Product Owner - #2157528

** Please only apply for this role if you currently live in Glasgow / Surrounding area **

My client is looking for an experienced Product Owner to lead the product backlog for its software platform, the system that connects molecule design, automated synthesis planning and robotic execution.

You'll work at the intersection of software engineering, chemistry and operations, translating ambitious scientific and business goals into a clear, prioritised roadmap that delivery teams can execute against.

This is a senior, highly cross-functional role suited to someone who is equally comfortable setting product strategy and rolling up their sleeves in day-to-day backlog management, and who enjoys working closely with scientists and engineers to build software that solves genuinely novel problems.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and prioritise the product backlog for the software platform, balancing scientific, engineering and commercial priorities.
• Translate platform strategy and stakeholder goals into a clear, well-sequenced roadmap, epics, user stories and acceptance criteria.
• Act as the primary link between engineering teams and stakeholders across chemistry, automation, operations and leadership, ensuring everyone is aligned on priorities and trade-offs.
• Lead sprint planning, backlog refinement and story prioritisation within an Agile/Scrum framework, and act as the voice of the customer in sprint reviews.
• Define, track and report on product success metrics and KPIs, using data to inform prioritisation decisions.
• Work closely with UX, data and platform engineering teams to ensure the software is intuitive for scientists and robust enough for automated, high-throughput use.
• Manage stakeholder expectations proactively, communicating roadmap decisions, timelines and trade-offs clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Identify risks, dependencies and blockers early, and drive them to resolution in partnership with engineering leads.
• Mentor junior product owners or analysts and contribute to maturing product practices across the organisation.
• Stay close to end users — scientists and operations teams — to ensure the product genuinely improves how chemistry gets done.

What We're Looking For

• Significant experience as a Product Owner or Product Manager in a software or technology environment, ideally including complex, technical or scientific domains.
• Strong working knowledge of Agile/Scrum practices, with hands-on experience running backlog grooming, sprint planning and story writing.
• A track record of translating complex technical or scientific requirements into a clear, actionable product backlog.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to work confidently across engineering, science and leadership audiences.
• Strong analytical skills and comfort using data to prioritise and justify product decisions.
• Experience working in a fast-paced, scaling startup or high-growth technology environment.
• A degree in a relevant field (computer science, engineering, life sciences or similar), or equivalent practical experience.

Nice to Have

• Experience with lab automation, robotics, scientific informatics or other deep-tech software platforms.
• A Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) qualification or equivalent.
• Background or genuine interest in chemistry, life sciences or automation.
• Experience taking a B2B or enterprise software product from early stage through to scale.

What They Offer:

• The opportunity to shape category-defining technology at the frontier of digital chemistry.
• A collaborative, mission-driven team solving problems that don't have existing playbooks.
• Competitive salary and benefits, aligned to experience [to be confirmed by hiring manager].
• Hybrid working.