KEY INFORMATION

Location: Manchester, Bristol, Newcastle, Nottingham, or London

Hours: 37.5 hours

Start date: September 2025 (we are happy to work with you and your notice period)

Duration: Permanent

Salary: £30,645-£33,735 per annum if based in Manchester, Nottingham, Newcastle or Bristol. £33,229-£36,310 if based in London. These pay bandings will be reviewed against inflation trends and market averages in August 2025. All roles also receive a £312 yearly tax-free work-from-home allowance.

Application deadline: Monday, 28th July at 12pm.

This application process consists of 3 stages: written application, telephone interview, Assessment centre (consisting of a video interview and a presentation task)

ABOUT UPREACH

Do you think that your socio-economic background should determine your career prospects?  

upReach’s vision is of a society in which everybody has an equal opportunity to realise their full career potential. Our work is important because, currently, a student from a disadvantaged background who gains a first-class degree from a top university is less likely to secure an elite job than a more privileged student with a 2.2. 

We are an award-winning charity employer working to address this issue in partnership with employers and universities. We help undergraduates from lower socioeconomic backgrounds achieve their career potential by providing an intensive programme of support that addresses socio-economic barriers to graduate employment. 

To find out more about how we support our students, visit our website and read our Annual Report and Impact Report. 

ROLE OVERVIEW

We’re looking for a thoughtful, motivated Junior Product Manager to join the Product Team at upReach.

In this role, you’ll help improve the digital tools we use to support thousands of students from underrepresented backgrounds to access top careers. Working closely with developers, colleagues from the Product Team, and our users themselves, you’ll support the development of products that make a real difference - every day.

You don’t need to have worked in product management before. If you’re excited about using technology to make things better, and you enjoy solving problems and collaborating with others, we’d love to hear from you.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES

You’ll contribute to the development of one of our key products, supporting its continuous improvement from idea to launch and beyond.

This will include:

• Understanding our users' needs by gathering feedback and doing user research

• Writing clear, simple documentation like feature descriptions and user stories

• Testing new features and checking that they meet the goals we’ve set

• Working with developers to bring ideas to life and resolve bugs or issues

• Helping to design better user experiences with visual mockups or process flows

• Keeping things organised, including maintaining a product backlog and roadmap

• Communicating clearly with internal teams and external partners

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

There’s no such thing as a “perfect” candidate. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, including those who may not have followed a traditional path into product or tech.

We’re particularly interested in:

• Curiosity and a desire to learn new things

• Thoughtful problem-solving and attention to detail

• Good communication skills across different audiences

• The ability to organise work and manage multiple tasks

• A genuine interest in technology and social impact

You don’t need prior experience as a Product Manager - but experience or familiarity with any of the following would be helpful:

• Using data to inform decisions

• Writing or testing features in a tech environment

• Understanding users’ needs and turning them into ideas

• Working with developers or digital tools

• Awareness of agile ways of working or UX principles

• Experience in drafting user stories and development briefs.

COMPETENCIES

Within upReach, the Junior Product Manager is an equivalent level to a Junior Manager in other teams. This level involves you demonstrating more leadership capabilities. This includes having ownership of your responsibility area, and demonstrating an ability to informally lead and have positive influence on the wider team. We will be looking for you to demonstrate that you can plan ahead, proactively anticipate upcoming projects or challenges, and problem solve more independently.

upReach have created a Behaviours and Competency Framework to ensure the team have full visibility on the key capabilities required for effective performance, how these connect to our organisational values, and the level required for each band within the organisation. 

Within the Product Team, we’ll support you to apply these behaviours and competencies to product management helping you to learn and develop your skills across four key areas:

• Product Execution – delivering features and solving problems

• User Insight – understanding and representing our users

• Product Strategy – thinking ahead and setting priorities

• Influencing People – working effectively with others

You’ll be encouraged to take ownership of your work, build your confidence, and grow into greater responsibility over time. You’ll also have opportunities to learn from experienced colleagues and contribute to meaningful projects.

Below you will find a summary of the key attributes required at this level and how they relate to specific product competencies:

Essential skills:

• Motivation - Relevant product competencies: 

  • Product Execution

  • User Insight

• Continuous improvement - Relevant product competencies: 

  • Product Execution

• Planning and organising - Relevant product competencies: 

  • Product Execution

  • Product Strategy

• Commitment to social mobility - Relevant product competencies: 

  • User Insight

  • Product Strategy

• Communication - Relevant product competencies: 

  • User Insight

  • Influencing People

• Problem solving & decision making - Relevant product competencies: 

  • Product Execution

  • User Insight

• Innovative - Relevant product competencies: 

  • Product Execution

  • Product Strategy

• Management - Relevant product competencies: 

  • Influencing People

• Leadership - Relevant product competencies: 

  • Influencing People

  • Product Strategy

TEAM CULTURE & BENEFITS: 

By joining the upReach team, you will be joining a team who are committed to supporting you in your career journey and fostering an inclusive culture. 

We offer: 

• Flexible and hybrid working

• Statutory Holiday Entitlement of 25 days, plus bank holidays. This increases to 27 days 2.5 years and then to 30 days after 5 years of working with us.

• Birthday leave and volunteer leave

• Enhanced Parental Leave beyond statutory requirements for all team members. 

• 3% Pension Contribution, which increases to 5% after 5 years of working with us. 

• Cycle-to-work and tech buying schemes.

• Monthly socials

• Dedication to Staff Wellbeing through our Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aid Training and annual wellbeing days

• Summer Hours (early Friday finishes from June to Aug)

• Personal Development Budget, activated after 6 months in the role

• The opportunity to participate in our fantastic staff networks: 

  • Disability and Inclusion Network

  • Diverse Roots Network 

  • Green Network 

  • LGBTQ+ Network

  • Mindfulness Network

  • Parents and Carers Network 

  • Socio-economic Background Network

READY TO APPLY?

We are committed to making our recruitment process inclusive. All applications will be blind screened, and our job packs are available in Braille, large text or another format upon request. We can provide reasonable adjustments throughout our recruitment application process and on the job, and we'll always endeavour to be as accommodating as possible. If you have particular needs or requirements, please get in touch using recruitment@upReach.org.uk.

Applications close on:  Monday, 28th July at 12pm.

If you have any questions regarding the role, please email us at recruitment@upReach.org.uk. 

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

At upReach, we are committed to being an equal opportunities employer and do not discriminate in employment matters on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, age, disability, social background or any other protected class. We celebrate and value the diverse perspectives that people from all backgrounds bring to our team. We are passionate about creating a workplace that is inclusive and reflects the diversity of communities across the UK. Diversity in the workplace creates dynamic and effective organisations and we are actively working to build a more inclusive workforce by continuously improving our recruitment, retention, and development practices. We  particularly encourage applications from individuals from underrepresented groups, including Black, Asian and other ethnic minority backgrounds, those with disabilities , those who are care-experienced, those from low socio-economic backgrounds, and those who are LGBTQIA+. During the application process you will be asked to fill out your diversity information, this will not affect your outcome and cannot be seen by application reviewers and interviewers. All diversity data collected is anonymous.