Living document · Updated as hires are made

The Bloom team roadmap

Every person Bloom needs — from today's solo founder through to a scaled organisation. Structured by phase, department, and timing. Each role with its purpose, what it unlocks, and when it needs to be in place.

The full picture

From one to forty

Bloom starts with a solo founder. It reaches a sustainable, growing business with around 40 people across five phases. Every hire is made because something is blocked without it — not because it looks right on an org chart.

Now
Phase 0
Pre-build · Pre-investment
1
+ contracted specialists
Months 3–7
Phase 1
Closed beta · Pre-seed
3–4
+ key contractors
Months 8–14
Phase 2
200 families · Seed £500k–£1.5m
8–10
full-time
Months 15–24
Phase 3
Public launch · Series A £3–5m
18–22
full-time
Month 24+
Phase 4
US expansion · Series B
35–45
full-time

Hire for the unlock, not the optics

Every hire should unblock something specific. "We need a Head of Marketing" is not a reason. "We cannot reach 200 families without someone who owns growth full-time" is. Every hire in this document has a specific unlock attached to it.

Mission alignment is non-negotiable

Bloom builds for vulnerable children. Everyone who touches the product — from engineers to community managers to customer support — must understand why that matters. Brilliant people who don't care about the mission will damage the culture faster than they add value.

Contractors before permanence

Many roles in Phase 0–1 are better as contracts. A curriculum designer for 40 concepts. A DSL on retainer. An illustrator for the feeling animals. Permanent headcount is expensive and hard to reverse. Use it only when the work is genuinely continuous.

The one non-negotiable before any other hire: A named, qualified Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) must be in place before any child interacts with the product in any context. This is not a phase consideration — it is the condition under which Bloom is permitted to operate with children at all. It precedes the technical co-founder in importance.

Phase 0 · Now · Pre-build

What we have and what we need now

The complete product story exists. The work now is building the foundation — the specialists, the research, and the co-founder search — that makes Phase 1 possible.

Phase 0 — Solo + Contracted

One founder. Contracted specialists as needed. No permanent headcount beyond the DSL, who is essential before the prototype touches a child.

1
FOUNDER + CONTRACTORS
Bootstrapped
🏛️ Founding 1 person
Founder · Design & Product
Reports to: Board (self)
Product vision, UX design, curriculum framework, AI architecture specification, business case, investor narrative, co-founder search. All non-code work. The product soul.
Permanent
Now
In place
🛡️ Safeguarding 1 contractor — urgent
Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) URGENT
Reports to: Founder / Board
Named, qualified DSL. Owns the safeguarding policy, reviews all child-facing AI language, manages the monthly protocol, and is the first point of contact for all concerns. Must be independent of the founder. Non-negotiable before prototype touches any child.
Contracted · retainer
Before prototype
Not yet in place
📐 Curriculum & Content — Contracted 3 contractors
Lead Curriculum Designer
Reports to: Founder
Authors the 40 MVP maths concepts using CPA approach. Maps to UK National Curriculum KS1–KS4. Reviews AI-generated content for pedagogical accuracy. Expands to Literacy in Phase 2.
Contracted
Phase 0 start
Recruit now
Tutor AI Persona Writer
Reports to: Founder
Writes the full tutor AI system prompt, persona specification, and banned language rules. Tests the persona against 50 child scenarios. The voice every child hears every session — the most important content job in the product.
Project contract
Phase 0
Recruit now
Children's Illustrator
Reports to: Founder
Creates the five feeling animals, the Bloom creature, and the visual language of the child-facing product. Must have therapeutic or SEN experience — not just children's publishing. Full IP transfer. Brief developed with EP input before commission.
Commission
Phase 0–1
Brief first
🎓 Advisory — Phase 0 appointments 2 advisors
Educational Psychologist
Advisory panel
Validates the child model schema, reviews the feeling animals brief, advises on the Self-Understanding subject, and reviews AI tutor language for psychological safety. Input needed before illustration commission goes out.
Advisory equity
Phase 0
Approach now
Neurodivergent Adult Advocate
Advisory panel
Lived experience voice on the advisory panel. Reviews all product language, the Self-Understanding subject, and the overall tone of Bloom's approach. Should shape the product from the beginning — not review it at the end.
Advisory equity
Phase 0
Approach now

Phase 1 · Months 3–7 · Closed Beta

The smallest team that can ship something real

20 families. A working product. Proof that Bloom creates the right feeling for a child and their family. Everything else is deferred until this is proven.

Phase 1 — The founding team

Two co-founders plus a small number of essential contracted roles. No excess. Every person has a specific, irreplaceable function.

3–4
PEOPLE
Pre-seed · bootstrapped
⚙️ Founding Team 2 people
Technical Co-Founder · CTO NEW
Reports to: Board
Owns the full engineering vision. React/Next.js front end, Node or Python backend, PostgreSQL, self-hosted LLM deployment, data security, and safeguarding infrastructure. Has shipped a real consumer product before. Understands why child data privacy is non-negotiable. Mission-aligned — not just technically capable. 30–40% equity, 4-year vest, 1-year cliff.
Co-founder · equity
Month 3
Actively recruiting
Founder · CEO
Reports to: Board
Product, design, curriculum, content, parent research, investor relationships, advisory panel, and co-founder management. As the team grows, this role transitions from doing everything to owning product and strategy specifically.
Permanent
Now
In place
🎓 Advisory — Phase 1 additions 2 advisors
Clinical CAMHS Professional NEW
Advisory panel
Validates the safeguarding detection thresholds and emotional regulation model. Reviews the crisis escalation pathway. Provides clinical credibility for NHS conversations in Phase 3. Named on the product.
Advisory equity
Phase 1
Approach in Phase 1
Data Protection Officer (DPO) NEW
Reports to: CEO
ICO registration, UK GDPR Age Appropriate Design Code compliance, privacy notices, data retention policy, third-party processing agreements. Children's data under UK GDPR has specific requirements — this is not a generic DPO role.
Contracted · ongoing
Before ICO reg
Phase 0–1

Phase 2 · Months 8–14 · Seed Round

Building the team that scales the product

Seed investment of £500k–£1.5m. 200 families. The educator dashboard, Early Years companion, and Literacy curriculum added. The team grows to cover the functions that one or two founders cannot sustain.

Phase 2 — First real team

Seed investment enables the first proper hires. Every role added in this phase has a specific unlock: without it, Bloom cannot reach 200 families or raise a Series A.

8–10
FULL-TIME
Seed · £500k–£1.5m
⚙️Engineering3 people
Technical Co-Founder · CTO
Carries from Phase 1
Now leads a small engineering team. Architecture decisions, technical direction, and hands-on build continues. Begins transitioning from solo builder to engineering lead.
Co-founder
Continues
Full-Stack Engineer NEW
Reports to: CTO
Second engineer. Frees the CTO from being the only person who can ship. React/Next.js and backend. Consumer product experience preferred. Understands working in a safety-critical environment.
Permanent
Month 8
First seed hire
ML Engineer NEW
Reports to: CTO
Builds the adaptive learning layer using real session data from Phase 1. Begins training the LSTM emotion detection model. Develops the knowledge graph. The person who turns Bloom's AI architecture specification into a real system.
Permanent
Month 9
Unlock: real AI
🛡️Trust & Safety1 person
Head of Safeguarding & Trust NEW
Reports to: CEO
As Bloom scales beyond 20 families, the contracted DSL becomes a full-time internal role. Owns the monthly governance protocol, all safeguarding flags, human review queue, parent contact, and annual audit commissioning. DBS enhanced. Promotes internally from DSL contractor where possible.
Permanent
Month 8
Unlock: scale safely
📐Curriculum & Content2 people
Head of Curriculum NEW
Reports to: CEO
Converts the contracted curriculum designer into a permanent lead. Owns all curriculum content across subjects, oversees content quality, manages the advisory panel's pedagogical input, and leads the NCETM relationship. QTS with SEND specialism essential.
Permanent
Month 10
Unlock: Literacy launch
Parent Content Writer NEW
Reports to: Head of Curriculum
Writes the Understanding Library, weekly digest templates, Early Years activity library, and EHCP Support Centre content. Warm, informed, non-clinical voice. SEND knowledge essential — parent, educator, or practitioner background.
Part-time · contract
Month 9
Unlock: parent hub
🤝Community & Support1 person
Community & Parent Success Manager NEW
Reports to: CEO
Manages the parent community, responds to parent messages (the "real humans respond" promise from MVP), moderates the internal community with SEND awareness, runs the monthly expert Q&A sessions, and is the frontline voice of Bloom to families. SEND knowledge essential.
Permanent
Month 8
Unlock: community
🎓Advisory — Phase 2 additions2 advisors
Experienced SENCO NEW
Advisory panel
Reviews the educator dashboard, EHCP report format, and school-facing communications. Essential before Bloom approaches schools in Phase 2. National profile preferred — SENCOs talk to each other.
Advisory equity
Phase 2 start
Academic Researcher NEW
Advisory panel
Reviews the evidence base, advises on RCT design for Phase 3, connects Bloom to university partnerships. UCL, Birmingham, Edinburgh, or Cardiff preferred — all have strong neurodivergent education research groups.
Advisory equity
Phase 2

Phase 3 · Months 15–24 · Series A

The team that takes Bloom to market

Series A of £3–5m. Public launch. 2,000 paying families. First school partnerships. Self-hosted AI. The team becomes a real organisation — with functional leads across every department.

Phase 3 — Functional organisation

Series A capital enables the leadership layer that manages teams rather than individuals. Functional heads are added across engineering, clinical, sales, and marketing.

18–22
FULL-TIME
Series A · £3–5m
⚙️Engineering6–7 people
Senior Full-Stack Engineer NEW
Reports to: CTO
Third engineer. Enables parallel workstreams — one team on child product, one on parent/educator, one on infrastructure. Likely promoted from Phase 2 contractor or junior hire.
Permanent
Month 15
Senior ML / AI Engineer NEW
Reports to: CTO
Supports the ML Engineer with the LSTM model, IRT knowledge graph, and fine-tuning Bloom's own self-hosted LLM. Deep learning and NLP background. The person who makes the AI genuinely adaptive rather than rules-based.
Permanent
Month 15
Unlock: self-hosted AI
Data Engineer NEW
Reports to: CTO
Owns the data pipeline — TimescaleDB session signals, Neo4j knowledge graph, anonymisation, and the longitudinal dataset that will become Bloom's clinical evidence base. Privacy-first architecture essential.
Permanent
Month 16
Unlock: RCT dataset
QA Engineer / Accessibility Lead NEW
Reports to: CTO
Tests every release against WCAG 2.2 AA minimum and Bloom's own accessibility standards. Runs assistive technology testing (screen readers, switch access, keyboard-only navigation). This role exists because accessibility failures in a product for vulnerable children are not acceptable.
Permanent
Month 16
🏥Clinical & Research2 people
Clinical Lead NEW
Reports to: CEO
The internal clinical voice. Oversees all clinical content, manages the CAMHS advisory relationship, leads the RCT design, and is the named clinical contact for NHS conversations. Educational psychology or clinical psychology background. This role is what unlocks the NHS and statutory markets in Phase 3+.
Permanent
Month 15
Unlock: NHS pathway
Research & Impact Manager NEW
Reports to: Clinical Lead
Manages the relationship with university research partners, coordinates the RCT, and turns Bloom's session data into publishable evidence. The person who builds the evidence base that justifies NHS commissioning and distinguishes Bloom from every competitor that makes claims without proof.
Permanent
Month 18
📣Growth & Marketing2 people
Head of Growth NEW
Reports to: CEO
Owns the consumer acquisition strategy — SEN parent communities, SENCO word of mouth, referral programme, waitlist, and PR. Deep understanding of the SEN parent market is more valuable than generic EdTech marketing experience. Possibly the most community-specific growth role in UK EdTech.
Permanent
Month 15
Unlock: 2,000 families
Content & SEO Manager NEW
Reports to: Head of Growth
Drives organic growth through the EHCP Support Centre, Understanding Library, and the Early Years content. SEN parents are one of the most search-active communities in the UK — a parent searching "how to appeal an EHCP refusal" at midnight is exactly who Bloom exists to serve.
Permanent
Month 16
🏫B2B Sales1 person
School Partnerships Lead NEW
Reports to: CEO
Manages the B2B school and MAT pipeline. Understands SENCO priorities, school budget cycles, pupil premium, and how buying decisions are made in the education sector. Former teacher or school leader background highly desirable. Longer sales cycles than consumer — patience and relationship-building over pitching.
Permanent
Month 15
Unlock: school revenue
💼Operations & Finance1 person
Head of Operations & Finance NEW
Reports to: CEO
Financial management, legal compliance, board reporting, investor relations, and operational infrastructure. At 18–22 people, the operational overhead cannot be carried by the CEO. Likely a CFO-equivalent at Series B.
Permanent
Month 18

Phase 4 · Month 24+ · Series B · US Expansion

Building the global organisation

Series B capital funds US expansion and the team that sustains a scaled organisation. The UK business is stable, evidence-based, and generating significant ARR. The US team is built in parallel, not at the expense of the UK product.

Phase 4 — Global organisation

35–45 people across UK and US. A stable UK business generating real revenue. A US team being built with the UK playbook as its foundation.

35–45
FULL-TIME
Series B
🇺🇸US Team — New additions8–10 people
US General Manager NEW
Reports to: CEO
Leads the US operation. Deep understanding of the US special education market — IDEA, IEP processes, district procurement, IDEA funding. Ideally a former US SPED director or EdTech founder with US SEN experience.
Permanent · US
Month 24
US Curriculum Lead NEW
Reports to: Head of Curriculum
Localises Bloom's curriculum to US state standards. Works alongside the UK Head of Curriculum — the pedagogical approach transfers entirely, the content nodes need mapping.
Permanent · US
Month 24
US DSL / Child Safety Lead NEW
Reports to: Head of Safeguarding
US safeguarding lead. COPPA compliance, US child protection law, and state-specific reporting requirements. The UK safeguarding architecture transfers — the legal framework and named individuals do not.
Permanent · US
Before US launch
US School Partnerships Lead NEW
Reports to: US GM
Manages US district sales. District procurement is fundamentally different from UK school sales — longer cycles, RFP processes, IDEA and state funding routes. Former US SPED administrator or district EdTech buyer experience valuable.
Permanent · US
Month 25
🏥Clinical expansion2 people
NHS Partnerships Lead NEW
Reports to: Clinical Lead
Manages the NHS and ICB commissioning pipeline. Former NHS Digital, NHSE, or ICB commissioning background. Understands how digital health services get commissioned, what evidence NICE requires, and how to navigate the NHS procurement process without dying.
Permanent · UK
Month 26
Unlock: NHS revenue
Clinical Research Associate NEW
Reports to: Research & Impact Manager
Supports the RCT, manages the academic partnerships, and prepares publications from Bloom's outcome data. Psychology or education research background. The person who turns three years of session data into the clinical evidence base that justifies NHS commissioning.
Permanent · UK
Month 24
💼Executive leadership additions2 people
Chief Financial Officer (CFO) NEW
Reports to: CEO
At 35+ people and two-market operation, the Head of Operations role graduates to CFO. Financial strategy, investor relations, board reporting, and the Series B process itself.
Permanent
Month 24
Chief Product Officer (CPO) NEW
Reports to: CEO
As the CEO's attention is increasingly on investors, the US, and the NHS pipeline, product leadership needs its own executive. The CPO carries the product vision and roadmap — ensuring the product soul is maintained as the engineering team grows.
Permanent
Month 26
Critical hire

Ongoing · All phases

The work that never stops

Some functions grow in proportion to the company but never go away. These are the permanent operational commitments Bloom makes from the moment it opens to children.

🛡️Safeguarding — always on
Monthly governance protocol with named owners, a checklist, and a written report stored permanently. This is over-engineered by design — the cost of letting these checks slip is too high to risk.
  • →All safeguarding flags reviewed monthly — every one, no exceptions
  • →10 random sessions reviewed by a human every month
  • →AI language audit — sample outputs reviewed for concerning patterns
  • →Annual external audit by independent child safety consultancy
  • →Advisory panel briefed on all changes that touch child safety
📐Curriculum — always evolving
Curriculum is not a one-time production. The National Curriculum changes. Research advances. New understanding of neurodivergent learning emerges. The curriculum must be maintained and improved continuously.
  • →Six-monthly EHCP Support Centre content review against current guidance
  • →Annual curriculum review with Head of Curriculum and advisory panel
  • →NCETM partnership maintained and actively used for maths updates
  • →New concepts authored as children progress through the age range
  • →AI tutor language reviewed after every major model update
🎓Advisory panel — quarterly rhythm
The advisory panel meets quarterly. Each member reviews the area of the product they are responsible for validating. This is not a rubber stamp — it is genuine input that changes decisions.
  • →Quarterly all-panel review — product updates, data, decisions made
  • →Monthly one-advisor briefing on changes in their domain
  • →Annual deep-dive on clinical and curriculum content
  • →Panel grows as Bloom grows — new expertise added at each phase
🔒Data & compliance — always maintained
Child data privacy is not a launch requirement that gets completed and set aside. It is an ongoing operational commitment that must be reviewed as the product, the team, and the regulatory environment all change.
  • →Annual data protection audit by the DPO
  • →Monthly review of any new data flows against GDPR requirements
  • →Privacy notice reviewed whenever the product changes significantly
  • →ICO register kept current — fee paid, purposes updated
The team Bloom is building is unusual: Most consumer EdTech companies are engineering-heavy with minimal curriculum or clinical expertise. Bloom's team has structural weight in three areas that most EdTech avoids — safeguarding, clinical credibility, and curriculum depth. This is not overhead. It is the product. Without it, Bloom is just another adaptive learning app with a warm colour palette.