Product Manager - Core UI
📍 Job Overview
Job Title: Product Manager - Core UI
Company: Dayshape
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
Job Type: FULL_TIME
Category: Product Management / GTM Operations
Date Posted: March 26, 2026
Experience Level: Mid-Senior Level (5-10 years)
Remote Status: Hybrid (2-3 days in office) / Remote (UK-based)
🚀 Role Summary
-
Lead the strategic direction and long-term roadmap for Dayshape's front-end platform, encompassing UI/UX, design systems, and front-end architecture.
-
Drive improvements in user experience, UI coherence, and the adoption of a robust design system across product squads.
-
Define and monitor key UI quality metrics, including performance, accessibility, responsiveness, and component adoption, ensuring alignment with business goals.
-
Collaborate closely with engineering, design, and external contractors to translate strategic UI initiatives into actionable epics and sprint goals.
-
Leverage an AI-first development mindset to enhance front-end capabilities and customer value.
📝 Enhancement Note: This role is positioned within a B2B enterprise SaaS company, focusing on the foundational user interface of their AI-powered resource management platform. The Product Manager will operate as an individual contributor, with a strong emphasis on strategic vision, technical understanding of front-end development, and cross-functional leadership to ensure a cohesive and high-quality user experience. The role requires a blend of product strategy, technical acumen, and a deep understanding of user-centric design principles.
📈 Primary Responsibilities
-
Own the Core UI product vision and long-term roadmap, aligning front-end strategy with Dayshape's overarching business objectives and growth initiatives.
-
Collaborate with the Product Design team to define and shape the front-end experience, establishing design principles, component strategy, and ensuring cross-product UI consistency.
-
Conduct market trend analysis, gather customer feedback, benchmark competitor UX, and analyze usage analytics to identify opportunities for UI innovation and platform enhancement.
-
Develop and execute a comprehensive communication and change management strategy to ensure smooth adoption of UI standards and design system updates across all engineering teams.
-
Translate high-level UI goals into clear, actionable initiatives, epics, and sprint objectives, working iteratively with the Core UI development team.
-
Guide strategic decisions regarding front-end architecture, technology frameworks, component lifecycles, and cross-team UI cohesion, in partnership with the Technical Lead and Product Designer.
-
Ensure successful adoption paths for significant UI transitions, such as framework migrations (e.g., Vue) and design system versioning, across the organization.
-
Define, monitor, and report on key UI quality metrics, including speed, accessibility, usability, consistency, and the adoption rate of shared components.
-
Champion UI best practices throughout Dayshape, fostering convergence between design and engineering teams around shared patterns and standards.
-
Manage the process for new component requests and maintain a transparent prioritization framework for UI development efforts.
📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a strategic focus on the foundational elements of the product's user interface. This involves not just feature delivery but also establishing and maintaining the underlying architecture, design system, and quality standards that impact all users and development teams. The emphasis on "AI-first development mindset" suggests a forward-looking approach to leveraging AI in front-end development processes or capabilities.
🎓 Skills & Qualifications
Education: A Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Product Management, Design, or a related field is typically expected, though significant relevant experience can often substitute formal education.
Experience: Minimum of 5-7 years of progressive experience in Product Management, with a substantial portion dedicated to B2B or enterprise SaaS environments. Proven track record of owning platform-wide or cross-product areas, particularly those involving UI/UX, design systems, or front-end technology domains.
Required Skills:
-
Product Management Foundations: Demonstrated expertise in the full product lifecycle, from discovery and strategy to roadmap definition, execution, and launch.
-
B2B/Enterprise SaaS Experience: Deep understanding of the nuances and requirements of building and scaling products for business clients.
-
UI/UX & Design Systems: Strong practical knowledge of user interface design principles, user experience best practices, and the implementation/governance of design systems.
-
Front-end Technology Fluency: Familiarity with modern front-end frameworks (e.g., React, Vue), component-driven architecture, UI performance optimization, and web accessibility standards (WCAG).
-
Strategic Thinking: Ability to articulate a clear, long-term vision, break it down into phased initiatives, and drive alignment across multiple teams and stakeholders.
-
Cross-functional Leadership: Proven ability to collaborate effectively with Technical Leads, Product Designers, internal developers, and external contractors, influencing without direct authority.
-
Communication Skills: Exceptional verbal and written communication, with the ability to socialize roadmap changes, challenge constructively, and foster alignment.
-
User-Centricity: A strong advocate for consistent and elegant user experiences, with a holistic systems-thinking approach to patterns, component libraries, and interaction models.
-
Discovery & Validation: Experience in conducting user research, prototyping, usability studies, and using experimentation to validate product direction.
-
AI Tooling Familiarity: Comfort and understanding of leveraging AI tools in product management workflows, recognizing their strengths, limitations, and appropriate use cases.
Preferred Skills:
-
Experience with large-scale design system initiatives, UI platform transitions, or cross-team UI governance frameworks.
-
Background in professional services, resource scheduling, workforce planning, or related domains.
-
Proficiency with design and component library tools such as Figma, Maze, or Storybook.
-
Experience with UI performance monitoring tools and accessibility testing frameworks.
-
Familiarity with A/B testing methodologies for UI experimentation.
📝 Enhancement Note: The "5-10 years" experience level suggested by AI aligns with the need for owning "platform-wide or cross-product areas," indicating a senior-level individual contributor role. The emphasis on technical fluency and specific tool experience (Figma, Storybook) suggests a hands-on approach to working with design and development teams.
📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements
Portfolio Essentials:
-
Case Studies: Demonstrate ownership of UI/UX initiatives, design system development, or front-end platform improvements. Clearly articulate the problem, your strategic approach, the solutions implemented, and the measurable outcomes.
-
Process Optimization Examples: Showcase instances where you identified inefficiencies in UI development processes, design system adoption, or cross-team collaboration, and implemented solutions that improved speed, consistency, or quality.
-
System Implementation Standards: If applicable, highlight experience in rolling out new design systems, front-end frameworks, or UI governance processes, detailing the change management and adoption strategies employed.
-
ROI Demonstration: Quantify the business impact of your UI/UX contributions, such as improved user engagement, reduced development time, increased feature adoption, or enhanced system performance, demonstrating a clear return on investment.
Process Documentation:
-
Workflow Design and Optimization: Provide examples of how you have documented and optimized workflows related to UI development, design system contribution, or cross-functional design reviews.
-
Implementation and Automation: Illustrate your approach to implementing new UI patterns or components, and any efforts to automate testing or deployment processes for front-end elements.
-
Measurement and Performance Analysis: Showcase how you define, track, and analyze key UI metrics (e.g., load times, accessibility scores, component usage) to inform product decisions and drive continuous improvement.
📝 Enhancement Note: For a Product Manager role focused on Core UI and Design Systems, a portfolio should highlight strategic thinking, technical understanding, and the ability to drive impactful change across a product. Demonstrating a structured approach to problem-solving, user advocacy, and cross-functional collaboration will be key.
💵 Compensation & Benefits
Salary Range: £58,000 - £69,000 per year, dependent on experience.
Benefits:
-
Professional Development: Generous annual budget of at least £1,000 for professional and personal growth.
-
Paid Time Off: 33 days of holiday per year (including bank holidays), increasing by one day annually up to a maximum of 40 days.
-
Sabbatical: Four-week paid sabbatical in your fifth anniversary year.
-
Family Support: Enhanced family leave policies.
-
Health & Wellness: Private health insurance, including dental and vision benefits.
-
Protection: Income protection and death in service cover.
-
Retirement: Matched 5% auto-enrolment workplace pension scheme.
-
Wellbeing Initiatives: Access to an Employee Assistance Programme and a dedicated counselling service.
-
Community Engagement: Up to 20 hours per year of paid volunteering time.
-
Company Culture: Regular All Hands meetings, monthly team socials (mix of in-person and virtual), and opportunities to work with genuinely nice, smart people.
Working Hours: Full-time role, 37.5 hours per week. Standard hours are 09:00 - 17:30, Monday to Friday, with flexibility offered.
📝 Enhancement Note: The provided salary range is competitive for a mid-senior level Product Manager in the UK tech sector, particularly in Edinburgh. The benefits package is comprehensive, reflecting a company that invests in employee well-being, professional growth, and work-life balance, which are attractive to operations and product professionals alike.
🎯 Team & Company Context
🏢 Company Culture
Industry: Software Development, specifically within the Professional Services Automation (PSA) and Resource Management sector. Dayshape operates in a competitive B2B SaaS market, leveraging AI to differentiate its offering.
Company Size: Dayshape is a growing scale-up, indicated by its multiple Deloitte Technology Fast 50 recognitions. This implies a dynamic environment where processes are evolving, and individuals can have a significant impact.
Founded: While the founding date isn't explicitly stated, the company's award-winning status and rapid growth suggest it's established enough to have a robust platform but still agile enough for significant expansion and innovation.
Team Structure:
-
Core UI Team: This is a dedicated team focused on the front-end platform, comprising the Product Manager, a Technical Lead, in-house and external developers, and a dedicated Product Designer.
-
Reporting: The Product Manager reports directly to a Group Product Manager, indicating a clear hierarchy within the product organization.
-
Cross-functional Collaboration: The role requires extensive collaboration with internal engineering teams, product design, and external contractors, emphasizing a matrixed or project-based approach to development.
Methodology:
-
AI-First Mindset: The company emphasizes an "AI-first development mindset," suggesting that AI is central to their product strategy and potentially integrated into their development processes or tools.
-
Agile/Iterative Development: The mention of "release and sprint goals" indicates an agile or iterative development methodology is likely in practice.
-
Data-Driven Decision Making: Responsibilities include analyzing usage analytics, UI patterns, and behavioral data to inform prioritization and product evolution.
Company Website: https://www.dayshape.com/ (Derived from company name and domain)
📝 Enhancement Note: Dayshape's culture appears to be a blend of ambitious growth, technological innovation (AI), and a strong focus on employee well-being and development. As a scale-up, it offers opportunities for significant impact and career progression, appealing to professionals who thrive in dynamic environments. The emphasis on "improving people's working lives" suggests a values-driven organization.
📈 Career & Growth Analysis
Operations Career Level: This role is at a Mid-Senior level (Product Manager), focusing on a critical platform area (Core UI). It represents a significant individual contributor role with strategic influence over the product's user experience and technical foundation.
Reporting Structure: The Product Manager reports to a Group Product Manager. This structure implies mentorship opportunities and a clear path for career progression within the product management function.
Operations Impact: The Core UI Product Manager has a direct and substantial impact on:
-
Customer Experience: Directly shaping the look, feel, and usability of the Dayshape platform, influencing customer satisfaction and adoption.
-
Developer Efficiency: Defining standards for front-end development, design systems, and tooling, which impacts the productivity and consistency of all engineering teams.
-
Product Scalability & Maintainability: Ensuring the front-end architecture and component strategy support long-term product vision, performance, and maintainability.
-
Brand Perception: The UI is often the first and most consistent interaction a user has with a product, directly reflecting the company's commitment to quality and user-centricity.
Growth Opportunities:
-
Specialization: Deepen expertise in design systems, front-end architecture, accessibility, and UI performance.
-
Leadership: Progress to a Senior Product Manager role, Group Product Manager, or Head of Product, potentially leading larger teams or broader product areas.
-
Domain Expertise: Develop specialized knowledge in resource management, professional services automation, and AI applications within these domains.
-
Cross-functional Influence: Enhance skills in influencing product strategy and execution across multiple product teams and departments.
-
Skill Development: Utilize the £1,000 annual budget for courses, conferences, or certifications relevant to product management, UI/UX, or front-end technologies.
📝 Enhancement Note: This role is an excellent stepping stone for Product Managers looking to specialize in platform-level product management, particularly within UI/UX and design systems. The company's growth trajectory suggests ample opportunities for advancement and increased responsibility.
🌐 Work Environment
Office Type: Hybrid work model, with the option to work from the Haymarket office in Edinburgh or remotely within the UK. The company emphasizes that office days are not mandated but that many team members find value in working from the office 2-3 days a week for connection, collaboration, and leveraging office resources.
Office Location(s): Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom (Haymarket office).
Workspace Context:
-
Collaborative Environment: The hybrid model encourages in-person interaction for team connection and collaboration, complemented by virtual tools for remote team members.
-
Tools & Technology: Access to modern development and collaboration tools is implied, supporting both remote and in-office work. The role specifically mentions tools like Figma and Storybook.
-
Team Interaction: Opportunities to connect with "Dayshapers" and colleagues across different teams, fostering a sense of community and shared purpose.
Work Schedule: Standard 37.5 hours per week, with flexibility around the 09:00 - 17:30 timeframe. This flexibility is beneficial for Product Managers who need to balance deep work, cross-functional meetings, and personal commitments.
📝 Enhancement Note: The hybrid model, with a strong recommendation for some office presence, is typical for scale-ups aiming to balance flexibility with team cohesion and collaborative innovation. The openness to UK-wide remote candidates suggests a progressive approach to talent acquisition.
📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process
Interview Process:
-
Initial Screening: A review of your application, resume, and any provided portfolio materials to assess foundational qualifications and experience.
-
Hiring Manager/Group PM Interview: Discussion focused on your product management philosophy, strategic thinking, experience with UI/UX and design systems, and overall fit with the role and company culture.
-
Technical/Design Collaboration Interview: Likely involves discussions with the Core UI Technical Lead and Product Designer to assess your technical fluency, understanding of front-end concepts, and ability to collaborate effectively on UI/UX initiatives. Expect scenario-based questions.
-
Case Study Presentation/Challenge: A common step for Product Management roles. You may be asked to present a case study from your portfolio or tackle a hypothetical problem related to UI strategy, design system implementation, or front-end challenges.
-
Final Interview: Typically with senior leadership (e.g., Head of Product or a Director) to discuss broader strategic alignment, leadership potential, and cultural fit.
Portfolio Review Tips:
-
Curate Strategically: Select 2-3 impactful projects that best demonstrate your experience in UI/UX, design systems, or front-end platform ownership.
-
Structure for Impact: For each project, clearly articulate: the business problem, your specific role and responsibilities, the strategic approach taken, the key decisions made (and why), the solution implemented, and the measurable outcomes (quantitative data is crucial).
-
Highlight Process & Collaboration: Show how you worked with designers, engineers, and stakeholders. Detail your process for discovery, validation, and iteration.
-
Demonstrate Technical Understanding: Be prepared to discuss the technical considerations, trade-offs, and constraints involved in your UI/front-end projects.
-
Tailor to Dayshape: If possible, subtly connect your experience or insights to Dayshape's product, industry, or stated values.
Challenge Preparation:
-
Understand the Core UI Scope: Familiarize yourself with the responsibilities of this specific role – design systems, front-end architecture, performance, accessibility, and cross-team UI coherence.
-
Anticipate Problem Types: Expect challenges related to prioritizing UI improvements, defining design system governance, resolving UI inconsistencies across teams, or improving front-end performance.
-
Practice Articulation: Be ready to clearly articulate your thought process, strategic rationale, and proposed solutions, justifying your decisions with user empathy and business acumen.
-
Focus on "Why" and "What": As an individual contributor PM, your focus is on the strategic direction and desired outcomes, not the minute sprint-level execution details, though you should be able to guide the "what" effectively.
📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on a "Core UI Team" and "design system" suggests that interviewers will look for a candidate with a strong grasp of foundational product elements and the ability to drive consistency and quality across a broad product surface. Portfolio presentations that showcase strategic thinking and measurable impact will be highly valued.
🛠 Tools & Technology Stack
Primary Tools:
-
Product Management Software: Likely Jira, Confluence, or similar for backlog management, roadmap planning, and documentation.
-
Design & Prototyping: Figma (explicitly mentioned as a bonus skill), potentially others like Sketch or Adobe XD for design collaboration and prototyping.
-
Component Library/Documentation: Storybook (explicitly mentioned as a bonus skill) for developing, documenting, and testing UI components in isolation.
-
User Feedback & Analytics: Tools for gathering customer feedback (e.g., UserVoice, Canny), conducting usability studies (e.g., Maze, UserTesting.com), and analyzing user behavior (e.g., Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Amplitude).
Analytics & Reporting:
-
Web Analytics Platforms: Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, or similar for tracking user interactions and website performance.
-
Business Intelligence (BI) Tools: Potentially Tableau, Power BI, or Looker for creating dashboards and generating reports on product usage and UI metrics.
-
Performance Monitoring: Tools for tracking front-end performance and identifying bottlenecks (e.g., Lighthouse, WebPageTest, specialized APM tools).
CRM & Automation:
-
CRM: While not directly managed by this role, understanding how UI impacts CRM integration and user workflows is beneficial.
-
AI Tools: Explicitly mentioned as a requirement for familiarity and appropriate use cases in daily work. This could range from AI-assisted writing tools to AI-powered analytics or code generation aids.
-
Front-end Frameworks: Practical familiarity with modern frameworks like React or Vue (Vue migration mentioned).
📝 Enhancement Note: The tools mentioned, especially Figma and Storybook, are industry standards for modern UI development and design system management. Proficiency or familiarity with these, alongside strong analytical and AI tool understanding, will be critical.
👥 Team Culture & Values
Operations Values:
-
Improve People's Working Lives: This overarching purpose suggests a commitment to creating products and a work environment that genuinely benefits users and employees.
-
Collaboration & Inclusivity: The emphasis on friendly, inclusive, and ambitious teams, along with regular All Hands and social events, points to a culture that values teamwork and diverse perspectives.
-
Data-Driven Decision Making: The role's responsibilities highlight the importance of using analytics and customer feedback to guide strategy and prioritization.
-
Innovation & Ambition: Being an award-winning scale-up with "big ambitions" and "momentum" indicates a culture that encourages innovation, high performance, and a drive for success.
-
Efficiency & Quality: The focus on Core UI, design systems, and quality metrics underscores a commitment to building robust, maintainable, and high-performing products.
Collaboration Style:
-
Cross-functional Integration: The role necessitates close collaboration between Product Management, Design, and Engineering, likely involving regular sync-ups, joint discovery sessions, and shared ownership of UI standards.
-
Constructive Challenge: The culture encourages challenging constructively, implying open communication and a willingness to debate ideas to arrive at the best solutions.
-
Knowledge Sharing: The emphasis on team socials and All Hands meetings suggests a culture that fosters informal and formal knowledge sharing to build camaraderie and disseminate information.
-
Agile & Iterative: The use of sprints and iterative development implies a collaborative style focused on continuous improvement and adaptability.
📝 Enhancement Note: Dayshape's culture seems geared towards high-performing, collaborative individuals who are passionate about product and driven by a shared mission. The "improving people's working lives" purpose is a strong anchor for aligning team efforts and decision-making.
⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities
Challenges:
-
Balancing Strategic Vision with Execution: As the owner of the Core UI vision, the PM must ensure it's translated into actionable plans that the Core UI team can execute efficiently, while also managing competing priorities from other product areas.
-
Driving Adoption of Design System: Implementing and enforcing a design system across multiple squads and potentially external contractors can be challenging, requiring strong communication, stakeholder management, and a clear value proposition.
-
Technical Debt Management: Addressing existing front-end technical debt while also innovating and building new features requires careful prioritization and strategic investment.
-
Evolving Front-end Landscape: Keeping pace with rapid changes in front-end technologies, frameworks, and best practices requires continuous learning and adaptation.
-
AI Integration Complexity: Effectively integrating AI into front-end development or leveraging AI for UI improvements presents unique technical and strategic challenges.
Learning & Development Opportunities:
-
Deepen Design System Expertise: Gain advanced skills in design system architecture, governance, and scaling.
-
Master Front-end Architecture: Develop a sophisticated understanding of scalable and maintainable front-end architectures.
-
AI in Product Development: Explore and apply AI tools and methodologies to enhance product management processes and front-end development.
-
Leadership Skills: Develop skills in influencing, coaching, and mentoring within a product and engineering context.
-
Industry Exposure: Attend conferences (e.g., UX, Product Management, Front-end development) and pursue relevant certifications, supported by the annual development budget.
📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges are typical for a Product Manager focused on foundational product elements in a growing tech company. They offer significant opportunities for professional development and skill enhancement.
💡 Interview Preparation
Strategy Questions:
-
"Describe a time you owned and evolved a design system. What were the biggest challenges, and how did you overcome them?" (Focus on process, adoption, governance, and impact.)
-
"How would you approach defining the long-term vision for a product's front-end architecture, considering factors like scalability, performance, and developer efficiency?" (Highlight strategic thinking, technical awareness, and trade-off analysis.)
-
"Imagine two product teams have conflicting requirements for a new UI component. How would you facilitate a decision and ensure UI coherence across the product?" (Emphasize collaboration, negotiation, and decision-making frameworks.)
Company & Culture Questions:
-
"What interests you about Dayshape and our mission to improve people's working lives?" (Research their mission, values, and recent achievements.)
-
"How do you see the role of AI evolving in front-end development and product management, and how would you leverage it in this role?" (Showcase your understanding of AI's practical applications.)
Portfolio Presentation Strategy:
-
Tell a Story: Structure your case studies as narratives that highlight your problem-solving skills, strategic thinking, and impact.
-
Show, Don't Just Tell: Use visuals (screenshots, mockups, diagrams) to illustrate your points, especially when discussing UI/UX.
-
Quantify Everything: Whenever possible, use data to demonstrate the impact of your work (e.g., "increased component adoption by 30%", "reduced page load time by 2 seconds").
-
Focus on the "Why": Clearly articulate the strategic rationale behind your decisions, linking them back to business goals and user needs.
-
Be Prepared for Deep Dives: Anticipate questions about specific technical details, trade-offs, and alternative approaches you considered.
📝 Enhancement Note: Interview preparation for this role should focus on demonstrating strategic product thinking, technical understanding of front-end and UI, strong collaboration skills, and a data-driven approach. A well-prepared portfolio presentation is crucial for showcasing these abilities effectively.
📌 Application Steps
To apply for this Product Manager - Core UI position:
-
Submit your application through the provided link on Workable.
-
Tailor Your Resume: Highlight your experience in B2B SaaS, UI/UX, design systems, front-end technologies, and strategic product management. Use keywords from the job description and emphasize quantifiable achievements.
-
Prepare Your Portfolio: Select 2-3 of your most relevant projects that showcase your expertise in UI/UX, design systems, or platform ownership. Structure them to clearly articulate the problem, your solution, your process, and the measurable impact.
-
Research Dayshape: Understand their product, industry, AI focus, company values, and recent news. Prepare thoughtful questions about their product strategy, design philosophy, and team dynamics.
-
Practice Your Presentation: Rehearse presenting your portfolio case studies, focusing on clarity, conciseness, and demonstrating your strategic thinking and collaborative approach. Be ready to discuss your understanding of front-end technologies and AI’s role.
⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and operations industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.
Application Requirements
Candidates must have strong Product Management foundations with significant experience in B2B or enterprise SaaS, specifically owning platform-wide areas involving UI/UX or design systems. They need to be technically fluent with modern front-end frameworks, comfortable engaging in technical discussions, and possess strong strategic thinking and cross-functional leadership skills.