Software Project Manager

Company:
Planet Education Networks (PEN Group)

Job Role:
Software Project Manager

Employment Type:
Full-Time

Working Days &

Hours:

Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm

Location:
On-Site, Canary Wharf, London

PEN Group is seeking an experienced Software Project Manager who began their career as a software developer and has since transitioned into delivery or product management. This is not a pure PM role — we need someone who genuinely understands code, can earn the trust of engineers, and can hold a technical conversation about architecture, performance, and trade-offs.

You will take ownership of a growing portfolio of in-house software platforms used across all businesses connected to PEN Group. You will manage a small overseas development team day-to-day from our Canary Wharf office, acting as the bridge between business stakeholders and technical delivery.

We are specifically looking for candidates who have followed a trajectory similar to:

• 2+ years as a software developer or technical lead, writing production code
• Subsequent move into a delivery or management role:
  Software Project Manager, Technical Product Manager, Engineering Lead, Delivery Manager, or similar

(Candidates who have only ever worked in project or product management without a prior development background will not be considered for this role. Your development experience is what will make you effective here.)

You will lead the development and continuous improvement of a growing suite of internal and commercial software platforms spanning multiple industries:

• EdTech platforms and education management systems
• HR and staffing management platforms
• Hospitality and operations systems
• Travel and booking-related systems
• Website builder and CRM platforms

There is a strong and growing emphasis on AI integration across all products — including workflow automation, intelligent data processing, reporting insights, and AI-assisted user experiences. Many projects will evolve from MVP stage to scalable production systems, requiring strong architectural thinking and long‑term maintainability planning.

• Own end-to-end delivery of multiple software projects simultaneously
• Day-to-day management and support of an overseas development team of engineers
• Translate business requirements into well‑scoped technical tasks, epics, and milestones
• Track progress, manage risks proactively, and unblock delivery issues
• Conduct code reviews and provide technical guidance where appropriate
• Communicate clearly with both technical teams and non‑technical senior stakeholders
• Ensure platforms are built to be scalable, secure, and maintainable from the outset
• Evaluate technical approaches and contribute to architectural decisions
• Define and maintain development standards, workflows, and documentation practices
• Minimum 2 years of hands‑on software development experience building production systems
• Solid understanding of relational databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL) and data modelling
• Experience shipping at least one production software platform from development through to live

• Proven experience managing software delivery from requirements through to production release
• Experience leading or coordinating a small technical team, including remote or offshore engineers
• Comfortable using project management and collaboration tools (Jira, Linear, Git Hub, Notion, etc.)
• Strong planning, prioritisation, and stakeholder communication skills

• Experience scaling products from MVP to full production with real user load
• Cloud or serverless deployment experience (AWS, GCP, Azure, or Vercel/similar)
• Database schema design and query performance optimisation
• Familiarity with AI/ML tooling or LLM integrations in production systems
• SaaS, CRM, or enterprise platform experience
• Agile or Scrum certification (though practical experience is more important to us)

• High level of ownership — you will shape how products are built and delivered, not just track tickets
• Work on a diverse portfolio of platforms with real business impact across multiple industries
• Collaborative culture that values technical depth and practical…