Product Manager (with UX skills)
Posted 2 days ago by BlueShift Education, CIC
£500 Per day
Undetermined
Remote
Greater London, England, United Kingdom
Summary: The role of Product Manager at Kita Education involves leading product development and user research for an AI-powered coding platform aimed at transforming Computer Science education. This hands-on position requires managing high-profile projects while balancing grant deliverables with commercial objectives. The successful candidate will collaborate closely with a UI designer and oversee agile delivery processes to ensure timely and quality outputs. This position offers the opportunity to make a significant impact in a fast-growing EdTech startup backed by government contracts.
Key Responsibilities:
- Manage two high-profile grant-funded projects (InnovateUK).
- Balance grant deliverables with Kita’s commercial roadmap for the September 2026 launch.
- Turn user research into clear requirements and high-level wireframes, ensuring sign-off before engineering build.
- Shape UX in collaboration with the UI designer, leading on requirements and flows.
- Run Agile sprints: backlog refinement, sprint planning, daily stand-ups, reviews, and retrospectives.
- Track and manage deliverables: define milestones, monitor progress, flag risks early, and ensure outputs are delivered on time, to scope, and to quality standards.
- Keep the team aligned — from teachers and evaluators to engineers and designers.
- Report on milestones and impact to funders, stakeholders, and school partners.
- Oversee agile delivery: backlog, sprints, QA acceptance criteria.
- Coordinate with schools, teachers, and partner BlueShift Education for pilots.
- Shape product features with user research and curriculum needs.
- Ensure compliance with safeguarding, GDPR, and Innovate UK reporting.
- Drive alignment between short-term grant outputs and long-term commercial product success.
Key Skills:
- Proven Product Manager experience in EdTech, public sector, or innovation projects.
- Confident creating wireframes and UX flows for sign-off (Figma, etc).
- Strong agile delivery skills — backlog ownership, sprint planning, stakeholder management.
- Experience balancing commercial goals with grant-funded deliverables.
- Comfortable working across technical (AI/ML, engineering) and educational (teacher workflows, safeguarding) contexts.
- Excited by working in a startup environment where you’ll have real responsibility and impact.
Salary (Rate): £500/day
City: Greater London
Country: United Kingdom
Working Arrangements: remote
IR35 Status: undetermined
Seniority Level: undetermined
Industry: Other
6-month contract, 3-4 days/week | Remote (London visits) | £400-500/day Kita Education is a fast-growing EdTech startup transforming how Computer Science is taught. We've built an AI-powered, browser-based coding platform that saves teachers time while helping students learn more effectively. After securing two major government contracts—including one with the Department for Education—we're looking for a Product Manager with UX skills to help us deliver exceptional results. As part of a small, agile team, your impact will be immediate and visible. You'll shape a product that directly affects how thousands of students learn and how teachers teach. You'll also be at the forefront of the government's AI in education strategy.
About the role This is a hands-on role where you’ll sit at the centre of product development, user research, and project delivery. You’ll:
- Manage two high-profile grant-funded projects (InnovateUK).
- Balance grant deliverables with Kita’s commercial roadmap for our September 2026 launch.
- Turn user research into clear requirements and high-level wireframes, ensuring sign-off before engineering build.
- Shape UX in collaboration with our UI designer — you’ll lead on requirements and flows, while detailed design will be delivered by them.
- There is potential to grow the UX team in the coming quarter.
- Run Agile sprints: backlog refinement, sprint planning, daily stand-ups, reviews, and retrospectives.
- Track and manage deliverables: define milestones, monitor progress, flag risks early, and ensure outputs are delivered on time, to scope, and to quality standards.
- Keep the team aligned — from teachers and evaluators to engineers and designers.
- Report on milestones and impact to funders, stakeholders, and school partners.
What you’ll be doing Overseeing agile delivery: backlog, sprints, QA acceptance criteria. Coordinating with schools, teachers, and our partner BlueShift Education for pilots. Shaping product features with user research and curriculum needs. Working closely with our UI designer to bring user journeys and interfaces to life. Ensuring compliance with safeguarding, GDPR, and Innovate UK reporting. Driving alignment between short-term grant outputs and long-term commercial product success.
About you Proven Product Manager experience in EdTech, public sector, or innovation projects. Confident creating wireframes and UX flows for sign-off (Figma, etc). Strong agile delivery skills — backlog ownership, sprint planning, stakeholder management. Experience balancing commercial goals with grant-funded deliverables. Comfortable working across technical (AI/ML, engineering) and educational (teacher workflows, safeguarding) contexts. Excited by working in a startup environment where you’ll have real responsibility and impact.
Contract details Day rate: £400–£500/day (depending on experience) Contract: 6 months, 3-4 days per week, with potential extension to June 2026 Location: Remote, with occasional visits to London schools and our hub (W2) Start: October 2025 This is a unique opportunity to join a small but ambitious startup, shaping an EdTech product with national impact, working on projects backed by the Department for Education and DSIT. If interested, please send a CV and cover letter to heather@getkita.com Shortlisted candidates will be asked to complete a task before interview.