Product Manager (New Product Development)

Ontrac Solutions•Chicago, IL

About The Position

OnTrac is seeking a hands-on Product Manager to join a modern product team building cloud-native applications on Google Cloud Platform. This is a builder role focused on owning one product with one team, rather than program management or portfolio oversight. The Product Manager owns the backlog, writes user stories and acceptance criteria, works closely with engineers and designers, and decides what to build based on evidence from real users. The role starts with user needs and outcomes. The Product Manager structures ambiguous problems, forms and tests hypotheses, makes timely decisions, and takes accountability for what the team ships. They partner with client sponsors to define success measures, evaluate product outcomes after releases, and translate client goals into a product vision and actionable near-term roadmap. The position is based in Chicago, Illinois, or remote within the United States. Candidates must be located in and authorized to work in the United States for the full duration of the engagement. The expected start date is as soon as possible. The work is in a billable, project-based consulting environment, balancing client outcomes with schedule and utilization targets. Onboarding includes several weeks of materials, compliance training, and meetings with colleagues and stakeholders.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in a related field.
At least five years of hands-on Product Manager or Product Owner experience on software or application development teams, personally owning the backlog and writing stories and acceptance criteria.
Current or recent experience (approximately within the last five years) at a product-led technology company or in the digital or product practice of a top-tier consulting firm.
Experience running product discovery with UX and design, including user interviews, usability testing, and prototypes.
Experience on teams that release frequently with CI/CD and track outcome and flow metrics rather than velocity alone.
Technical fluency to discuss APIs, data models, and architecture with engineers, and ability to analyze product data independently, such as with SQL or analytics tools.
Strong capability with Jira and Confluence.
Experience working in Scrum and SAFe or another scaled Agile framework, including PI Planning.
Polished, concise, executive-ready communication that leads with the answer.
At least three years of experience in a client-facing role in consulting, professional services, or directly with business stakeholders.
A user- and outcome-first product mindset, including a real example of what the candidate's team shipped, who used it, and how success was measured.
Must be located in and authorized to work in the United States for the full duration of the engagement.

Nice To Haves

An advanced degree.
CSPO, SAFe POPM, or a similar product certification.
Experience with GCP or other public cloud application development.
Experience with Figma or similar design tools.
Hands-on experience with prototyping, analytics, or experimentation tools, such as A/B testing.
A background in engineering, design, or data before moving into product.
Experience in government or the public sector.
Experience with distributed teams.

Responsibilities

Own the product backlog end to end; write user stories and acceptance criteria, break work into small shippable increments, and maintain at least two sprints of ready work.
Run product discovery with UX and engineering, including user interviews, usability tests, prototypes, and lightweight experiments.
Partner daily with engineers and designers, participate in stand-ups, answer questions, review work in progress, and accept or reject stories against acceptance criteria.
Prioritize work by user value and business outcome; make and explain scope, sequencing, and trade-off decisions, adjusting as evidence changes.
Define success measures with the client sponsor, instrument features, track outcomes after releases, and use findings to inform the backlog.
Discuss APIs, data, and integration trade-offs with engineers and architects, and independently pull and analyze product data.
Plan and sequence frequent releases through CI/CD, write release notes, and coordinate rollouts with client stakeholders.
Translate client goals into a clear product vision and actionable near-term roadmap.
Participate in Sprint Planning, Reviews, Retrospectives, and scaled Agile events such as PI Planning; bring a refined, sized, dependency-mapped backlog and work with the Scrum Master on flow and predictability.
Serve as the product voice to client sponsors by running demos, maintaining regular one-to-one touch points, anticipating questions, and making evidence-based recommendations.
Establish a product baseline by day 30, covering users, goals, current metrics, and backlog health; establish an agreed roadmap with measurable outcome targets by day 90.
Anticipate risks and decisions, take the first step to address unclear, broken, or at-risk work, and keep relevant people informed.
Balance client outcomes with schedule and utilization targets in a billable, project-based consulting environment.