Senior Technical Project Manager - 6 months FTC

We’re looking for an experienced Senior Technical Project Manager to support us on a 6 months fixed-term contract, where you lead the delivery of firmware and cloud services for Yoto Players. You will drive cross-functional teams to ensure timely delivery of high quality, seamless, innovative experiences for Yoto families. You'll be joining the SW Engineering Team collaborating closely with the HW Project Manager, HW Engineering team, Product team and other departments. You will also be responsible for company-wide projects, improving visibility and alignment and escalation of critical issues.

About Yoto

Yoto is a screen-free interactive audio platform for kids. We make carefully connected audio players that kids control, with no microphones, cameras or ads. We have a catalogue of audio that inspires creative play and learning with 1,000+ titles in our card store from top creators, publishers and labels - think Disney, Marvel, Roald Dahl and Universal Music. We also create Yoto Originals like BrainBots.

• Voted the 14th fastest-growing private software technology company in Britain in The Sunday Times 100 Tech 2025; and named the 94th fastest-growing company in Europe in the prestigious FT1000.

• Ranked 9th in Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies in 2024; and featured in the Sifted 100 fastest-growing startups across the UK&I by revenue growth.

• Featured in Bloomberg’s 25 UK startups to watch in 2023; and ranked second fastest growing tech company in the UK in the Deloitte Fast50.

• Named one of TIME Magazine’s Top 100 Inventions of 2020.

• We’re over 200 employees spread across the world.. and growing!

We’re on a mission to be the soundtrack of childhood, and help families on their own unique adventures. By creating products that inspire independent play, we help families discover and grow with an inspiring world of audio - and we would like you to help us achieve it!

Yoto’s Technology Team

You’ll be working as part of the Player cluster reporting to the Head of Engineering in this cluster. The Player cluster is made up of five teams, three of which are Player/firmware focused teams:

• Plex (Player Experience): a fully cross functional team of player OS engineers, backend engineers, app engineers and QA whose mission is to build playback features and maintain the customer experience of the audio player

• SuPlex (Setup Player Experience): a fully cross functional team of player OS engineers, backend engineers, app engineers and QA whose mission is to build and engage customer with core Player capabilities such as the nightlight, innovative “green button” and setup.

• Yoto OS: a team focused on building and maintaining the lower level Yoto OS that makes capabilities available to the Plex & SuPlex teams

You will be working across these teams coordinating efforts to hit key dates for new features. While the Hardware teams are not part of this cluster, you will be working alongside the Hardware PM to coordinate software & hardware efforts.

All teams have the same composition of Product Managers, Tech Leads, Lead Engineers, UX Designers, QA and Engineers, typically working in a Scrum agile environment.


What you’ll be doing:

• Lead and manage the end-to-end lifecycle of hardware delivery projects from a software/firmware and back-end perspective, from inception through launch and post-release support

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including hardware, firmware, back-end, QA, product management, and supply chain to define project scope, technical requirements, and deliverables

• Work in tandem with the Hardware project manager to align timelines, dependencies, and milestones.

• Unpick ambiguity & components, identify & manage stakeholders while pitching communication to the audience in front of you, facilitation of meetings & workshops to bring stakeholders & teams together.

• Translate product and technical requirements into actionable roadmaps and sprint plans across software teams.

• Participate in the quarterly OKR process.

• Develop and maintain detailed project plans, schedules, and budgets, ensuring alignment across all teams and timely delivery of milestones

• Proactively identify, track, and mitigate project risks and dependencies, developing contingency plans as needed

• Ensure comprehensive, up-to-date project documentation and effective communication of project status, issues, and risks to all stakeholders, including executive leadership

• Own delivery schedules for software components (FW, OTA update pipeline, provisioning systems, backend APIs) tied to HW milestones like EVT, DVT, PVT, MP.

• Collaborate, manage and co-ordinate with internal teams and external vendors across hardware engineering, supply chain, and test partners to align FW delivery with factory programming, test/certification, validation testing, and in-field reliability.

• Support Executive and Management teams in defining, aligning and tracking OKRs across the organisation.

• Facilitate or assist with company-wide critical projects

• Analyse project performance and prepare post-project retros to identify lessons learned and areas for improvement.

What you’ll bring:

• Proven track record managing complex technical projects with embedded software, backend APIs, and hardware integration, delivering high-quality products on time

• Strong understanding of firmware development processes, embedded systems, and back-end architectures

• Excellent communication, organisational, and stakeholder management skills with an ability to influence across technical and non-technical teams.

• Experience working with and managing external partners across multiple timezones and regions, with the possibility of travel.

• Familiarity with cloud-based platforms, SaaS, and secure device connectivity is a plus

• Ability to manage ambiguity and drive alignment in fast-paced product development cycles.

• Excellent project management skills (Agile, Jira, Linear, Notion, Gantt, RAID management).

Nice to have:

• Prior experience in consumer electronics or IoT product delivery

• Familiarity with regulatory compliance processes, especially software’s role in device certification.

• Familiarity with manufacturing processes, factory firmware flashing, and production testing.

• Experience with wireless protocols (BLE, Wi-Fi), real-time operating systems (RTOS), and secure device provisioning

• Good understanding of modern back-end technologies, cloud infrastructure, and CI/CD pipelines

Salary: £75,000 - £85,000 (pro-rata) based on experience. We never want to miss out on great candidates, so don’t let our banding put you off reaching out - there’s sometimes flexibility for the right fit!

How we use AI at Yoto

We think using AI to work smarter is part of the job.

At Yoto, we use AI to help us move faster and reduce manual work so we can focus our time on creativity, problem-solving and impact. We don’t want to use AI to cut corners - it’s about smart usage that makes space for the work that really matters. Our intention is to be thoughtful about how we use AI. We treat its outputs as a starting point, not the final answer, and we take care to use it responsibly - especially given the trust families place in Yoto.

We don’t expect everyone to be an AI expert, but we do expect people to be curious, to experiment, and to keep improving how they work. If you prefer to do everything manually, you might find our pace and expectations challenging.

The magic at Yoto comes from people working here, not their prompts. AI should help us move faster, not change what makes working here great.

What you can expect from Yoto:

• Flexibility: Hybrid working - expectation of 1 day a week on average in our London office, but you are welcome to come in more than this. How you meet the minimum expectation is up to you, to ensure you're happy and productive in your role whilst also getting that vital face time with your colleagues. Take advantage of our ‘work from anywhere’ policy to work from a different location for up to 6 weeks every year. Summer Hours policy to use between the months of June and August.

• Financial: Receive Income Protection, covering long term sickness for up to 2 years and company sick pay that increases with length of service. Life Assurance cover from day one of your service. Workplace Pension offering up to to 3% employer contributions, following probation. Generous employee referral bonus scheme.

• Health & Wellness: Private Medical Insurance via Aviva, or a Wellbeing Allowance to be used for memberships, subscriptions, treatment or therapy. Access to 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) through WeCare. Bike to work scheme to promote healthier lifestyles.

• Time Off: 25 days of holiday per year, plus bank holidays. On top of this, you also receive your birthday off, plus 1 extra day of holiday for every year worked after you hit your 2 year anniversary, up to 5 extra days. After 4 years of service, you are also eligible for our sabbatical policy offering up to 3 months' of unpaid sabbatical.

• Helping Families: Variety of family-friendly leave, including enhanced maternity, paternity, adoption, fertility, pregnancy loss and carers leave. Unlock savings with our workplace nursery scheme, designed to support parents of preschool-aged children.

• People & Planet: Up to 2 volunteer days per year. A Book Allowance of up to £50 a year to contribute to your professional development.

• Fun Perks: You receive your very own Yoto player and starter pack of cards! Regular company socials and celebrations, including our annual YotoFest!

Equity and Diversity

At Yoto, we love creating a world where childhood is rich with discovery and joy. We’re also passionate about building a workplace where everyone can thrive - both professionally and personally. We value flexibility and give our team the freedom to balance life and work in ways that suit them.

We're committed to fostering a safe, diverse, and inclusive environment where all individuals, regardless of their background, feel valued and supported. Our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion group holds bi-monthly forums to elevate diverse voices and perspectives, ensuring everyone at Yoto feels heard, respected, and appreciated.

We don’t just embrace differences - we celebrate them. We share audio content from a vibrant and diverse community of creators (check out our DEI selection), and we are building a team that reflects that same diversity. We invite candidates from all walks of life to explore opportunities with us and join a company that champions flexibility, equity, and inclusion. Take a look at our website for more information on our approach to People and Planet.