and manage the product development of The Hub and Ask BioPhorum following BioPhorum’s gated product management process and the broader product/go-to-market planning. Work closely with the Phorum leadership, Commercial, and Operations teams to ensure new releases land as planned
• Ensure BioPhorum has the commercial tools and collateral to describe the value proposition to the entire organisation (especially the Phorums). Develop and conduct the necessary training so that the proposition is understood, and members and potential members have a clear picture of how an investment in BioPhorum will deliver value to them
• Oversee, facilitate, and refresh, where applicable, the Programme Coordinators User Group, ensuring the group’s purpose remains current and relevant. Continue to steer the group so that it drives outcomes for both members and BioPhorum, ensuring it becomes a key feedback loop between members and BioPhorum on member needs, in order to inform product roadmaps and client success. Additionally, with Operations, identify, initiate, and oversee any additional user group activities that add value to members and to our understanding of product needs
• Own the Net Promoter Score system and processes, capturing ongoing member feedback. Work with the Phorum Product Director and broader Phorum leadership team to drive tangible outcomes that improve the overall member experience. Ensure the system is set up to provide rich and usable feedback
• With the Phorum delivery teams, identify any new needs for products that can serve BioPhorum’s Phorum members, and identify user needs, value propositions, and product requirements
• In collaboration with SPDs and PDs, provide support where appropriate to define value propositions and potential workstream topics within Phorums, ensuring the Phorum organisation continues to drive member value by providing member-relevant offerings

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Strong and proven experience in product or category management, especially for products tied to products areas like social and professional networks, community engagement, or customer engagement
• Highly commercial and numerate, able to build commercial models and conduct the required analyses to make informed data driven product decision especially regarding the viability of potential products / services 
• Can operate in an agile format, build prototypes, iterate, and update based on market and member/customer feedback
• Experienced working within a private equity environment, ability to operate a pace, understand the importance of impact and driving outcomes for customers  
• Highly organised, able to develop strong go-to-market and project plans and execute against them
• Strong collaboration skills — able to bring together a collection of ideas and concepts, make the best recommendations based on those inputs and able to hold-the-course to ensure those recommendations are brough to life
• Has a strong bias to action — enjoys the ‘thrill’ of delivery and driving impact across a business
• Very strong communication skills, able to influence a variety of personalities and personas
• Excellent presentation skills, able to build and present compelling stories, take people ‘on a journey’
• Creative thinker and strong problem solver, can ideate solutions to problems quickly, able to express these ideas in clear digestible terms

Location

This is a home-based role within the United Kingdom. While BioPhorum is a UK based business, ad hoc international travel will be required at various points in support of the organisation’s annual events cycle.