Product Manager

Working at the RFU means being part of the ‘bigger picture’ at England Rugby: to be rooted in our purpose, which is to enrich lives, introduce more people to rugby union and develop the sport for future generations. If our purpose resonates with you, and you recognise the value that sport can bring to people’s lives, we’d love to work with you. An opportunity has arisen for a Product Manager to join our Digital Technology team.

Job Title : Product Manager
Department : Digital Technology
Reports to : Head of Digital Products
Salary Banding : c. £75,000
Job Level : Guide
Location : This role is contractually based at Allianz Stadium, offering some flexibility to work from home
Employment Type : Permanent
Working Hours : Full Time role, covering 35 hrs per week

Application Information:

• Please submit an anonymised CV (i.e. please exclude personal details). You do not need to submit a cover letter.
• The closing date for applications 26th November 2026 at 12:00PM
• Please note that we reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of applications. We encourage interested candidates to apply as soon as possible.

The Role:

The Rugby Football Union is evolving its digital capabilities to support Strategy 2030, strengthen relationships with England Rugby audiences and enable sustainable commercial value. The Follow and Fund pillars bring together opportunities to grow engagement, develop direct customer relationships and improve the digital journeys that support revenue generation.

The Product Manager – Follow & Fund is accountable for defining product direction, prioritising opportunities and measuring value across both pillars. Working with business stakeholders and multidisciplinary colleagues, the role translates strategic priorities and user needs into an evidence-led product roadmap, clear investment recommendations and measurable outcomes throughout the product lifecycle.

This is a business-facing product role, not ownership of an individual technology platform. Product owns value and priorities; Architecture owns platform direction and standards; Development & Delivery owns execution; and Service Delivery own operational capability, platform backlogs and configuration. The role brings these disciplines together around agreed customer and business outcomes.

The Team:

The Digital Product team sits within Digital Technology. Its purpose is to connect business strategy and user needs with digital investment, ensuring that products deliver demonstrable value rather than simply adding features.

The role works closely with Marketing, Commercial, Venue and customer-facing colleagues, alongside Business Analysts, user experience and research specialists, Architecture, Data, Development & Delivery, Service Delivery and external partners. It leads through collaboration and influence, making priorities, dependencies and trade-offs visible and supporting a consistent approach across shared platforms. The team values constructive challenge, inclusive decision-making, continuous learning and shared accountability for outcomes.

Responsibilities:

Day-to-day responsibilities will include:

• Product direction: Define and communicate a coherent product vision and outcome-led roadmap across Follow and Fund, aligned with Strategy 2030, business priorities and the direction set by the Head of Digital Products.
• Business engagement and demand: Act as the product partner for Follow and Fund stakeholders, aligning with Strategy 2030 and understanding their goals, challenging solution-led requests and shaping a transparent pipeline of user problems and value opportunities.
• Discovery and user insight: Lead proportionate discovery with research, design, analysis and technical colleagues. Use user interviews, behavioural data, market insight and experimentation to validate needs, test assumptions and assess options before committing to delivery.
• Prioritisation: Own the prioritised product opportunity backlog and roadmap, balancing customer value, commercial benefit, risk, effort and available capacity. Make trade-offs across Follow and Fund explicit, agree priorities through the relevant governance and escalate unresolved conflicts.
• Investment and value: Develop evidence-based investment recommendations with business sponsors and Finance, setting out options, expected benefits, costs, assumptions and risks. Monitor value against agreed investment and recommend whether to continue, adapt, defer or stop activity; seek approval within established financial delegations.
• Outcome measurement: Agree success measures, baselines and targets with business owners before delivery. Track engagement, acquisition of direct relationships, retention, conversion, customer experience and revenue contribution as appropriate, distinguishing product contribution from wider business performance.
• Product definition: Work with Business Analysts and design colleagues to turn validated opportunities into clear problem statements, customer journeys, outcome requirements and acceptance criteria. Resolve product-level ambiguity and retain ownership of intended value without duplicating detailed analysis or technical design.
• Shared-platform alignment: Partner with Architecture and Platform Leads to identify capabilities, dependencies and reuse opportunities across the shared technology estate. Align product demand with platform roadmaps and capacity while leaving technical backlog management, configuration and platform direction with the accountable teams.
• Delivery partnership: Maintain product direction through shaping, build, testing and release. Agree scope and value trade-offs with Delivery, contribute to reviews and user acceptance, and confirm whether agreed product outcomes and acceptance criteria have been met. Delivery retains accountability for execution, plans, sequencing and delivery assurance.
• Lifecycle and benefits: Manage products from discovery through launch, adoption, optimisation and retirement. Agree adoption and benefits-realisation actions with business owners, use live-product insight to prioritise improvement and coordinate service-readiness requirements without assuming responsibility for day-to-day support or technical operations.
• Responsible product ownership: Incorporate accessibility, inclusion, privacy, consent, security and supportability into product requirements and prioritisation. Engage the relevant specialists, document risks and dependencies and escalate decisions beyond the role’s authority.
• Stakeholder alignment: Communicate roadmap decisions, progress towards outcomes, dependencies and changes clearly to business and technology colleagues. Work with external partners on product discovery and value assessment, while respecting established supplier, commercial and operational accountabilities.
• Product practice: Contribute to consistent product management standards, planning and governance under the Head of Digital Products. Share learning, coach colleagues in evidence-led decision-making and apply relevant developments in digital products to demonstrable RFU needs.
• Actively collaborate with colleagues to contribute to the development and delivery of the current strategic, business and operational plans.
• Act as an ambassador for, and promote the best interests of the RFU, including the promotion of our culture and core values – This Rose Means Everyone: Put The Team First, Shape The Future, Respect Each Other.
• Undertake other duties as may be required from time to time as are consistent with the responsibilities of the post and the needs of the organisation.

Qualifications, Skills & Experience:

The skills and attributes outlined in this description are not exhaustive and we welcome candidates who can bring different relevant experiences to the role.

Essential:

• Demonstrable experience managing customer-facing digital products across discovery, delivery and live optimisation, with evidence of improved user and business outcomes.
• Ability to translate strategic goals into a product vision, measurable objectives and a prioritised roadmap spanning competing business needs.
• Practical experience of user research, discovery and experimentation, using qualitative and quantitative evidence to validate problems and assess solutions.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary collaboration through influence, working effectively with business stakeholders, analysts, designers, engineers and delivery partners.
• Ability to evaluate value, cost, effort and risk, make transparent prioritisation decisions and constructively challenge requests that do not support agreed outcomes.
• Commercial and analytical capability to develop investment recommendations, define success measures and interpret engagement, retention, conversion and revenue data.
• Experience managing product dependencies and priorities across more than one initiative, making realistic choices within funding and capacity constraints.
• Strong business partnering, relationship building and facilitation skills, building trust and resolving competing stakeholder expectations through evidence and constructive negotiation.
• Clear written, verbal and presentation skills, explaining complex product choices, insights and trade-offs to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Understanding of modern product management and iterative delivery, including the distinction between product value ownership, architecture, delivery execution and platform operations.
• Ability to define clear product requirements and acceptance criteria with specialists and use customer feedback and live performance to guide continuous improvement.
• Working understanding of accessibility, privacy, consent and security considerations in digital customer journeys, with the judgement to involve specialists appropriately.
• Evidence of sound judgement under uncertainty, identifying assumptions, testing options and escalating material risks or decisions beyond delegated authority.
• Commitment to continuous professional development, sharing learning and coaching colleagues to strengthen product practices.
• Ability to use product planning, collaboration and analytics tools to maintain clear priorities, communicate decisions and evaluate outcomes.
• Committed to embodying our culture by using our three core values – Put The Team First, Shape The Future, Respect Each Other – to guide day-to-day decisions, actions and interactions.
• Committed to actively contributing to and building an inclusive culture in the role and in day-to-day behaviours.

Desirable:

• Experience of digital audience growth, direct customer relationships, membership or loyalty experiences.
• Experience improving digital commercial journeys, such as ticketing, premium sales, sponsorship activation or customer conversion.
• Experience working across connected customer relationship management, digital experience, identity and data platforms, without needing to specialise in a particular technology.
• Experience of product management within an organisation undergoing operating-model or digital transformation.
• Relevant product management, discovery or analytics training, or equivalent practical learning.
• Understanding of sport, fan engagement or a membership-led organisation; prior rugby experience is not essential.

Additional Information:

• All role holders must maintain an appropriate standard of confidentiality. Any disclosures of confidential information (including personal information kept on computer or other media) made unlawfully outside the proper course of duty will be treated as a serious disciplinary offence.
• We want you to have every opportunity to demonstrate your skills, ability and potential. If there is anything we could do to support you through your application or to provide the best environment for your interviews, including assistance or adjustment, please reach out to recruitment@rfu.com.
• During your application, we will ask questions about your identity. This information is considered highly confidential and will not be seen by hiring managers. You can find out more about why we ask these questions here.