Lead, Product Management

Role purpose

This is a product leadership role that unites Pearson’s customer-facing digital products with early-stage innovation and AI-enabled experimentation. Sitting one level below the Product Director, the Lead is accountable for product strategy, roadmap and delivery outcomes and for creating a coherent, well-governed pathway that turns proven concepts into scaled, commercially viable products.

The Lead owns the operating rhythms, prioritisation frameworks and cross-functional partnerships that allow discovery, delivery and scaling to work as one system rather than in silos while keeping Pearson’s pedagogy-led, responsible approach to technology at the centre of every decision.

Scope of the role

Ownership of the customer-facing digital products, platforms and experiences. This includes:

• ActiveHub product strategy and roadmap ownership, and its evolution: teacher and learner workflows, insights dashboards and AI-powered product capabilities.

• Digital assessment products including onscreen assessment for high-stake qualifications and our ResultsPlus and ExamWizard products

Ownership of early-stage innovation, proof-of-concept development and AI-enabled product experimentation. This includes:

• Working prototypes and “vibe-coded” concepts: time-boxed (typically 6–8 week) innovation sprints ending in a structured go / no-go / pivot decision.

• Ownership of the AI-driven Revise Online service and its roadmap.

• Systematic customer engagement and discovery with MATs and schools across the innovation lifecycle.

Key responsibilities

Product strategy & portfolio leadership

• Set direction across the portfolio. Define and align product vision, strategy and roadmap across digital products and innovation, connecting them to Pearson’s wider UK Schools and AI strategy and to reform readiness.

• Own prioritisation and trade-offs. Establish clear, evidence-based prioritisation frameworks across both delivery and discovery lanes, making trade-offs explicit across initiatives and teams.

• Steward the innovation-to-scale pathway. Ensure a governed route from PoC to production, with commercial viability, business cases and go/no-go decisions applied consistently.

• Commercial accountability. Support financial planning, forecasting, budget and (where applicable) capex decisions, and connect product outcomes to revenue, adoption, efficacy and retention.

Delivery & operating rhythm

• Scalable ways of working. Own operating rhythms, governance and decision-making across teams so delivery improves through systems

• Cross-team predictability. Drive consistent delivery health, quality and experience across multiple squads and product areas.

• Responsible AI and pedagogy. Ensure AI-enabled products are grounded in learning outcomes, accessibility, quality and responsible use.

People & leadership

• Lead through managers. Line-manage the Innovation Team Manager and the Digital & Assessment product management leadership, scaling impact through leaders and senior individual contributors.

• Culture. Foster an inclusive, high-accountability, experimentation-friendly culture with psychological safety across the combined group.

Stakeholder & external engagement

• Cross-functional partnership. Operate as a trusted partner to Technology, Content/Production Strategy, Marketing, Sales/GTM, Commercial, Programme and subject teams.

• External influence. Engage MATs, schools, sector bodies and policy stakeholders (e.g. DfE / DSIT) and represent the portfolio in senior forums such as the Global Product Excellence team.

What success looks like

• Customers experience Pearson’s digital products as one coherent system.

• A healthy, predictable flow of validated innovation graduating into the core roadmap with sound business cases.

• Product investment is prioritised transparently across discovery and delivery, with measurable impact on adoption, efficacy, revenue and learner outcomes.

Person specification

Essential

• Product management leadership experience, including leading managers and/or senior ICs across multiple teams or a complex product area.

• Proven track record delivering customer-facing digital products and platforms, ideally at scale.

• Strong commercial acumen, business cases, prioritisation, budgeting and connecting product to revenue and outcomes.

• Excellent systems thinking, cross-functional influence and organisational collaboration; comfortable making trade-offs across teams.

• Strong people leadership and coaching capability; able to bring structure, alignment and momentum in ambiguity.

Desirable

• Experience in EdTech, assessment, or regulated/evidence-based product environments (e.g. Ofqual context).

• Familiarity with responsible AI in education and pedagogy-led approaches to technology in schools.

• Experience engaging external stakeholders including MATs, schools and government/sector bodies (DfE, DSIT).