Director of Product & Delivery

Our Vision 

uMed seeks to be a cornerstone of the efforts to reduce the burden of disease for patients by radically reducing the barriers to knowledge creation. 

Join us. 

Our Culture 

We are a group of trusting and inclusive individuals, who encourage, are creative and want to make a difference in the world. We do not take ourselves too seriously and we love to tell a story. We innovate, work hard and take risks but at the forefront is a joint mission to be part of groundbreaking research to ultimately advance and develop science to support those most in need. 

What we do 

The process of conducting clinical research is incredibly expensive and time consuming, limiting our efforts to find answers to the world’s most important medical challenges. uMed is a clinical research network fit for the 21st century, underpinned by cutting edge technology that connects patients, electronic health data and research groups across the world. Our rapidly growing network covers 90 GP sites in the UK representing over 2,000,000 patients with our first US healthcare system joining us this year bringing a further 5M patients. uMed was founded by an NHS doctor, supported by a world class board and backed by London and US based venture capital. 

Life at uMed 

No matter what an organisation is trying to achieve, success or failure is inextricably linked to the people within it. For a young company, there is no redundancy, so this relationship is turned up to eleven. 

At uMed we punch well above our weight due to the quality of the team we have built, and their dedication to our shared vision. Recognising this dedication, we have a fantastic benefits package and accompanying culture at uMed. This includes 

• Private Health Insurance to keep you covered
• Pension Plan to help you secure your future
• 25 days of paid time off for your well-deserved breaks
• Work From Home equipment budget for a comfortable working space
• Flexible Benefits platform tailored to your needs
• Enjoy your Birthday Day Off on us!
• Eye-test vouchers for Specsavers to look after your eyesight
• Coworking policy – catch up with the team as regularly as once a week
• Enhanced Parental Leave

The role

The Director of Product & Delivery is responsible for leading the successful execution of uMed's application product roadmap, ensuring that the Application Product, Delivery, and Product Operations functions work effectively together to deliver high-quality outcomes.

Reporting to the Chief Product & Technology Officer (CPTO), this role provides day-to-day leadership of the Application Product, Delivery and Product Operations functions. Working closely with the CPTO, the Director will ensure strategic priorities are translated into achievable delivery plans and executed predictably, efficiently and to a high standard.

This is a hands-on leadership role that combines operational leadership with active involvement throughout the product delivery lifecycle. The Director provides leadership, coaching, and support across product planning, delivery planning, release readiness, and UAT, ensuring the team has the clarity, structure, and support needed to deliver successfully. The role will lead the Application Product Manager, Product Designer, Scrum Master, and Product Operations Specialist.

The Director will work closely with Application Engineering, QA, and the Data team to manage dependencies and ensure the successful delivery of application roadmap priorities.

Requirements

Product Planning and Execution

• Work closely with the CPTO to plan, coordinate, and deliver the application product roadmap.
• Ensure agreed priorities are translated into clear, sequenced and achievable delivery plans.
• Support the Application Product Manager and Product Designer in ensuring initiatives, epics and stories are sufficiently defined before development begins.
• Ensure business requirements, operational considerations, dependencies and compliance requirements are understood and incorporated into delivery plans.
• Maintain visibility of progress, risks, blockers and resource constraints across the application roadmap.
• Escalate significant delivery issues to the CPTO with clear recommendations and proposed mitigations.
• Support prioritization decisions by providing visibility of delivery impact, dependencies and team capacity.
• Build effective working relationships with Engineering, Data, QA, Compliance and other business functions to ensure successful product delivery.
  

Delivery Leadership

• Lead the day-to-day execution of the application product roadmap.
• Work closely with the Scrum Master to maintain effective planning, refinement, sprint and release cadences.
• Ensure delivery commitments are realistic, clearly understood and actively managed.
• Monitor progress against agreed plans and intervene early where delivery is at risk.
• Remove blockers and coordinate the resolution of cross-functional dependencies.
• Work closely with Engineering, QA and the Data team to ensure work progresses effectively from definition through development, testing and release.
• Ensure releases are appropriately planned, tested, communicated and operationally ready.
• Drive continuous improvement of delivery processes, team effectiveness and ways of working.
• Balance delivery pace with quality, technical sustainability and operational stability.
  

Product Leadership

• Coach and support the product team throughout the product lifecycle.
• Provide hands-on support during periods of high delivery demand, complex initiatives or where additional leadership is needed.
• Act as an escalation point for product decisions, delivery challenges and prioritization.
• Ensure usability, accessibility and consistency are considered throughout the development lifecycle. 
• Participate in UAT, release readiness and key product activities to help ensure successful delivery.
• Maintain a detailed understanding of the application product, user workflows and operational processes to effectively support the team and remove delivery barriers.
• Ensure the product team maintains a consistent, high-quality approach to product management, product design, and delivery.
  

Platform Operations

• Lead the Platform Operations function and ensure operational product activities are completed accurately and consistently.
• Oversee platform configuration and other operational processes owned by the Product team.
• Ensure appropriate controls, review processes and documentation are in place for configuration changes.
• Support the operational readiness of new features, studies and product releases.
• Ensure internal documentation, release notes, user guidance and process documentation are accurate and kept up to date.
• Identify opportunities to reduce manual effort, improve controls and automate repeatable operational processes.
• Ensure recurring operational issues are identified and addressed through sustainable improvements rather than manual workarounds
  

Team Leadership & Development

• Directly manage the Application Product Manager, Product Designer, Scrum Master and Platform Operations Specialist.
• Set clear objectives, priorities and expectations across the team.
• Provide regular coaching, mentoring and constructive feedback.
• Ensure responsibilities are clearly defined and effectively coordinated across the function.
• Build a collaborative, accountable and delivery-focused culture.
• Support recruitment, onboarding and capability development as the Product function grows.
• Foster continuous learning and continuous improvement across the team.
  

Essential Skills & Experience

• Experience working within healthcare, life sciences or another regulated industry. 
• Significant experience leading Product, Delivery or Program functions within a software, SaaS or technology organization.
• Proven track record of successfully delivering complex software products from concept through to release.
• Strong practical experience of product management, including requirements definition, backlog management, prioritization, story writing, refinement and UAT.
• Experience managing multidisciplinary teams including Product Managers, Product Designers, Delivery professionals and Platform Operations.
• Excellent planning, organization and prioritization skills.
• Strong understanding of Agile software development and modern product delivery practices.
• Ability to manage multiple concurrent initiatives, competing priorities and cross-functional dependencies.
• Strong leadership, coaching and people development skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Comfortable operating as a hands-on leader within a scaling organization.
• Pragmatic, delivery-focused and able to balance strategic objectives with operational execution.
• Experience working in a start-up or scale-up environment is desirable.