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I am a senior product leader, experienced leading products and teams from idea through to…
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Ben Smith reposted thisBen Smith reposted thisWe are hiring for three Senior Product Leaders to join our team at Autotrader in Manchester! 📍 We thrive on face-to-face collaboration and working together in person to solve problems. If you like tackling complex, high-scale platform challenges and building tools that impact millions of users - customers, consumers, and internal teams alike, we'd love to hear from you! See application links in the comments below. 👇
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Ben Smith posted thisWe're excited to go live with not one, not two, but THREE product lead roles at Autotrader this week. A few details below, links to the full specs in comments 💬, and if you have any questions about these roles, or Autotrader in general, please DM me for the Marketplace roles, Chris Collingridge for the CX role or Claire Isherwood who is leading on the recruitment 🚀. Principal Product Lead (CX): Our CX programme is transforming our internal product capability. This role would suit someone with experience delivering product-led change across complex colleague facing and enterprise systems, using both off-the shelf SaaS and internal product development. 2x Senior Product Leads (Advertising Marketplace): We're looking for two people to join our marketplace team. This is where every day we connect thousands of sellers with millions of buyers, and is the engine that drives most of our commercial growth. Great opportunities for anyone that enjoys navigating the tension of delivering products in a two-sided marketplace that is being increasingly influenced by AI. If you like the sound of Autotrader but neither of these roles are quite right for you, please get in touch anyway as we're open to shaping opportunities around the right person. All roles are based in Manchester with 3 days in our swanky new office. No recruiters please.
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Ben Smith shared thisSome of the features recently dropped by our awesome apps team ✨. https://lnkd.in/enC7M4s3Ben Smith shared this🚘 Recently passed your test? Need more space for the family? Finally thinking about that classic coupe? However your car buying journey starts, finding the right vehicle should be simple. That's why we've introduced new AI-powered lifestyle search filters, alongside our price labels and online reservations — helping buyers find, compare and reserve cars with more confidence. With monthly active users continuing to grow year on year, we're seeing more people than ever choosing to start their car buying journey on the Autotrader app. Powered by technology. Made possible by people.
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Ben Smith shared thisThanks Lou Downe for stopping by on your UK Tour 📗. And thanks to everyone who came along for an evening of excellent talks, food and drinks on the terrace 🌆🍸☀️Ben Smith shared thisThat’s a wrap on the Bad Services book tour (for now!) 💚 An enormous thank you to Ben Smith and Autotrader for hosting us at their very swanky new pad in Manchester and to everyone who came along before the fated England/Argentina match Brilliant questions from the audience - like ‘what do I do if my stakeholders say they care about fraud but not about users?’, ‘how cans we make sure leadership and boards of trustees are making the right service decisions?’ and ‘what should we do about these sorts of challenges if we’re at the start of our careers?’ 👏🏼 Absolute highlight was sharing the stage with the ever thoughtful and wise Kate Tarling , and hearing from the brilliant Carrie (Ellwood) Tudsbury about how the 15 principles of good service design have helped the Autotrader team prioritise change, and how they’re thinking beyond linear journey management to create a ‘goals architecture’ view of connected products (can’t wait to hear more about this) Signing off from a little celebratory launch break 🏝️
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Ben Smith reposted thisBen Smith reposted thisOne of the things I've always been fascinated by is how software teams build things - the different work, the people and skills involved, and how we organise ourselves & evolve as the world changes. As painful as it is to see my face / hear my voice, I did very much enjoy talking with Ben Smith and Ben Mccarthy about the eras we've been through at Autotrader, and how we're organised in Product & Technology today. Plus some extended fruit metaphor work. Podcast links in the comments.
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Ben Smith shared thisWhat do a Product Director, a Computational Astrophysicist, and a Neuroscientist have in common? It turns out, more than you might think. On this week's Roadmap podcast I had the privilege of being joined by Thomas Armitage and Dustin Hayden, two of the most interesting people at Autotrader, chatting about their journeys from academia to a FTSE100 tech company, and applying their deep passion for maths to galaxy clusters, flying mice, and A/B testing the Autotrader search experience. One of the most fun and fascinating conversations I've had for a long time 🙂. Available wherever you get your podcasts (links in comments) 🎧.
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Ben Smith reposted thisBen Smith reposted this🎙️ Yikes… not something I usually do! But I recently stepped out of my legal comfort zone to feature on Roadmap, Autotrader’s product and tech podcast. 💡 The podcast often spotlights our brilliant tech and product teams— but this time, it was a chance for our in-house legal team to join the conversation to share what it’s really like being an in-house lawyer in a fast-paced digital and tech business: partnering with product, collaborating across the organisation, and navigating the legal challenges that come with innovation. 🎧 If you fancy a quick glimpse into how in-house legal fits into tech, check it out during your next coffee break! https://lnkd.in/ecSXEfhb 🚨 Disclaimer: far more interesting episodes are available on Roadmap!Life as in-house lawyers at a tech company 🧑⚖️💻 | EP 74 | Autotrader Product & Tech PodcastLife as in-house lawyers at a tech company 🧑⚖️💻 | EP 74 | Autotrader Product & Tech Podcast
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Ben Smith reposted thisBen Smith reposted this🎙 New podcast episode: Celebrating 30 years of Java ☕️ We’re rounding up the week with a Java birthday special! 🎉 To celebrate three decades of this industry shaping language, our CTO Chris Kelly and Tech Architect Karl Stoney sit down to reflect on Java’s impact — from career journeys to powering enterprise-scale innovation. At Autotrader, Java has moved with us, through major website rewrites, our shift to the cloud, and scaling to over 750 microservices. In this episode, you’ll hear about: 🌟 How our CTO went from genetics to software 🌟 Why Java continues to be a smart choice for enterprise systems 🌟 The future of Java and why we stay on the latest versions Whether you're a developer or just Java-curious — or even remember applets — this is one you won’t want to miss! Link in the comments 🔗
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Ben Smith reposted thisBen Smith reposted thisToday, we're opening up a conversation that’s often left in the shadows: navigating fertility and baby loss in the workplace. At Autotrader we have been working hard for the last few years to ensure we’re raising awareness and creating a supportive workplace. In this Roadmap podcast you will hear how this all started and why it’s such an important topic. Special thanks to Sophie Flinn Ben Smith and our amazing team behind the scenes for making this happen. Whether you've lived this experience, supported someone who has, or want to build a more compassionate workplace culture—this conversation is for you. Listen, reflect, and let’s start changing the way we support each other at work. Links to the podcast can be found in the comments 💙
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Ben Smith liked thisThis week has marked a special career milestone: seeing the redesigned McLaren.com go live as part of our evolved brand identity. Having originally joined Forseven to build digital products for an OEM taking shape behind closed doors, becoming part of McLaren Automotive changed that challenge considerably. Redesigning an entire website to launch alongside an embargoed major brand moment - to the minute (Vladimir K. 👏) - has been a huge learning experience and broadened how I think about applying digital product thinking in a business whose primary product is ultimately something physical. Balancing new storytelling and future brand ambitions with existing customer needs created a unique tension throughout the project. One of the biggest challenges was resisting the instinct to always want real user feedback before seeing a decision made. With a fixed and confidential launch moment, there were many occasions where moving forward meant making informed decisions and prioritising foundations that would allow us to learn and iterate once the experience was in customers’ hands. On reflection that is why this week felt so significant, not just from seeing the launch land successfully, but now having the opportunity to learn from real customer behaviour and build on what we’ve put into their hands. There’s plenty more to build, but a huge amount of work from a lot of people has gone into getting us to this point, and I’m very proud to have played a part. Please have a play around on www.mclaren.com/cars - and feel free to reach out with any feedback 👍 Alexander Park Matthew Boguradzki Mario Ma Craig Sparkes Giles Vincent Curtis B. Bahti Shahodjaev Gail Willows Keenan Marrier-d'Unienville Josh Moore Sam Swanepoel Jared Botha Louis Ralli Jade Hall Rebecca Duddridge Ellie Polden
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Ben Smith liked thisBen Smith liked thisIsn't it great when you use a psychological bias on yourself and it comes through? A few weeks ago, I gave a talk at an event at our Autotrader offices and I received some very kind words about the topic I presented. The suggestion from my follow guest speakers, Lou Downe and Kate Tarling, was to write something down that could be shared. It's very easy to think "that's a good idea" but never actually do it. Throw a small child into the mix and it can be one of the first things to drop. So I made a public declaration in a previous post (utilising commitment bias) that I would to write some words for anyone else that may find my topic interesting. Enter the Bridging the Gap newsletter... At Autotrader, we’ve been taking an intriguing approach to solve a familiar challenge in the past few months. That challenge being: 💬 “We have great teams doing great work, but the experience we offer feels completely disconnected for our customers” Alignment of teams is critical to address this but it is notoriously hard to achieve. So in this newsletter, I’ll dig into that challenge a bit more and be sure to share our current approach with you. Ultimately, we’re trying to connect our teams, products and services in a way that facilitates delivering better experiences. If that sounds interesting to you, have a read of Issue 1 and subscribe for future issues. All thoughts and comments welcome!Issue 1: Great teams. Great work. Dodgy experience.Issue 1: Great teams. Great work. Dodgy experience.
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Ben Smith liked thisBen Smith liked thisThe start of September is a lot. New school year. Jewish New Year at the weekend, so a big dinner to make. And our next Marketing AI Agent Academy course starts next Monday. So this year, instead of spending hours deciding what to make and filling my online basket, I told an agent roughly the type of meal I wanted to make (Ottolenghi themed, of course) and left it to it. It went and found the recipes. Then it pulled every ingredient out of them, connected to my Tesco account and filled the basket. I spend most of my days helping marketers build agents for every part of their job, it's the most exciting Marketing has been in years. And then this one just did something as simple as my food shop, but it blew me away how much time it saved. Build agents for your work. Then build one for your food shop. (Honestly, do that one first) Shana tova to everyone celebrating 🍎🍯
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Ben Smith liked thisBen Smith liked thisI'm thrilled to share that I joined the Autotrader Retailer Partnerships Team a few weeks back. The welcome has been incredible — genuinely supportive people, great energy, and a brilliant culture. I'm really looking forward to the challenge and excited for what’s ahead.
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Ben Smith liked thisBen Smith liked thisTo folks in my Manchester network... ProductTank Manchester is back after a summer break, on Wednesday 30th September with the usual format: drinks, pizza, good company and 3 great speakers And we’ve got a brilliant line-up: 🎤 Julian Bass, Professor of Software Engineering at the University of Salford Managing Technical Debt: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly 🎤 Nire Adetimehin, Product Marketing Manager Are Customers Still Kings? How SaaS Products Can Remain Customer-Centric in a Fiercely Competitive Market 🎤 Bevan Broadbent ACC, Leadership Coach and former Product Leader Why I left Product, and why you should stay 📅 Wednesday 30th September ⏰ 6:00pm – 8:30pm 📍 Grayce, 1st Floor Hilton House, Hilton Street, Manchester, M1 2EH A big thanks to GRAYCE for hosting us again! 🙌 As always, ProductTank is free and open to everyone. Whether you're a product leader, PM, founder, designer, engineer, new to Product or just curious about it, come along and say hello. We’ve already got 89 people signed up, so grab a place while you can 👇 RSVP on Meetup (link in comments). Michael Palmer and I will be you hosts as usual. Hopefully see you there! #ProductTank #ProductTankManchester #ProductManagement #ProductLeadership #ManchesterTech #ProductCommunity
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Ben Smith liked thisBen Smith liked thisYesterday, I had a lovely day in London filming a segment with Fertility Matters at Work! It was great to sit down and share my personal fertility journey, along with what it's really like going through treatment with vs. without workplace support. Having experienced treatment prior to joining Autotrader, the difference was night and day. Having access to genuine, compassionate support, plus incredible benefits that provided a real lifeline during treatment, made such a positive impact on my experience. (And of course, I couldn't resist a cheeky 30-minute sightseeing detour before catching my train home! 🏙️✨) A huge thank you to the Natalie Silverman, Matt Worrall & the rest of the team for a great chat and for creating such a welcoming space to share my story. Excited to see the final edit! 🎬 #FertilityMattersAtWork #FertilityInTheWorkplace #Autotrader #FertilityJourney #EmployeeWellbeing #WorkplaceCulture
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Ben Smith liked thisBen Smith liked thisWe’re expanding the Product team at Autotrader! We’ve just opened three brilliant roles based in Manchester: 💡 Principal Product Lead – CX 🛒 Senior Product Lead – Conversion & Checkout 🚗 Senior Product Lead – New Car Advertising It's a fantastic team to be a part of, together we build products and tools that solve big, complex problems for our customers, consumers, and colleagues 🛠️ 👇 Application links are in the comments!
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Ben Smith liked thisBen Smith liked thisDealer Auction delivers 55% stock growth in Q2 Speed to sell and reserve performance have combined to help dealers across the UK achieve quicker sales and better returns.Dealer Auction delivers 55% stock growth in Q2 - Motor Trade NewsDealer Auction delivers 55% stock growth in Q2 - Motor Trade News
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Andrew Ward
UK businesses right now? Basically treading water and hoping 2026 throws them a life raft. The Bank of England’s new report sums it up perfectly 👇 📉 Demand & Output Sentiment remains weak. Businesses across sectors expect any meaningful recovery only in 2026. Retail growth is minimal, manufacturing- and construction-order books stay dull, and investment plans remain modest. 👷 Employment & Pay Hiring intentions are cautious — many firms are holding on to current headcounts rather than expanding. Recruitment issues have eased to more typical levels. 💸 Costs, Prices & Margins Profit margins remain squeezed because of weak demand and rising costs (especially labour and food). Input cost inflation has fallen back, but consumer-services inflation stays elevated. Most firms plan to rebuild margins mainly via cost control rather than aggressive price hikes. 🏠 Housing & Consumer Behaviour The housing market is flat: supply and demand roughly balanced, with most movement at the lower end. Rentals remain tight but demand has softened. On the consumer side, spending growth is slow; people emphasise value, save more, and avoid big discretionary purchases. 🌍 Trade & Investment Export volumes for manufactured goods fell further, partly due to US tariffs and global weakness. Services exports continue some growth. Investment intentions are subdued, with firms citing uncertainty (e.g., upcoming Autumn Budget), regulatory/planning delays, and cost pressures. Source: https://lnkd.in/enMZRkWx
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Simon Kemp
I haven’t always agreed with the Payment Systems Regulator , but lately they been doing good things. This latest move to cap Intechange fees for UK merchants selling to EU card holders feels right. Being outside the EU is already hard enough on UK retailers, any wins they can get should be celebrated.
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