Senior Product Manager, Recommendations

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Glasgow, GBR, G511DA
London, GBR, W1A 1AA
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, GBR, NE991RN
Salford, GBR, M50 2QH

BBC EXTEND

This role is advertised as part of our BBC Extend programme for disabled people. To apply for this role you should identify as deaf, disabled or neurodivergent and must meet either the definition of disability in the Equality Act (2010) , or the definition of disability in the Disability Discrimination Act (1995) if applying in Northern Ireland. You're broadly defined as disabled under both acts if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term negative or adverse effect on your ability to do normal daily activities. This definition includes both apparent and non-apparent conditions and impairments, and medical conditions such as Cancer, HIV or Multiple Sclerosis.

We are committed to making the process of applying for this role as accessible as possible. If you need to discuss adjustments or access requirements for the application process, or have any questions about our Extend programme, please .

The BBC are fully committed to providing workplace adjustments to help eliminate barriers in the workface that disabled people face. To do this, we have our own dedicated BBC Access and Disability Service that provides assessments and support throughout employment with us. If you are successful in applying for this role and require workplace adjustments, we will work with you to get your adjustments in place.

If you'd like more information on BBC Extend, please visit the BBC Extend webpage . (EXTEND code: EX2324).

JOB PACKAGE

JOB BAND: D
CONTRACT TYPE: 12 month Fixed Term Contract (parental cover)
DEPARTMENT: Product Group
LOCATION:London, Glasgow, Newcastle or Salford- Hybrid
PROPOSED SALARY RANGE: £72,000 - £82,000 depending on relevant skills, knowledge and experience. The expected salary range for this role reflects internal benchmarking and external market insights.

We're happy to discuss flexible working. If you'd like to, please indicate your preference in the application - though there's no obligation to do so now. Flexible working will be part of the discussion at offer stage.

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

Personalisation is central to how the BBC helps each user find engaging content on every visit. This role focuses on building 'real-time' machine learning recommendation capabilities that respond to the moment: personal, contextually relevant, and adaptive to where users are and their behaviour. You'll help ensure our products consistently feel fresh and valuable, so audiences can always discover something that matters to them across BBC iPlayer, Sounds, News, Sport and more. In doing so, you'll further the BBC's public mission by connecting people with trusted, distinctive content in ways that fit their lives.

WHY JOIN THE TEAM
You'll join the Recommendations Group, bringing together product managers, engineers, data scientists, designers and editorial experts, all driven by the same goal: enabling highly personalised experiences that support the BBC's public service mission. We care deeply about craft, curiosity and solving problems, and we partner closely with teams across the BBC to unlock the value of our unparallelled catalogue. Your work will touch millions of people and multiple products, balancing editorial judgement with AI/ML capabilities to create valuable experiences that align with our public service mission.

YOUR KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND IMPACT

• Define the strategy and roadmap for real-time recommendations as a capability, making prioritisation decisions that balance competing needs from users and the business.
• Gain a deep understanding of the data and opportunities, working with editorial and partner product teams to surface the best BBC content for the user across our experiences.
• Work with editorial, design, data and engineering colleagues to balance editorial judgement with AI/ML, creating valuable experiences.
• Define and set clear measures of success, focusing on engagement, retention and meaningful outcomes for users.
• Provide context and leadership to your cross-functional team so they can make great decisions, discover the right solutions and deliver at pace.

YOUR SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE
Essential criteria

• At least 18 months' experience as a product manager in a multidisciplinary squad.
• Experience shaping strategy and making prioritisation calls for user-facing, data-driven products, informed by metrics, insight and experimentation.
• Skilled at delivering value at pace in complex environments, collaborating on details and making tough calls when needed.
• Strong communication skills, including the ability to adapt style for different audiences and write clear, compelling product narratives.
• Experience applying machine learning techniques to shape users' experience (e.g. in recommendations or search).

Desired but not required criteria

• Experience with offline evaluation and experimentation techniques.
• Proven success collaborating with content teams to balance judgement with data-driven approaches.
• Experience partnering with multiple teams to provide user value through platform capabilities or services.
• Background in organisations with a strong product culture.

There will be two stages. The first explores your approach to product management and how you align with BBC values. The second includes a short written task completed in advance, followed by a discussion to go deeper on your experience. All interviews will be held via Microsoft Teams, and we'll make any adjustments you need to support your participation. Interviews will be held 16/ 17 September 2025.

Disclaimer

This job description is a written statement of the essential characteristics of the job, with its principal accountabilities, incorporating a note of the skills, knowledge and experience required for a satisfactory level of performance. This is not intended to be a complete, detailed account of all aspects of the duties involved.

Please note: If you were to be offered this role, the BBC will conduct Employment screening checks which include Reference checks; Eligibility to work checks; and if applicable to the role, Safeguarding and Adverse media/Social media checks. Any offer made is conditional on these checks being satisfactory.

The BBC is committed to redeploying employees seeking suitable alternative employment within the BBC and they will be given priority consideration ahead of other applicants. Priority consideration means for those employees seeking redeployment their application will be considered alongside anyone else at risk of redundancy, prior to any individuals being considered who are not at risk.

Information at a Glance This is your BBC

At the BBC you can create and innovate in an inclusive environment while contributing to some of the world's best loved content, and the BBC's mission to inform, educate and entertain.

Find out more about the BBC Life at BBC

Here you will benefit from:

• Fair pay and flexible benefits including a competitive salary package, a flexible 35-hour working week, 25 days annual leave with the option to buy an extra 5 days, a defined pensionscheme and discounted dental, health care and gym.
• Excellent career and professional development.
• Support in your working life, including flexible working which you can discuss with us at any point during the application, selection or offer.
• A values-based organisation where the way we do things is important as what we do.

Benefits may vary if you are joining on an FTC basis.

Learn more about life at the BBC and our values in our candidate pack.

Candidate pack You belong

We have a working environment where we value and respect every individual's unique contribution, so all our employees feel that they can belong, thrive and achieve their full potential.

We want to attract the broadest range of talented people to join us. The more diverse our workforce, the better able we are to respond to and reflect our audiences in all their diversity.

We welcome applications from individuals, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio-economic background, religion and/or belief.

Find out more about diversity, inclusion and belonging in our strategy below.

Diversity, inclusion & belonging strategy Disability confident

We are a disability confident employer. If you need to discuss adjustments or access requirements for the interview process, or to carry out this role, please contact us via email and we'd be happy to discuss:

BBC Group and Public Services, Broadcasting House, Portland Place, London, United Kingdom, W1A 1AA. BBC Studios Distribution Limited, company no: , registered address: 1 Television Centre, 101 Wood Lane, London, United Kingdom W12 7FA.