The Role

At Unite Students, we empower our Product teams to solve customer and business problems by creating technology-powered experiences that our users love. Our teams are made up of amazing people with the skills and autonomy to deliver solutions with PACE (Prized - Applicable - Clever - Expedient).

This is a senior management role responsible for leading the `Book, Rebook, Pay` product pillar - a critical area of the student digital experience and business performance. You will own and evolve the product strategy for this pillar, using insight to shape the vision and outcomes across acquisition, retention, and payment.

You will lead a cross-functional team to deliver against your strategy, working closely with Engineering, UX, and stakeholders across the business. You`ll also line manage other Product professionals, supporting their development and fostering a culture of empowered, outcome-driven product thinking.

You will be accountable for defining and communicating the strategy, owning the roadmap, and ensuring delivery of high-value, data-informed outcomes that solve real problems for our customers and business.

This role requires strong strategic thinking, hands-on product delivery expertise, and the ability to inspire and align diverse stakeholders around a clear vision.

What You`ll Be Doing

Lead product discovery with the team and stakeholders to experiment, test and develop new ideas to improve our experiences and diversify our products.

• Define, own, and evangelise the product strategy and vision for the `Book, Rebook, Pay` pillar, aligning with company goals and customer needs.
• Leverage insights and data to set clear product objectives and shape decision-making.
• Ensure that strategic decisions are visible, understood, and supported across the business.
• Lead a cross-functional product team through discovery and delivery, championing a customer-centric and outcome-focused approach.
• Navigate and influence cross-functional relationships with teams operating in traditional delivery models, including transformation programmes, while maintaining agility within your product team.
• Line manage Product Managers and Product Owners within your pillar, coaching and supporting them to grow and succeed.
• Foster a high-performing culture, enabling empowered teams to make decisions and move with speed.
• Use qualitative and quantitative insight to evaluate product performance and inform prioritisation.
• Define and track meaningful OKRs and KPIs to measure impact and continuously improve.
• Translate product vision into a clear, deliverable roadmap that adapts to new learnings and market changes.
• Ensure high-quality delivery of your roadmap through iterative development, experimentation, and validation.
• Work closely with Engineering, UX, and stakeholders to break down work and remove blockers.
• Collaborate and negotiate effectively with delivery partners across different working styles, including waterfall-led transformation programmes, to align on priorities and timelines without compromising customer outcomes.
• Champion product quality and customer experience across all stages of the product lifecycle.
• Build trusted relationships with senior stakeholders across Commercial, Operations, IT, and Programme functions.
• Communicate product strategy, progress, and performance with clarity and impact.
• Influence and align stakeholders to achieve buy-in and deliver outcomes collaboratively.

What We`re Looking for in You

• Extensive experience in product roles, including senior-level ownership of complex digital products.
• Proven success in developing and executing product strategies that deliver customer and commercial outcomes.
• Experience leading cross-functional teams and coaching other Product professionals.
• A strong grasp of agile ways of working and product discovery practices.
• Experience influencing or collaborating with traditional programme delivery functions, with the ability to bridge agile and waterfall approaches to keep product value at the centre.
• Confident using data and insight to drive decision-making and measure impact.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence at all levels.
• Experience managing products with transactional, account, or payment elements is highly desirable.
• Solid understanding of key website performance and discoverability concepts including SEO best practices, Core Web Vitals, mobile responsiveness, accessibility, and user journey optimisation.
• Experience with SaaS or third-party platform integrations is a bonus.
• A strategic thinker who can also roll up their sleeves to deliver value quickly.

What You`ll Get in Return

• A discretionary annual bonus so you can share in the company`s success
• 25 days` paid holiday and an annual holiday buying scheme, with 5 additional days awarded for long service
• A generous pension scheme - employer contributions between 5% and 11% depending on how much you save
• Various benefits to support your health and wellbeing including a Healthcare Cash Plan, an Employee Assistance Programme, a Wellbeing platform and a Gym benefit that you can share with your family and friends
• Enhanced Family Leave including 18 weeks full pay for birthing parents and 4 weeks for non-birthing parents
• Lots of other great benefits including an annual ShareSave scheme, Employee Life Assurance, a discounts portal and more!

About Unite Students

Founded in 1991, Unite Students is a FTSE 100 business and the UK`s leading provider of purpose-built student accommodation. You can find us in 25 leading university towns and cities, with over 70,000 students calling US home! We are driven by our values, culture, and a commitment to develop diverse and inclusive teams, filled with positive energy and new ideas.

Instinctive inclusion. We know that to create and maintain a happy healthy organisation, we have to work hard to ensure inclusion isn`t just what we do but who we are.

People make Unite Students. Employees, students, and neighbours all contribute to building environments where we can all thrive.

Room for Everyone

We`re proud to be an employer that embraces individuality, and we`re passionate about building inclusive teams. We focus on creating a collaborative culture where you can be you, where your voice is heard, and where you can truly belong. We take great pride in being rated Gold Investors in People and are constantly striving to provide the highest standard of learning and development opportunities and professional pathways for our people. Building a home for success, for both our employees and students, requires exceptional people with a passion for creating room for everyone, doing what`s right, keeping US safe, and raising the bar. Join us as we build better experiences for students that live with us.

We are US.