CPO/CTPO

Posted 2 hours 52 minutes ago by Trades Workforce Solutions

£80,000 - £100,000 Annual
Permanent
Full Time
Other
London, Hackney, United Kingdom, E8 4TA
Job Description
2. Role 1: Strategic Product Leader (Contract Perm) Core Objective
  • Define where and how KWS should build automation led QA products for B2B gaming customers.
  • Help the business move from services led delivery to a productised / SaaS style offering.
Key Characteristics
  • CTPO level profile (senior, credible, board facing).
  • Strong Product Management fundamentals.
  • Deep QA / testing / automation background.
  • Ideally from a gaming or interactive entertainment environment.
  • Clear understanding of B2B customers (selling into studios, publishers, enterprise clients).
Stakeholder Exposure
  • Presenting directly to:
    • Board
    • EQT (PE sponsor)
  • Working closely with:
    • CEO
    • Group Transformation Officer
    • CDO (particularly on pitches)
  • Will primarily engage with 3 business divisions, with emphasis on the Globalise division.
Delivery Reality
  • High political complexity internally.
  • Business does not yet know where to build (tech, geography, ownership).
  • Contractor required initially to:
    • Stay neutral
    • Cut through politics
    • Shape strategy without long term internal bias
Contract Structure
  • 6 month contract, strong likelihood of extension / contract to perm.
  • Budget exists but sits within 2026 planning.
3. Geography & Operating Model Challenges
  • Distributed engineering teams:
    • Melbourne, Australia
    • Montreal, Canada
    • UK
  • Key friction points:
    • Melbourne team resistant to late night calls (e.g. 9pm local).
    • Montreal + UK teams operate on more traditional overlap hours.
  • One of the Product Leader's challenges will be to:
    • Link Australian and Montreal engineers
    • Establish workable collaboration models without forcing unsustainable hours.
4. Commercial & Cultural Considerations
  • Selling technology led services into creative organisations:
    • Internally (within Keywords studios)
    • Externally (B2B customers)
  • Requires someone comfortable operating between:
    • Engineers
    • Creative teams
    • Senior commercial stakeholders
  • Must translate technical automation value into commercial and creative outcomes.
Job Specification: Product & GTM Director (AuQA) (Contractor) Strategic Context:

The AuQA initiative (Mighty TestBot & TestBuddy) is the spearhead of this transformation. This role is tasked with delivering a 20% productivity uplift across our 13,000 strong specialist base, moving the needle from "selling hours" to "selling outcomes."

The Mandate:
  • Operational Excellence: Realise a $13M-$14M productivity impact by integrating Autonomous QA tools into the Globalise division's core workflow.
  • Commercial Evolution: Pivot the business from Time & Materials (T&M) to Outcome Based Pricing (e.g., cost per automated test suite, cost per bug free build).
  • Global Orchestration: Manage the "Golden Triangle" of stakeholders: Melbourne (Engineering), Montreal (Pilot Ops), and UK/US (Strategic Clients).
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):
  1. Productivity Target: Evidence of a 20% reduction in manual effort for automated tasks within 12 months.
  2. Commercial Conversion: Secure at least three "Platinum" client partnerships for the AuQA productised offering.
  3. Roadmap Velocity: Successful transition of "Mighty" tools from internal prototypes to market ready SaaS lite products.
Candidate Requirements (The "Dan" Criteria):
  • Zero Learning Curve: Must have led similar global digital transformations in B2B service or gaming sectors.
  • Communication Mastery: Ability to navigate the "unsociable hours" required to sync Australia and Canada from a UK base without losing strategic focus.
  • Financial Literacy: Deep understanding of how digital efficiency impacts the P&L and the ability to articulate "Value Based Pricing" to skeptical clients and internal sales teams.
Key Responsibilities:
  • Product Evolution & Market Fit: Transform internal engineering outputs into a client ready product suite. Partner with "Platinum" clients to co develop features that solve real world AAA development bottlenecks.
  • The 20% Productivity Mandate: Define, track, and deliver a robust roadmap specifically designed to extract 20% efficiency gains across the Globalise division.
  • Strategic GTM & Pricing: Design and test "Outcomes Based" pricing models that protect margins while providing a competitive edge in a consolidating market.
  • Global Technical Orchestration: Act as the strategic bridge between our Melbourne based Engineering team and the Montreal based Pilot operations.
  • Budgetary Stewardship: Manage the initiative against the allocated digital investment budget, prioritising features that drive the highest ROI and client stickiness.
Candidate Profile:
  • Strategic Resilience: Capable of managing a complex global stakeholder map across multiple time zones (AU/CA/UK).
  • B2B Product Visionary: Experience in shifting traditional service organisations toward digital product models.
  • Outcome Obsessed: You don't just deliver features; you deliver measurable productivity and business value.
  • Technically Credible: Sufficiently versed in AI/ML and Agentic workflows to challenge engineering timelines and evaluate third party 'Buy' opportunities.
Strategic Strategy Visual: The Transition to Outcome Based Value

To ensure the candidate understands the commercial shift we are demanding, I will be looking for their ability to execute against this model:

My Assessment of the Selection Process:

Since you've confirmed we are moving to Outcome Based Pricing, this candidate must be a "Commercial Product Manager," not just a "Technical Product Manager." They need to be able to talk to a CFO about ROI just as fluently as they talk to a Developer about API integration.