Product Owner - Business Intelligence

Job Title: Product Owner – Business Intelligence

Location: Predominantly remote with occasional travel to FI centres. Volume of travel will be dependent on project schedule.

Contract Length: Permanent 

Founded in 2007, First Intuition Limited Group (FI) is an award-winning, UK-based provider of predominantly accountancy training and apprenticeships. We currently have ~ 325 staff based across 9 physical locations and remotely, but we continue to grow rapidly. In April 2023, we secured investment from the private equity firm Apiary Capital who continue to support us in our growth plans, including two recent acquisitions of other First Intuition franchises.  

Our success is due to our approach to training and our links with businesses. We work closely with organisations to precisely understand their needs and incorporate these into innovative course designs, where the interaction with students is tailored, personal and reflects their specific circumstances. This approach has led to First Intuition being awarded an ‘Outstanding’ rating by Ofsted.  

We consider ourselves a national provider with locally held relationships. This enables us to deliver student focussed programmes and build strong relationships with all our clients, big or small. With a talented team, we are dedicated to fostering a collaborative and inclusive culture that supports both personal and professional growth and were recently voted as one of the Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2024.  

About the Role

This role is being created to further support and enhance the continued growth within FI Ltd group. It is critical to our business model that our UK/central teams work in unison with our centres to continue to deliver a fantastic service for our students, clients, and our teams. To achieve our goals, we are seeking a highly skilled Product Owner – Business intelligence. In this pivotal role, you will lead the integration of our new BI reporting solutions across the business, ensuring all departments benefit from enhanced data insights. Additionally, you will drive our automation strategy, focusing on eliminating time-consuming and error-prone manual processes. As the product owner for these critical areas, you will oversee the strategic direction and implementation of both solutions, ensuring they align with our business objectives and deliver maximum value.

This role is critical to our success over the next 3-5 years and will work across all areas of the FI Ltd group. We’re looking for a solution-focussed individual with an ability to look at things differently, who has a deep understanding of the student journey.

Duties and responsibilities

• Manage the UK BI and Automation team ensuring SLA targets are consistently met.
• Manage the relationships with service providers and vendors to optimise performance and cost efficiency.
• Act as the primary point of contact for BI-related queries, ensuring clear communication and managing expectations.
• Ensure data integrity, accuracy, and security in all BI solutions.
• Feed into the overall product vision and strategy and oversee assigned projects, ensuring they are completed on schedule and within budget.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to gather and document business requirements, translating them into technical specifications.
• Manage the BI reporting solutions working closely with service providers as required.
• Design, develop, and maintain Power BI reports and dashboards to provide actionable insights.
• Lead on automation initiatives within the business, identifying opportunities for process improvements and implementing best practices.
• Provide focused backlog management and iteration planning.
• Provide training to end-users in use of the related solutions.
• Quality assurance, documentation and tracking of all solutions being used by the business.
• Drive continuous improvement plans for systems and processes working with other key stakeholders.
• Stay current with the latest developments and issues in BI and Automation, including regulatory changes, advancements in technology e.g. use of AI, and trends in customer requirements.

Skills and experience

Essential

• Proven experience in business intelligence, analysing business needs and developing reports and visualisations providing actionable insights.
• Ability to collect, analyse, and interpret data to make informed decisions. This includes critical thinking, logical reasoning, and data analysis.
• Clear and effective communication with stakeholders, development teams, and other cross-functional teams to articulate product vision and goals.
• Proficiency in business intelligence tools and technologies, such as Power BI (including DAX) and SQL.
• Ability to manage and engage with stakeholders, ensuring alignment on product goals and expectations.
• Understanding the full product lifecycle from ideation to launch and beyond.
• Strong decision-making skills to prioritize tasks and make key product decisions.
• Exceptional analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Excellent verbal, written and interpersonal skills and ability to articulate information.
• Consistency and attention to detail in all written work.
• Relationship building and ability to manage and engage with stakeholders, ensuring alignment on product goals and expectations.
• Flexible and collaborative mindset with ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Ability to work well in a team as well as independently.
• Right to live and work in the UK and able to travel, when required, to centres.
•  

Desirable

• Proven experience as a Product Owner or management role in business intelligence / data.
• Proficiency in orchestration and automation technologies including Power Automate.
• Relevant qualifications in Power BI, data analytics or project management.
• Understanding of Agile methodologies, including backlog management and sprint planning.
• An understanding of the accountancy education industry and apprenticeships

Benefits

• 25 days annual leave rising to 30 over 5 years’ service PLUS bank holidays.  
• 3 FI days per year

• Hybrid working available, equipment provided for homeworking.  

• Flexible-working positive employer with a range of family-friendly policies.

• Employee Assistance Programme: 24-hour confidential access to counselling and support services.

• Competitive Pension.
• Training and development opportunities. 

• Long term career prospects in a growing company. 

• Employee perks including a range of discounts to suit your lifestyle. 

First Intuition is committed to the safeguarding and protection of young people and adults, adhering to safer recruitment processes. All successful candidates will need to complete a DBS check, with some roles requiring an Enhanced check. 

As a disability confident employer, we are committed to creating an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. We welcome applications from all qualified candidates and are dedicated to ensuring equal opportunities for everyone. In line with our commitment, we guarantee an interview to disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the role. If you require any reasonable adjustment s during the interview process, please let us know, and will be happy to support you.