Product Channel Manager - eCommerce Search & Discovery

We are looking for a Product Channel Manager to join our eCommerce Development team here at NEXT! Based onsite at NEXT Head Office in Enderby, Leicestershire with great benefits!

The Role:

At NEXT, search and product discovery are becoming one of the most strategically important areas of eCommerce. As customer behaviour evolves beyond traditional browse journeys into AI-assisted and conversational discovery experiences, we are investing heavily in the future of how customers find products across our digital platforms. 

As Product Channel Manager for search & product discovery, you will champion the front end customer experience across our digital platforms, leading everything from core Search and Product Listing Pages (PLPs) to filtering, sorting, navigation and next generation AI journeys.

Working within our eCommerce Product team, you will work closely with the Head of Search and our Data Science colleagues. While they focus on the underlying algorithms, ranking and relevance, your role is to translate that technical strategy into intuitive customer experiences and robust product capabilities. 

You will completely own the roadmap, backlog and delivery across web and app - collaborating seamlessly with Data Science & Engineering, UX and eCommerce Trading teams to ensure every initiative is commercially impactful, beautifully designed and flawlessly executed.

What You’ll Take On: 

Product Ownership & Delivery

• Own the end to end roadmap and backlog for web and app Search & Discovery, translating business and customer needs into clear, scalable requirements.

Search & Discovery

• Core ownership of search results, filtering and navigation. You will drive the transition from traditional keyword search to next generation, AI-assisted and conversational discovery.

Operational & Performance Management

• Monitor day to day search performance and KPIs, troubleshooting live issues to ensure platform stability and commercial effectiveness during peak trading.

Vendor & Platform Management

• Manage relationships with search technology partners and lead proof of concepts to assess the capability and scalability of emerging platforms.

Collaboration & Stakeholder Management

• Partner with Data Science & Engineering, UX and Trading teams to align priorities and champion future search opportunities.

What You’ll Bring:

You are an experienced and proven digital product leader with a strong understanding of eCommerce discovery experiences and customer journeys.

You are commercially minded, highly collaborative and comfortable operating in a fast moving, high scale eCommerce environment.

You combine strategic thinking with hands on delivery capability and enjoy working closely with engineering and cross-functional teams to turn ideas into customer facing products.

You are excited by the future of AI-assisted commerce, conversational interfaces and the evolution of product discovery beyond traditional browse and search journeys.

Essential Experience

• Significant experience in Product Management, Product Ownership or Digital Product Delivery.
• Experience working on eCommerce search, discovery, navigation, PLP or related customer journey experiences.
• Strong experience managing complex delivery backlogs and cross-functional product development.
• Experience working closely with engineering teams in agile delivery environments.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Strong commercial awareness and data-driven decision making.
• Comfortable operating in high-scale digital environments.

Desirable Experience

• Experience with search and discovery platforms such as Bloomreach, Algolia, Constructor, Coveo, Google Commerce or similar technologies.
• Experience working with experimentation, personalisation or recommendation platforms.
• Understanding of modern eCommerce discovery concepts including semantic search, conversational interfaces and AI-assisted shopping journeys.
• Experience within large-scale retail or marketplace environments.