We’re looking for a Senior Project Manager to join our newly formed New Product Development team to support the creation of child-friendly products that are safe, intuitive, and designed to inspire creativity and learning whilst putting kids in control.

About Yoto

Yoto is a screen-free interactive audio platform for kids. We make carefully connected audio players that kids control, with no microphones, cameras or ads. We have a catalogue of audio that inspires creative play and learning with 1,000+ titles in our card store from top creators, publishers and labels - think Disney, Marvel, Roald Dahl and Universal Music. We also create Yoto Originals like this one.

• Featured in Bloomberg’s 25 UK startups to watch in 2023.
• Ranked 9th in Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies in 2024; and featured in the Sifted 100 fastest-growing startups across the UK&I by revenue growth.
• Second fastest growing tech company in the UK, in Deloitte Fast50 2023.
• Named one of TIME Magazine’s Top 100 Inventions of 2020
• We’re 140+ employees spread across the UK, US and France.. and growing!

We’re on a mission to be the soundtrack of childhood, and help families on their own unique adventures. By creating products that inspire independent play, we help families discover and grow with an inspiring world of audio - and we would like you to help us achieve it! 

Yoto’s New Product Development Team

Yoto's newly formed, new product development team is the driving force behind the company's innovative hardware audio experiences. The team leads the creation of child-friendly products that are safe, intuitive, and designed to inspire creativity and learning whilst putting kids in control.

The Senior Project Manager is responsible for driving, overseeing and managing the discovery, design, development, deployment and delivery of new hardware and accessory development projects. This role involves coordinating with cross-functional teams, managing timelines and ensuring that all projects meet the company’s quality standards, strategic objectives and key results.

What you’ll be doing:

1. Project Planning and Coordination:

   • Develop detailed project plans, including scope, schedule and resource allocation.

   • Supporting validation and testing, coordinating with design, hardware, OS, procurement, and quality teams to ensure alignment and timely delivery of hardware projects.

   • Set project gated milestones and track progress against them.

2. Resource Management:

   • Ensure all necessary cross-functional resources are identified and aware of their responsibilities to the delivery plan.

   • Streamline workflows effectively, identifying and addressing any resource gaps or conflicts.

   • Manage procurement of necessary materials and components for hardware projects.

3. Risk Management:

   • Identify potential project risks and issues and work with stakeholders to develop mitigation strategies and plans

   • Monitor project risks throughout the project and take corrective action as needed.

4. Stakeholder Communication:

   • Serve as the primary point of contact for project stakeholders

   • Prepare and present project status reports, updates, and performance metrics to senior management and stakeholders.

   • Facilitate effective communication and collaboration among all project team members.

   • Closely collaborate with peers and external stakeholders in the UK, FR, US and the Far East as a part of NPD projects.

5. Technical Guidance:

   • Provide technical guidance and support to the project team.

   • Identify technical dependencies and any gaps, determine capabilities needed and engage the proper technical experts to determine a solution.

   • Stay updated with the latest hardware development trends and technologies.

   • Ensure that best practices and methodologies are followed throughout the project.

6. Documentation and Reporting:

   • Maintain comprehensive project documentation, including plans, schedules, and reports.

   • Effectively monitor and control project financials, overseeing project invoicing status, cost, expenses and cash flow.

   • Ensure all project documentation is accurate, up-to-date, and accessible to relevant stakeholders.

   • Analyse project performance and prepare post-project retros to identify lessons learned,areas for improvement and follow up actions with the teams.

What you’ll bring:

• 5+ years of experience in technical project management, with a focus on hardware development projects, including experience with hardware design and manufacturing.

• Proven experience in managing complex, multi-disciplinary projects involving both internal teams and external suppliers.

• In depth understanding of delivery methods (both waterfall and agile methodologies), including the complexities of project delivery.

• An agile mindset that involves understanding, collaborating, learning, and staying flexible to achieve results.

• Strong project management skills like project planning, scheduling, budgeting, and risk management.

• Excellent leadership and team management abilities, with a proven ability to motivate and guide cross-functional teams.

• Proficient in project management tools (e.g.,Notion, MS Project, Jira, Asana).

• Familiarity with hardware development processes, including design, prototyping, testing, and manufacturing.

• Strong problem-solving skills and a proactive approach to addressing challenges.

• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to present complex technical information to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Travel: Far East travel required depending on project needs.

Salary: £60,000 - £75,000 based on experience.

What you can expect from Yoto:

• Flexibility: Hybrid working with a choice based approach - we would love you to come into the office as much as possible, with a minimum of once or twice a month. Take advantage of our ‘work from anywhere’ policy to work from a different location for up to 6 weeks every year. Summer Hours policy to use between the months of June and August.
• Financial: Generous share option programme so you’ll be invested in Yoto’s success. Receive Income Protection, covering long term sickness for up to 2 years and company sick pay that increases with length of service. Life Assurance cover from day one of your service. Workplace Pension offering up to to 3% employer contributions, following probation. Generous employee referral bonus scheme.
• Health & Wellness: Private Medical Insurance via Aviva, or a Wellbeing Allowance to be used for memberships, subscriptions, treatment or therapy. Access to 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) through WeCare and unlimited access to Dental advice and guidance via Toothfairy. Bike to work scheme to promote healthier lifestyles.
• Time Off: 25 days of holiday per year, plus bank holidays. On top of this, you also receive your birthday off, plus 1 extra day of holiday for every year worked after you hit your 2 year anniversary, up to 5 extra days. After 4 years of service, you are also eligible for our sabbatical policy offering up to 3 months' of unpaid sabbatical.
• Helping Families: Variety of family-friendly leave, including enhanced maternity, paternity, adoption, fertility, pregnancy loss and carers leave. Unlock savings with our workplace nursery scheme, designed to support parents of preschool-aged children.
• People & Planet: Up to 2 volunteer days a year. A Book Allowance of up to £50 a year to contribute to your professional development.
• Fun Perks: You receive your very own Yoto player and starter pack of cards! Regular company socials and celebrations, including our annual YotoFest!

Equity and Diversity

At Yoto, our mission is to be the soundtrack of childhood, and help families on their own unique adventures. Our success is rooted in unwavering commitment to our core principles—Kids in Control, Helping Families, Building with Empathy, Embrace Difference, and Playfully Inquisitive.

At Yoto, flexible working and autonomy are key to us. We support working parents because we know that life and work need to work together. And just as we share audio content from a diverse community of creators, we also strive to build a diverse and inclusive team. Our passionate DE&I group raises new voices, beliefs, and perspectives to help everyone at Yoto feel heard. Check out our website for more info on our approach to People and Planet.

Please only apply or engage with Yoto jobs posted on our careers page (careers.yotoplay.com or careers.yotoplay.com/en). All correspondence from our Talent team will only come through Teamtailor, our application tracking system.