Technical Product Lead
Salary: £85,000 to £100,000, depending on experience and technical and product depth
Bonus and equity: performance-related bonus and stock options available
Location: London, hybrid. Three days a week in our London office (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday)
Contract: full-time, permanent
About us
At Blue Education, our unwavering mission is to empower students on their journey to academic excellence and personal growth, guiding them toward the realisation of their dreams to attend the world's most prestigious universities.
We recognise the unique challenges that international students face, from mastering complex subjects to adapting to new cultures and educational systems. Our commitment is to provide comprehensive, personalised, and culturally sensitive tutoring services that foster confidence, competence, and global-mindedness.
Our core values drive our mission:
Excellence: We uphold the highest standards of academic rigour and teaching excellence, helping students achieve their full potential and stand out in competitive admissions processes.
Diversity and Inclusivity: We embrace and celebrate the rich tapestry of cultures and backgrounds that international students bring, fostering an inclusive environment where every student feels valued and supported.
Individualised Approach: We understand that every student is unique, and we tailor our tutoring to their specific needs and goals, nurturing their strengths and addressing their challenges.
Global Perspective: We instil a global perspective in our students, preparing them not only for academic success but also for a life enriched by cross-cultural understanding and collaboration.
Continuous Learning: We are committed to the continuous development of our tutors and the evolution of our teaching methods to stay at the forefront of educational excellence.
At Blue Education, we are not just tutors; we are mentors, advocates, and partners in your educational journey. Our ultimate goal is to see our students thrive academically, gain admission to the world's top universities, and go on to make meaningful contributions to society.
"Together, we'll turn dreams into achievements, one student at a time."
Why this role exists
Blue Education has existing internal tools, dashboards, workflows and academic knowledge that could become valuable school-facing products.
The next stage is to turn this expertise into practical software that schools can use, helping Blue build deeper school relationships and create scalable distribution for its wider education services.
This role will bridge the gap between academic expertise, product opportunity and technical execution.
This is a product discovery, prototyping and technical delivery role.
The main focus is turning Blue Education’s internal expertise, tools and workflows into usable school-facing products.
The Role
We are looking for a Technical Product Lead to identify high-value product opportunities, shape product concepts, and take ideas from discovery through prototype, MVP and implementation.
You'll work closely with the academic and leadership teams to understand real education and admissions problems and define the right product response. You'll build prototypes yourself, quickly, using AI-assisted, no-code and low-code tools, and manage the route to a more robust solution where appropriate.
This is not a pure software engineering role. You will need enough technical fluency to understand data, APIs, integrations, technical trade-offs and outsourced development, and to move comfortably between product discovery, hands-on prototyping and technical delivery.
Internal efficiency projects may form part of the work where relevant. The core objective is to build and validate new technology products for schools.
Responsibilities
Work with the academic team, leadership team and operational users to identify high-value product opportunities across Blue Education's workflows, dashboards, admissions expertise and school-facing services.
Translate ambiguous problems into clear user journeys, product requirements, MVP scopes, user stories, acceptance criteria and delivery plans.
Personally build lightweight prototypes, proofs of concept, dashboards, mock-ups and MVPs using AI-assisted coding, no-code, low-code and relevant SaaS platforms.
Use tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, Replit, Lovable, Airtable, Retool, Zapier, Make, Tableau or similar platforms where appropriate.
Assess whether a problem is best solved through software development, AI-assisted prototyping, automation, no-code tooling, an off-the-shelf product, outsourced development or a simpler process change.
Write clear briefs for freelance developers, agencies or external technical partners where more robust development is required.
Manage external development work, including scope, milestones, timelines, testing, quality control, handover and documentation.
Test prototypes and MVPs with internal users and selected schools, gather structured feedback, and turn the evidence into product improvements.
Work with school-facing and commercial colleagues to understand user needs, adoption barriers and opportunities for product improvement.
Measure impact through adoption, usage, time saved, quality improvement, user experience, school engagement and commercial value.
Document workflows, product decisions and technical logic so products can be maintained and scaled over time.
Required skills and experience
Around three to five years' experience in product management, technical product management, product operations, product engineering, startup building, digital transformation, automation, business analysis or a similar hands-on product role.
Experience as an early team member at a startup, scale-up or new product team, helping take something from zero to one.
A track record of building prototypes, workflows, dashboards or lightweight applications yourself, using AI tools, no-code or low-code platforms, or AI-assisted coding.
A strong ability to diagnose ambiguous problems and turn them into clear product options, MVP scopes and delivery plans.
Comfort working with technical concepts such as APIs, data structures, integrations, permissions, databases and software architecture at a practical level.
The ability to work closely with non-technical stakeholders and translate academic, operational or commercial needs into product requirements.
The ability to write clear project briefs, user requirements, acceptance criteria and implementation plans.
The ability to manage freelancers, agencies or technical partners without constant technical supervision.
Sound judgement about when to build, buy, automate, outsource or simplify.
Excellent written communication and stakeholder management skills.
A high-ownership mindset, with the drive to take a problem from discovery through to delivery.
Nice to have
Experience in education, tutoring, university admissions, schools or edtech. This is not required, and we welcome candidates from any sector.
Experience building internal AI tools, chatbots, automations, dashboards, lightweight web applications or school-facing software.
Basic familiarity with Python, JavaScript, SQL, APIs, databases, prompt engineering or system architecture.
Experience turning service expertise into scalable software products.
Experience with CRM systems, workflow automation or knowledge-management systems.
What success looks like
A successful person in this role will take an unclear product opportunity, such as improving how schools support university applications, and turn it into a clear product definition, user journey, MVP scope, prototype, delivery plan and tested implementation.
In the first phase, success should include:
Clear prioritisation of the highest-value product opportunities
Rapid prototypes and MVPs that can be tested with internal users and selected schools
Strong evidence-based recommendations on what should be built, bought or outsourced
Effective management of any external developers or agencies
Early evidence of internal or school adoption
Clear documentation and handover so products can be maintained and improved
What start-up readiness means at Blue
How you work matters as much as what you've done. We're looking for someone who:
Is fully committed to the role and to building alongside the team in person
Is comfortable without a playbook and takes ownership of problems without waiting to be asked
Builds things themselves rather than handing every task to others
Makes pragmatic decisions and changes course when the evidence says so
Is keen to grow with the business as the product and team develop
Compensation and benefits
Performance-related bonus and equity options, subject to company policy.
Private medical insurance.
Paid annual leave and public holidays.
Hybrid working arrangements.
Budget for AI tools, productivity software and relevant technical platforms.
Exceptional candidates with stronger product-builder or technical delivery experience may be considered above the advertised salary range, subject to internal approval.