Product Manager, Response Support Platform (Consulting Agreement)

World Central Kitchen

8d•Remote

About The Position

World Central Kitchen (WCK) is building a global Response Support Platform to deliver 24x7 omnichannel support to frontline teams operating in crisis environments worldwide. This platform will integrate AI-powered Tier 0 self-service, a Knowledge Management System (KMS), multilingual helpdesk capabilities, Global Event Monitoring (GEM), and CRM capabilities — either expanding our current use of Salesforce or evaluating alternative solutions. The VP, Response Technology holds accountability for the platform vision and strategy. The Product Manager will work closely with the VP to drive execution — conducting discovery, developing recommendations, managing stakeholder engagement, and coordinating implementation. This is a highly collaborative role where the PM brings structure, rigor, and execution capacity while the VP provides strategic direction, prioritization guidance, and decision-making on key trade-offs. Key Partnerships This role sits at the intersection of several teams. Success depends on building strong, trust-based relationships across the organization. Enterprise Technology owns WCK's technology stack and will provide engineering capacity for implementation. The PM needs to deeply understand the existing stack, some components may already meet platform requirements, and stay tightly aligned on architecture decisions and build vs. buy trade-offs. The Director of Knowledge Management (within Governance) holds functional ownership of Knowledge Management (KM) curation and implementation. The PM will partner closely with them to ensure the KMS component reflects governance standards while meeting operational needs. Beyond these core partnerships, the PM will engage regularly with Response Operations, Community Response, People Response, and Response Security — the teams who will ultimately use the platform daily.

Requirements

4-7 years of product management experience, preferably in enterprise platform or B2B SaaS environments
Experience with contact center or omnichannel support platforms (Genesys, Zendesk, Five9, or similar)
Familiarity with AI/ML product development (chatbots, NLP, conversational AI, or intelligent routing)
Strong stakeholder management and communication skills
Proven ability to operate effectively in matrixed environments with shared ownership models
Experience leading discovery processes and vendor evaluations
Ability to work autonomously in a remote, fast-paced environment
Working location must have working-hour overlap with U.S. time zones to support cross-functional collaboration

Nice To Haves

Experience in humanitarian, nonprofit, or crisis response organizations
Familiarity with Knowledge Management Systems and governance frameworks
Experience supporting globally distributed, multilingual operations

Responsibilities

Shape the product vision for the Response Support Platform across all components: KM, omnichannel helpdesk, AI Tier 0, Global Event Monitoring (GEM), and CRM
Develop comprehensive product requirements based on stakeholder needs across Response Operations, Community Response, People Response, Response Security, and Governance
Create and maintain a prioritized product roadmap aligned with organizational priorities
Navigate trade-offs across speed, safety, compliance, and user experience
Conduct stakeholder interviews across all functional areas to understand support needs, pain points, and workflows
Document current-state processes and identify gaps in existing support capabilities
Define user personas and journey maps for field teams, remote coordinators, and central staff
Translate operational requirements into technical specifications in coordination with Enterprise Technology
Assess existing tools within WCK's technology stack for potential use, in partnership with Enterprise Technology
Research and evaluate enterprise platform options (e.g., ServiceNow, Salesforce Service Cloud, Zendesk, Genesys) with consideration for build vs. buy trade-offs
Evaluate AI/ML capabilities for Tier 0 self-service, NLP translation, and predictive routing
Assess CRM requirements and evaluate options — including expansion of current Salesforce implementation or alternative solutions
Develop solution recommendation documentation and evaluation criteria aligned with Enterprise Technology standards
Coordinate vendor demonstrations and technical evaluations as needed
Build cross-functional alignment with partner teams
Prepare and present progress updates to stakeholders
Manage stakeholder expectations and surface escalations as needed
Drive consensus on prioritization decisions
MVP delivery oversight and iteration based on user feedback
CRM integration with Phase 1 platform deployment
Product documentation and training materials
Quarterly roadmap updates and stakeholder reviews
12-month engagement summary and transition plan