Head of Product

Introduction

Saab UK is part of Scandinavia's largest defence company, bringing together the best of Swedish and British innovation. Saab offers world-leading solutions and services in defence, aviation, space, and civil security to keep people and society safe. Our UK presence has been growing at pace, meaning we can offer a wide range of opportunities for personal fulfilment and career growth. We currently employ over 600 people across eight sites in the UK, and our specialisations include software engineering, underwater robotics, radars, AI, and armed forces training.

What you will be part of

Saab is a leading defence and security company with an enduring purpose, to help nations keep their people and society safe.

Empowered by its 28,000 talented people, Saab constantly pushes the boundaries of technology to create a safer and more sustainable world.

Saab designs, manufactures and maintains advanced systems in aeronautics, weapons, command and control, sensors and underwater systems.

Saab is headquartered in Sweden. It has major operations all over the world and is part of the domestic defence capability of several nations.

Role Purpose

Lead the strategic direction, lifecycle management and commercial success of the SAFE product portfolio, ensuring the delivery of innovative, scalable and commercially sustainable solutions that meet the evolving needs of public safety organisations.

The role is accountable for maximising customer value, driving sustainable business growth and ensuring the product portfolio remains aligned with the organisation's long-term strategic objectives.

Key Responsibilities

Product Strategy & Portfolio

• Own the product vision, strategy and roadmap for the SAFE portfolio.
• Define investment priorities, balancing customer needs, commercial return and strategic business objectives.
• Lead the end-to-end product lifecycle from concept through to retirement.
• Drive innovation through emerging technologies, automation and AI.
• Govern portfolio decisions to maximise reuse, standardisation and long-term value.

Customer & Market

• Maintain a strong understanding of customers, markets and competitors to inform product strategy.
• Capture and prioritise customer feedback to ensure products continue to meet operational needs.
• Improve customer adoption, utilisation and value realisation through best practice, reporting and analytics.
• Ensure the portfolio remains differentiated and delivers strong product-market fit.

Commercial & Governance

• Work with Sales, Finance and Delivery to ensure products are commercially viable and operationally deliverable.
• Lead product governance, investment planning and commercial decision-making.
• Support bid governance by ensuring customer commitments align with product strategy and delivery capability.
• Improve visibility of product costs, profitability and investment performance.

Product Leadership

• Partner with Engineering and Delivery to successfully execute the product roadmap.
• Prioritise investment based on business value, customer demand and delivery capacity.
• Champion agile product management and continuous improvement.
• Monitor roadmap delivery, product performance and benefit realisation.

Skills & Competencies

• Strategic product leadership and commercial acumen.
• Strong stakeholder management, influencing and negotiation skills.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills.
• Analytical and evidence-based decision making.
• Ability to lead through change and manage competing priorities.
• Customer-focused with a passion for delivering high-value products.

Essential Experience

• Significant experience leading enterprise software or SaaS product portfolios.
• Proven success defining and delivering product strategy and roadmaps.
• Experience leading cross-functional teams across Product, Engineering, Sales and Delivery.
• Experience of product governance, commercial decision-making and portfolio investment.
• Experience operating as part of a senior leadership team.
• Strong understanding of Agile product management practices.

Desirable Experience

• Experience within public safety, blue-light, emergency services or justice sectors.
• Experience working with police, fire, ambulance or other mission-critical organisations.
• Experience delivering products within highly regulated or security-conscious environments.
• Knowledge of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) frameworks.
• Experience leading the transition from bespoke solutions to product-led delivery.
• Experience working in international markets.
• Familiarity with Agile, SAFe or modern product development methodologies.

By submitting an application to Saab UK you consent to undertaking workforce screening activities that may include but are not limited to: Baseline Personnel Security checks, National Security Vetting, reference checks, verification of working rights and in all circumstances preferred candidates will be placed through a security interview.