Manager, Product Owner - API

Pella Windows & Doors•Urbandale, IA

7h•Hybrid

About The Position

We are looking for a Technical Product Owner/Manager to lead the strategy, development, and delivery of our API platform, serving both internal product teams and external partners. This role is pivotal in enabling scalable, reusable, and secure APIs that power our ecosystem of applications and integrations. You will work closely with a high-performing software engineering team and collaborate with product development teams, external stakeholders, and technical and product leadership. The platform is built on a modern stack including PostgreSQL, Node.js, and GraphQL, and interfacing with a variety of legacy and external systems such as is central to our vision of delivering value through composable, API-first architecture.

Requirements

3+ years of experience as a Product Owner, Product Manager, or Technical Program Manager.
Strong understanding of modern web technologies, especially PostgreSQL, Node.js, React, and GraphQL.
Experience managing or building API platforms for both internal and external audiences.
Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
Familiarity with agile methodologies and product development lifecycles.

Nice To Haves

Background in software engineering or computer science.
Experience with API management tools (e.g., Postman, Swagger/OpenAPI, Apollo, APIM, Kong, or similar).
Understanding of security, authentication (OAuth, JWT), and rate limiting in API design.
Experience building or contributing to internal developer platforms (IDPs) or platform engineering teams.
Experience interfacing with a variety of legacy technology and SaaS platforms such as Oracle, Salesforce, (insert ERP here) etc.

Responsibilities

Define and evolve the vision, roadmap, and backlog for both internal and external API platforms.
Champion API-as-a-Product thinking, ensuring APIs are discoverable, well-documented, and easy to consume.
Balance the needs of internal developers with those of external partners and subsidiaries.
Serve as the primary point of contact for internal teams and external consumers of the API platform.
Gather and prioritize requirements from diverse stakeholders, ensuring alignment with business goals.
Communicate platform capabilities, updates, and value propositions clearly to technical and non-technical audiences.
Work closely with engineering lead(s) to ensure scalable, secure, and performant API design.
Promote best practices in API governance, versioning, and lifecycle management.
Contribute to the development of a platform engineering practice focused on reusable APIs and developer experience.
Establish and evangelize API governance standards, including naming conventions, versioning, authentication, and documentation.
Lead the federation of API design principles across teams to ensure alignment and reusability.
Partner with platform engineering to build tooling and frameworks that support API development and consumption.
Manage the product backlog, define user stories, and ensure timely delivery of features.
Define and track KPIs for platform adoption, performance, and customer satisfaction.
Continuously iterate based on feedback from internal and external users.