Product manager jobs in Islington, york

Unifrog’s mission
 

We’re on a mission to level the playing field when it comes to young people finding and applying for their next step after school. We're achieving this by bringing all the available information into one single, impartial, user-friendly platform that helps students to make the best choices, and submit the strongest applications. We also empower teachers and counsellors to manage the progression process effectively.
 

Our outlook is global - we work with schools and universities all over the world, from the US to New Zealand, and from Italy to Hong Kong. We want to make it so that young people can compare every opportunity taught in English, wherever it is in the world, and have all the support they need to make successful applications.
 

We have a clear social purpose, and we’re hugely ambitious. We already work with over half of UK secondary schools, and more than a thousand international schools. We are growing rapidly in terms of the number of our customers, in terms of how much they use our platform, and in terms of the breadth of products we offer.
 

Our team is at the heart of our business and it is integral to our success. We work hard to foster a culture of openness, happiness and innovation, and we commit to helping every individual learn and grow so that they can reach their full potential. We want to hire talented people, whatever their background. If you are excited by our mission and are ready to work hard, please don’t hesitate to apply. We look forward to hearing from you!
 

We believe in the power of diversity. If you are from an ethnic minority background, we would like to strongly encourage you to apply. In advance of applying if you have any questions about working at Unifrog, please contact our Recruitment Lead, Mhairi (contact details on our Jobs page). 

The Unifrog platform

Over the last 12 years, the Unifrog platform has grown enormously from its starting point as a simple tool to help students pick their UK university courses and apprenticeships. It now helps young people from 4 years old up to explore their interests, record the great things they’ve done, compare every post-16 and post-18 course in the UK and every undergraduate programme taught in English in the world, find and organise work experience, and draft their application materials. The platform also helps teachers and career advisers to guide students every step of the way, makes it easy for parents to explore the platform via their own accounts, and helps employer and university recruitment teams to interact directly with students. 

We have a long list of exciting projects for the platform, always aiming to achieve our mission. We are looking for someone to join Unifrog’s team to help us continually improve the platform’s existing tools, and to also develop new ones. 

What you’ll do

You’ll work on improving the platform itself, from how things work behind the scenes, to the user experience and how the tools work and look.

This role does not involve coding - instead you’ll develop and design clear ideas and plans with Unifrog’s two co-founders, and with other colleagues involved in platform development, and then you’ll work with our lead programmer to make them happen.

You will become an expert in:

• The needs of all our different user types, including students, teachers, school groups, universities, employers, and parents

• How to navigate the platform as a user of each type

• How the Unifrog platform works behind the scenes

You’ll be part of the team that:

• Collates feedback on the platform, deciding which changes to move ahead with, and how
   

• Comes up with and designs ideas for platform improvements

• Develops and designs completely new tools

• Investigates potential bugs and comes up with suggested solutions

• Communicates platform changes to the Unifrog team

• Answers queries about the platform from colleagues

 

Working together

You’ll regularly be working with:

• Unifrog’s two co-founders and other colleagues involved in maintaining and developing the platform – in particular our data and content teams – to come up with improvements to the platform and to develop new projects

• Our lead programmer to implement ideas

• User-facing colleagues to understand what our users are asking for, as well as communicate to them what things have changed on the platform

• (More occasionally, but especially at the beginning) our users, when you need to have a greater understanding of a particular topic

You will be line-managed by Unifrog’s two co-founders.

 

Skills and characteristics

We are looking for an independent worker with design skills, who is a great problem solver and is motivated to find an elegant solution, whatever the issue.

Design

You’ll be producing the designs that go to our lead programmer, and which he’ll use as the basis for his work. You should have experience with UX design, and we can accommodate whichever application you prefer to work with, eg Figma or Sketch.

We’ve developed and plan to keep developing a large range of tools on the platform, like:

• Quizzes

• Tools to make large banks of information easy to search and understand

• Tools to simplify complex workflows

• Integrations with other platforms

• Document creation that involves input from multiple people

• Data visualisation

The problems we come up against can involve:

• Different users handling the same processes in different ways from each other

• Different groups of users having competing wants

• A data provider changing the way they structure their data

• Users not completing an important action on the platform

• A change on one tool having a knock-on effect on several other tools

• Users expressing their needs and ideas in uncertain or ambiguous ways
   

Your challenge is to design concrete solutions that work for everyone, which are as simple as possible to implement, and which are immediately understandable by a user who’s never seen them before.

Independence and initiative
 

You will work closely with Unifrog’s two co-founders. While colleagues from the wider team will be involved in coming up with ideas and telling you what they need, you will be the only team member, apart from the co-founders, in the product development team.

Because Unifrog’s co-founders work remotely and are also involved in other areas of the business, this will require you to be a good independent worker:
 

• Able to plan a project and stick to timelines, even when you need to get input from other team members

• Confident to come up with your own ideas, sort out good ideas from less useful ones, and make decisions based on information you’ve researched or been given by other team members

• Open when getting feedback

• Able to adapt to a team used to working in an informal way with few processes, allowing for flexibility and rapid advancements

• Driven to get projects finished and signed off

• Communication

You will need to understand and translate the issues that a user is facing to our lead programmer, and tell him your ideas for solutions and explain your designs in a way that will allow him to get working without needing lots of clarification.

You will need to communicate what development work is happening to the rest of the Unifrog team, and you’ll need to help your colleagues find the best way to tell users about it in turn.

Finally, you will need to be able to adapt your communication style depending on the person you are communicating with, including our lead programmer, other Unifrog team members, or partners and users.

Benefits 

Head to our jobs page for a full list of the excellent benefits we offer our team.

• Join one of Escape the City’s top 1% employers and help transform careers and destinations in schools.

• Become part of a committed, dynamic, and growing company. We want to build our team for the long term: if you do well, we will do our best to make sure you want to stay at the company for a long time.

• Professional development is important at Unifrog. You will define your own 6-month objectives and will be supported by your line manager and the rest of the team to achieve them. You will have an annual training allowance to spend on what you need to grow and progress.

• Influence the company’s direction: we love to promote great ideas, wherever they come from.

Key details

• £45,000 per annum (Grade B)

• Full time.

• Work remotely or in our London or Edinburgh offices.

• 28 days paid holiday per year (plus bank holidays).

• Working hours are 9am to 5pm, Monday to Thursday, and 9am to 4:30pm on Friday.

• Start date: as soon as possible, though we will be flexible for the right candidate.

• If you require reasonable adjustments, or want to discuss any details about the role before applying, please contact our Recruitment Lead, Mhairi (details on our website).

• We can only consider candidates who have the right to work in the UK.

Application process  

Deadline: 10:00am (GMT) on Monday 22nd December 2025.

• We may need to close applications early if we receive a lot of interest. As long as you’ve already started applying, we’ll give you 48 hours’ notice of the deadline changing - so if you’re thinking of applying, please start an application so we can keep you updated. 

Stage 1: Application form (~1 hour) 

• Visit our website to upload your CV and complete the questions and tasks below. 

Please note:

We do not review CVs at this stage of the application process so please be as specific as possible about your experience.

Do not use AI to generate your answers – we compare answers to AI generated answers, and through reviewing lots of applications we quickly spot what's been generated by AI.

• With reference to examples of your recent experience, what would make you an excellent candidate for this role? (250 words)

• Complete the four tasks in this document (max 250 words per task) 

Stage 2: Task

• 2 weeks to do a set of tasks that we’ll give you if you pass the first stage.

• Tasks will be sent out after the application deadline. 

Stage 3: Video call interview (1 hour) 
 

• Q&A from a panel of three, including questions about your experiences and how these relate to the role, and scenario questions based on common situations you might face (plus time for your questions)

• Video interviews will take place w/c 12th January 2026.

Are you an experienced Digital Product Manager looking for an exciting opportunity to help develop digital products and services? If so, join Shelter and you could soon be supporting our income generation, advocacy campaigns and advice services.

About the role

Reporting to the Digital Product and Delivery Lead, you’ll be at the centre of a multidisciplinary digital team, developing products and services to support Shelter’s income generation, advocacy campaigns and advice services.

As part of the Digital Team, you’ll work with disciplines including front and back-end development and user-centred designers, as well as with adjacent teams of specialists in marketing, creative, and campaigning teams.

You’ll develop Shelter’s ability to be user and data-led, leading on the planning, delivery, maintenance, and optimisation of a range of digital products.

Role specifics

A passionate champion of agile product design, you are used to being flexible within a range of business settings and constraints. Through extensive experience collaborating with experts in cross-functional teams, you’ll understand how to successfully bring together different technical specialists and business stakeholders, enabling them to work together towards a common aim.

You’ll have a solid knowledge of product design and development, including facilitating, ideation, and scoping. You will have worked on complex projects with a range of technologies and understand how strategic requirements, business analysis, systems thinking and user insight can be translated into full-stack solutions.

 An excellent communicator, you can advocate for a particular approach while building constructive relationships. Able to balance dependencies and priorities, we’ll look to you to develop a clear roadmap, that everyone can get behind, to deliver on time and budget.

Apply to be part of our team and be the change you want to see in society.

Benefits 

We offer a wide range of benefits, including 30 days of annual leave, enhanced family friendly policies, pension and interest free travel loans. Our employees also have access to a tenancy deposit loan, payroll giving, cycle to work scheme and an employee assistance programme.

We are happy to talk about flexible working, personal growth, and to promote a workplace where you can be yourself and achieve success based only on your merit.

About the team

The Digital team sit alongside our Content and User Experience team, our Strategic Evaluation, Learning and Insight team and our CRM team, within Shelter’s Digital and Audience Engagement (DAE) sub-directorate. DAE is one of three sub-directorates that make up our wider Communications, Policy and Campaigns (CPC) department.

About Shelter

Home is a human right. It’s our foundation and where we thrive. Yet everyday millions of people are being devastated by the housing emergency.

We exist to defend the right to a safe home. Because home is everything.

We need ambitious, passionate people to join us. This is your chance to play a part in the fundamental change we are striving to achieve.

Our enemy is the social injustice at the core of the escalating housing emergency. To win this fight, we must be representative of the people we are here to help and those who support our movement. In all our people decisions, we take pride in being inclusive, equitable and transparent. We are committed to combating racism both within and outside Shelter. We welcome you on our journey to becoming truly anti-racist.

Safeguarding statement

Safeguarding is everyone's business. Shelter is committed to protecting the health, wellbeing and human rights of those we support, and enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect. All our staff will be expected to observe professional standards of behaviour and conduct their work in line with our Safeguarding Policies. 

Shelter does not accept unsolicited CVs from external recruitment agencies nor accept the fees associated with them.

Product Manager – HOSTHub Lead  

Reports to: Operations Director (Head of Delivery)  
Contract: 0.6  
Location: Remote (UK or International (GMT +3/-3)  

Interview Process: Will commence in the New Year 

Role Purpose  

As Product Manager  HOSTHub Lead, you will drive the vision, design, and delivery of HOSTHub, HOST’s secure digital platform for global civil society operations.  

HOSTHub is the central nervous system of HOST - connecting partners, funders, and internal teams across finance, legal, and operations. You will lead the platform’s development and optimisation, ensuring every user journey is clear, intuitive, and aligned with HOST’s empowering, expert, and empathetic values.  

Working closely with the Partnerships and Engagement teams, along with our development contractors, you’ll translate user needs into product strategy, coordinate with the external development team, and deliver tools that make life easier for changemakers, funders, and the HOST team.  

This is a strategic, high-impact role for someone who can think systemically, act decisively, and balance big-picture design with hands-on delivery.  

  

Core Responsibilities  

1. Product Vision and Strategy  

Lead on the design, roadmap, and vision of HOSTHub as HOST’s flagship digital platform.  

Translate HOST’s organisational goals into a clear, scalable, and user-focused product strategy.  

Define and own product milestones, prioritising features that improve efficiency, visibility, and impact.  

Ensure HOSTHub reflects HOST’s values secure, transparent, intuitive, and empowering.  

Reporting cadence: Monthly progress and roadmap update to Operations Director and Leadership Team.  

  

2. User Journey and Experience Design  

Lead on designing the end-to-end user experience for hosted partners, funders, and staff.  

Map user journeys across onboarding, finance, compliance, and reporting workflows, identifying pain points and opportunities for improvement.  

Collaborate with the Partnerships and Community Support teams to align HOSTHub with the Hosted Partner and Funder Journeys.  

Work with the Communications Team to ensure all user-facing content is accessible, clear, and on-brand.  

Reporting cadence: Quarterly user feedback and UX improvement report.  

  

3. Development Oversight  

Oversee product design and development process, in coordination with the development team.  

Attend demo and planning sessions each sprint, provide clear prioritisation of activities and ensure that development is rolled out as required.   

Ensure that all Hosted Partner and HOST team voices are included and prioritised into the platform development, acting as central focal point for all HOSThub needs.  

Reporting cadence: Bi-weekly sprint updates; monthly development report.  

  

4. Data, Systems, and Integration  

Work with the Data Analyst to ensure HOSTHub captures accurate, useful data for reporting and impact measurement.  

Integrate Data and Impact measurement needs into the Product Roadmap prioritisation  

Support automation of key workflows across the Delivery and Partnerships Circles, improving speed and reducing manual processes.  

Maintain robust documentation of system architecture and data flows.  

Reporting cadence: Monthly systems performance and data accuracy review.  

  

5. Security, Compliance, and Risk  

Lead on platform security and data protection in collaboration with the Legal Lead.  

Ensure HOSTHub adheres to global data privacy and security standards (GDPR, AML/CTF, etc.). Prioritise required actions within roadmap.  

Conduct regular digital risk assessments and prioritise required actions within roadmap mitigation strategies.  

Lead the incident response process for digital issues or breaches, maintaining transparent communication with leadership.  

Reporting cadence: Quarterly security and compliance review.  

  

6. Cross-Team Collaboration and Capacity Building  

Work across HOST’s teams to ensure HOSTHub serves all service areas - Project Hosting, Hosted Grantmaking, and Capacity Building.  

Develop and deliver internal training sessions to build staff confidence and skills in using HOSTHub.  

Create and maintain onboarding resources, FAQs, and user guides.  

Partner with the Training Lead to embed digital literacy across the organisation and hosted partner community.  

Reporting cadence: Quarterly internal training and adoption report.  

  

7. Continuous Improvement and Innovation  

Monitor emerging technologies and sector best practices to inform HOSTHub’s evolution.  

Evaluate and test new features, integrations, and user needs to maintain product relevance.  

Lead user feedback sessions and platform reviews to ensure HOSTHub grows with HOST’s global operations.  

Drive HOSTHub’s role in enabling a distributed, digital-first delivery model.  

Reporting cadence: Annual product review and roadmap refresh.  

  

Key Relationships  

Internal: Operations Director, Finance Team, Legal Lead, Partnerships Director, Community Support Team, Data Analyst, and Training Lead.  
External: Developers, technical service providers, hosted partners, funders, and contractors.  

  

Performance Indicators  

HOSTHub roadmap milestones delivered on time and within scope.  

90%+ user satisfaction in feedback surveys.  

All major integrations operational and maintained.  

Demonstrated improvements in efficiency and automation across service areas.  

100% compliance with digital security and privacy standards.  

  

Required Experience  

5–8 years’ experience in product management, digital platform delivery, or systems development - ideally within SaaS, fintech, social enterprise, or digital infrastructure contexts.  

Proven track record of delivering complex, multi-stakeholder digital products from concept to launch and iteration.  

Strong understanding of user experience (UX) and user journey design, with practical experience mapping and optimising workflows for multiple user groups.  

Experience managing or coordinating external developers, digital agencies, or tech contractors in remote environments.  

Demonstrated ability to translate user needs into technical requirements, prioritising effectively across competing demands.  

Familiarity with API integrations, database systems, and workflow automation tools (e.g. Zapier, Airtable, or custom integrations).  

Proven success integrating digital tools with finance, CRM, or data systems (e.g. Sage, Salesforce, ClickUp, Zendesk).  

Strong data skills, including experience designing or using dashboards and analytics for performance and reporting.  

Knowledge of security, privacy, and compliance frameworks (e.g. GDPR, ISO, AML/CTF) as they apply to digital systems.  

Excellent project management, prioritisation, and communication skills - able to bridge technical and non-technical audiences.