Jen is one of our new starters, joining our Tech & Product team as a Product Owner
Can you talk us briefly through what you do here at notonthehighstreet?
I’m a Product Owner and I work with our Landing and Loyalty team. My role involves lots of stakeholder management and understanding what their requirements are for the site — gathering requirements, understanding what the overall product vision is and developing a strategy for meeting those initiatives, then relaying that back to the tech team. I work with a team of great developers, guiding them on what they need to develop and explaining the “why” we are developing certain things and helping them to understand how what they’re doing is going to have a direct impact on business KPI’s etc.
We know you’re only new, but what will a typical working day look like for you?
Every morning, at 9.15 we have a stand up. We work with a board on Jira which breaks down all of the daily tasks for each member of the team — i.e. what’s in the backlog and what we are working on, so we can track where we are with everything. Then we’ll all crack on with the rest of the day. My day might consist of meetings with different stakeholders, gathering requirements, updating a lot of people and reviewing our roadmap every few weeks to make sure we’re on track. I’m tasked with looking at future work too; it could be the next sprint coming up, or the next quarter. There is lots of organisation!
Where and what were you doing before?
I’ve just come from a start-up building a SAS product. They’re actually in BETA at the moment but essentially they are products that allow you to see spaces differently. It was an early stage start up, an exciting place to work and extremely fast moving. It was very much a test-and-learn environment.
How did you get to where you are today?
I went to university and did a broad management degree, then got into Marketing which wasn’t for me. After that, I went into digital project management which I really enjoyed. It was actually one of my old managers who initially mentioned Product Management to me. I dipped into optimising websites and AB testing and little bits of this and that. I thankfully had the support of the company I was in before, was put into the role with them and then the rest was history!
What was it about Product Ownership that you really enjoyed?
How fast moving it is. Technology is evolving all the time so you really can’t sit back. You have to keep yourself really educated; researching into new technologies constantly to keep up-to-date. Things are always changing here and I just find it all really interesting.
What’s the most challenging thing about your job?
Probably the stakeholder management aspect. When you are working with senior leadership and they have a strong opinion, you sometimes have to have a quite a difficult conversation with them explaining why things can and can’t go ahead. This can often be difficult, but it’s a really important part of my role.
Why did you apply for a role with notonthehighstreet?
I actually walked past the offices a few weeks ago and I thought — I bet working there would be really fun, I wonder if they’ve got any roles. Weirdly, when I looked you did and it all just fell into place!
What was it about notonthehighstreet that made you join?
For me, it was to do with the company values — they represent everything I stand for. The company focuses on collaboration and working together as a team and it was that kind of thing that really appealed to me because I find it much easier to work in those kind of environments, rather than somewhere really competitive.
What has happened over your first week?
It has been incredible organised. Charlotte [Head of Product Management] has set up a bunch of meeting with different people in the business. The set up here is slightly different to a normal retail environment so I’m also trying to get my head around that too. Things like understanding what merchandising means here in comparison with what it means elsewhere etc. has taken some time to get my head around.
What have you most enjoyed since joining the company?
How lovely the team have been. I honestly feel like I’ve been in the company for longer because they have fully taken me under their wing — even though it’s only been a week! I feel at home already.
If you could give a prospective candidate one piece of advice before interviewing, what would you give them?
Do your research into the company values, it’s a really big thing here. When NOTHS is hiring, it’s really about a good fit so really do your research into whether you’re going to be the right fit or not.
What are you looking forward to over the next 12 months?
Just really getting embedded into the team and getting stuck in. I also think with our new CEO Barrie joining, I’m sure there will be things filtering down over the next few months, and I’m sure there will be some exciting things coming our way.
