Why external product managers add more than just bandwidth
Being an external product manager means constantly finding the balance between being part of a team, and standing slightly outside of it.
My role is a funny one. I often introduce myself to our clients as ‘The Head of Product’ and then quickly follow up with a quick self-deprecating joke about how the title seems a little grandiose given that I don’t actually ‘own’ their product.
So what does it all mean? And what are the benefits to a company employing an external product manager such as myself, from an agency such as Brightec?
At Brightec, I work with exceptionally talented product managers and product-related stakeholders from across our client base. These people are true experts. They know their audience. They know their business goals. They know their organisation and the wider ecosystem of their products better than I ever could.
So what do I bring to the party?
Cross-client experience & expertise
Working across multiple clients and industries at once gives us a unique advantage. Brightec has been doing that for years - I myself for over a decade now. Time and time again, I’ve been able to say “We’ve solved that for another client, here’s how we overcame it”.
It’s not just reactive problem solving either. The reality of working month to month across varying industries and propositions, is that the team is a melting pot of ideation. Drawing inspiration and making connections between seemingly disconnected opportunities for our clients - and creating truly unique routes forward - is one of the greatest values I can bring to the table. I really enjoy this aspect of my role.
External perspective
Another key benefit is perspective.
As external partners, we can step outside the assumptions, biases and politics that inevitably form within an internal team. We get to interview senior stakeholders as to their goals with no hidden agenda. We get to ask questions which an internal team member may deem ‘silly’ or ‘naive’.
Whenever we start a project we remind our clients that, whilst we are experts in what we do (building high quality mobile apps for large companies), they are experts in what they do. At Brightec we call this Confidently Humble - we know what we bring, but we also respect our clients’ domain expertise.
When we truly collaborate, great things happen. Over the years, I’ve seen multiple occasions where this collaboration has enjoyed the real fruits of external engagement. The best idea wins. We both care about the product’s success over any personal agendas.
Engaging with an external product manager helps protect that focus on genuine success, even when success looks different to what was previously imagined.
Healthy distance
As an external product manager, you can facilitate product tasks and responsibilities with clarity and steadiness. You deeply care about the success of the product you’re building, but you also carry something unique - a healthy distance.
That distance is a gift, not a curse. It allows you to be neutral on prioritisation, to zoom out and see problems or opportunities on the horizon that might be impossible to spot if you were stuck in the weeds. You can challenge the status quo and continually evaluate the longer-term objectives and the route towards them. From that zoomed out perspective, you can also zoom in on unexpected details that might otherwise pass you by if you were too close.
Conclusion
At Brightec, this is the balance we strike every day: bringing objectivity, cross-sector insight, and laser focus to products we don’t own, but treat as if they were our own. It’s not about replacing internal teams; it’s about empowering them — helping clients make better product decisions, build better roadmaps, and ultimately create better outcomes for their users.
If you'd like to see how this way of working creates lasting impact, explore our recent projects with Virgin Trains Ticketing and Waterstones.
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