Product Manager - fDi Intelligence

About the FT

The Financial Times is one of the world’s leading business news organisations, recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy. The FT has a record paying readership of one million, three-quarters of which are digital subscriptions. It is part of Nikkei Inc., which provides a broad range of information, news and services for the global business community. We have offices in more than 35 cities, including London, New York, Hong Kong, Beijing, Manila, Sofia, San Francisco and Tokyo. Join us and find an inclusive and fast-paced environment with unique opportunities to support every step of your career. Learn more about the FT, including announcements and career opportunities, at aboutus.ft.com.

Job Purpose

An exciting opportunity is available for a Product Manager to help accelerate our growth within the fDi Intelligence portfolio.

A high-level product vision exists but your job will be to further define and execute on this vision,  strategy, and roadmap for the next 1 to 3 years. The role will be based either in our Sofia office where the FT Specialist product managers are based, and may require occasional travel to the UK and Irish offices to engage with the commercial and technology teams.You will play a key role working with senior commercial, and editorial stakeholders, customer experience and technical teams to develop new ways to acquire and engage customers. The role requires experience leading distributed teams in new product development from inception through to post-launch optimisation. You are a highly skilled communicator with proven ability to influence both multi-functional team members and stakeholders at a senior level. 

About fDi Intelligence & FT specialist

fDi Intelligence part of the FT Specialist portfolio of the Financial Times Group (FT Group). The FT Group, part of Nikkei Inc., includes the Financial Times, the FT Specialist portfolio and a number of other services and joint ventures that provide essential news and analysis for the global business community. The Financial Times is one of the world’s leading business news organisations. Nikkei Inc. 2022 sales were $1.3 billion, and the company employs over 3,000 staff.

fDi Intelligence is the largest private sector FDI organisation globally with over 100 full time staff specialising in FDI. Following the acquisition of Wavteq’s consulting and product business on 1st March 2023, fDi Intelligence provides the world’s most comprehensive offering of services related to foreign direct investment (FDI).

fDi Intelligence helps investment promotion agencies (IPAs), economic development organisations (EDOs) and other governmental bodies attract FDI. We also help companies, and their advisors make informed site selection decisions and industry professionals across all industries follow our news, data trends and analysis. fDi Intelligence has 100s of IPA and EDO clients from all regions of the world and clients include all major professional services and site selection firms.

fDi Intelligence provides the following key services, the first two of which are most relevant for this assignment:

• FDI strategies
• FDI data and software tools
• GIS and site selection tools
• FDI events
• Multimedia content
• Editorial coverage

https://www.fdiintelligence.com/products-and-services

In this role you will

• Fully integrate yourself into the world of fDi Intelligence and Investment promotion, understanding the customer’s requirements to best inform the commercial and technology priorities.
• Work closely with senior stakeholders to set business goals and success metrics.
• Analyse the online public facing website(s) for fDi Intelligence and work with marketing and commercial teams to evaluate the effectiveness of the user journeys and entry points to the business and the presentation of the diverse product portfolio.
• Collaborate with multiple teams across technology and commercial to rapidly test hypotheses for reaching new customers
• Use insights from analytics, user research and the competitor landscape to inform decisions
• Create revenue opportunities by testing a range of acquisition based initiatives
• Maintain keen awareness of local digital trends and their potential for commercial application and improved user journeys
• Understand the priorities of the overall division with respect to each of the teams, making connections in the relationships between streams of work; spotting opportunities to better align for bigger greater impact

What you will bring to the role

You’re used to balancing the needs of the business against the needs of the customer. You care about the bottom line but you also care about maintaining a great user experience – and you know how to deliver on both. You know when to employ different approaches to product management, and can balance lean-style MVP experimental work with focused iteration.

You’ll provide support to your teams by setting clear objectives and key results, frequently monitoring progress, learning and adjusting course when needed.

Candidates must be able to demonstrate an understanding of digital and market trends and their significance to FT Products.

Essential

• A proven track record in data-informed product management role (3 - 5 years) 
• You’re at home setting hypotheses, testing riskiest assumptions and breaking down complex problems into small steps 
• Knowledge of the entire product lifecycle from insights/analysis, roadmap development, launch tactics, post launch iteration 
• Highly developed influencing and negotiation skills
• You understand what it takes to get teams performing well, and at pace
• Great communication skills – able to clearly write and present documents targeted at various audiences
• Proactive, outcome-driven, with a can-do attitude
• Intellectually curious, with an ability to quickly spot opportunities and see them through to their natural conclusion 
• The ability to work independently, but with regular support and collaboration with their manager 
• The ability to balance workloads and priorities against incoming requests that may arise within product & technology departments
• Experience in working closely with commercial (B2B, B2C Marketing, Advertising) and Editorial teams to balance their needs against user needs.
• A proven ability to quickly get up and running in a domain and identify trends and opportunities in complex organisations

Desirable

• Experience of working within high-growth digital businesses, ideally in media/publishing/startup culture 
• You’ll cope well with ambiguity in a rapidly changing business environment 
• Experience producing strong business justifications

What’s in it for you? Our Benefits

• Annual bonus scheme
• 24/7 Employee Assistance Program
• 25 days annual paid leave
• Private Health Insurance
• Life Insurance
• Enhanced Maternity and Paternity Leave policy
• Food Vouchers
• Multisport Card
• Work-life balance and work from home practice
• Both in house and external training programs
• Your own training dedicated budget (for conferences, courses etc.)

Further Information

At the FT, we are committed to providing an inclusive working environment for all. We are an equal opportunities employer that seeks to recruit and appoint the best talent regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio-economic background, religion and/or belief. We also promote flexible working and will consider specific requests around flexibility for all roles where it can be accommodated. We aim to treat all employees in a fair and consistent manner, promote good working relationships to encourage high standards of conduct and performance within a work environment free from harassment, bullying and discrimination. Please let us know if you require any adjustments as part of the application process or to enable you to attend an interview. If you would like to discuss your requirements, or have any questions, please contact a member of our HR team who will be happy to help.