Chief Product Officer

Own product vision, roadmap and engineering as Verto evolves from a tool programme managers use into the intelligent programme management layer for the public sector.

About Verto

Verto is the leading portfolio, programme and project management platform in UK public sector, deployed across 100+ organisations including central government departments, NHS bodies, local government and housing associations.

We are built natively to the UK Government's Programme and Project Data Standard (PPDS). We are the only PPM platform with that compliance designed in rather than configured on top, and we are listed on government procurement frameworks and live in departments including DESNZ, MHRA and UKRI.

Four forces are converging in our market at once: the PPDS mandate, the retirement of Microsoft Project Online, the Spending Review savings agenda, and the drive for AI transformation across public services. Each one creates demand for exactly what we build.

We are looking for a product leader who combines depth in product and engineering with genuine commercial instincts and a natural customer-facing presence. This person will spend real time with public sector customers and turn what they learn into product people cannot work without.

What you will own

Product vision and strategy

• Define and own the product vision, evolving the platform from a tool programme managers use into the intelligent programme manager for public sector organisations.
• Own a rolling 12-month roadmap, making the trade-offs between new capability, platform stability, compliance and competitive differentiation explicit.
• Translate Verto's compliance-native advantage into a durable product moat.
• Lead our AI product strategy, including the Verto Intelligence programme from vision through to production capability.
• Own pricing and packaging strategy alongside the CEO and leadership team.

Customer-led growth

• Own the product contribution to revenue retention and expansion. Identify and deliver the in-platform capabilities that drive growth within existing accounts, not just renewal.
• Build the in-product usage signals and workflows that give our client teams the data to have commercial conversations.
• Ship the features that unlock multi-department expansion across Whitehall.
• Spend meaningful time with customers and prospects, and turn that insight into product propositions that make Verto essential.

Engineering and team leadership

• Lead and develop the full product and engineering function, including delivery, QA and product teams.
• Build a high-performing product organisation with ruthless prioritisation and clear sprint outcomes.
• Own the product and engineering budget, and make credible build vs. buy decisions.
• Partner with the Director of Engineering on delivery cadence and quality standards, including maintaining our ISO 27001 compliance.

Commercial partnership and external presence

• Act as the product voice in the sales cycle, lending technical credibility at the moments that matter.
• Ensure the roadmap is informed by pipeline intelligence: what is being asked for in competitive evaluations, and why.
• Own the product narrative for board, investor and partner conversations.
• Over time, become a visible and credible voice in UK public sector digital and AI, with support to develop that external profile.

About you

Essential

• Senior product leadership experience in B2B SaaS, either as an established product leader or as a high-performing product manager ready to step into their first full leadership role.
• A track record of using product decisions to drive expansion revenue and qualified pipeline, not just shipping features.
• Experience in a challenger-brand SaaS environment. You know how to prioritise hard and make progress without corporate-scale resources.
• Commercially fluent. You can hold your own in a board room and a sprint planning session on the same day.
• A technical product background. You don't need to write code, but you must be able to interrogate engineering trade-offs and assess technical debt.
• Genuine AI literacy, with a recent and provable track record of using modern AI tools in practical product work.
• A strong relationship builder who works collaboratively across engineering, sales and customer success.

Highly desirable

• Experience delivering SaaS into UK central government, NHS or wider public sector, with a real understanding of procurement frameworks and the implementation discipline public sector clients demand.
• Direct experience shipping AI or agentic capability to production users.
• Experience in an investor-backed growth business, with board-level reporting.
• Familiarity with UK government project delivery standards, and the curiosity to become a leading voice on them.
• Comfortable contributing to thought leadership, webinars and events over time.

Package

Competitive salary, deliberately open depending on experience and potential, so we can consider both proven leaders and high-potential step-up candidates.

The role carries an allocation under Verto's growth share scheme, giving meaningful participation in the value being built. Allocation and vesting terms are discussed at offer stage.

Pension, home office setup and wider benefits. Remote-first within the UK, with regular travel to customer sites and London. No requirement to relocate.

How to apply

Send a CV and a short note on why this role interests you.

Apply for this role