Senior Product Manager, Platform Engineering

Appian Corporation•McLean, VA

23h•$125,000 - $250,000•Onsite

About The Position

This role is for a Senior Product Manager focused on strengthening Appian's self-managed distribution, specifically Appian on Kubernetes. The position involves analyzing customer use cases, prioritizing feature delivery, and driving adoption of Appian on Kubernetes. The product manager will be responsible for the roadmap and ensuring high-performance operations for customers managing their own Appian environments. A key aspect of this role is customer interaction, requiring the ability to communicate effectively with both technical staff and executives. The product manager will leverage their experience with containerized software and Kubernetes to explain how Appian on Kubernetes aligns with cloud-native principles and enterprise requirements. They will also analyze customer feedback and enhancement requests to inform the product backlog. This position is based in McLean, Virginia, and requires a commitment to in-person collaboration, with employees expected to be in the office five days a week.

Requirements

5+ years of experience in Product Management or Software Engineering within an enterprise software organization.
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field.
Experience managing products supporting both SaaS and customer-managed deployments.
Strong understanding of cloud-native technologies and Kubernetes.
Experience working with containerized applications throughout the deployment and operational lifecycle.
Knowledge of enterprise infrastructure concepts including scalability, availability, resiliency, and security.
Excellent communication skills with the ability to translate complex technical concepts for both technical and executive audiences.
Experience partnering directly with enterprise customers to influence product strategy.

Nice To Haves

Experience with Kubernetes platforms such as Amazon EKS, Azure AKS, Google GKE, Red Hat OpenShift, Rancher, or VMware Kubernetes Service.
Experience building or supporting Internal Developer Platforms (IDPs).
Familiarity with software deployments in denied, degraded, intermittent, and limited (DDIL) environments.
Understanding of enterprise data sovereignty and regulatory requirements, including frameworks such as DORA.
Experience supporting customers in highly regulated industries, including government, financial services, healthcare, or life sciences.

Responsibilities

Define and execute the product roadmap for Appian on Kubernetes.
Prioritize product investments based on customer feedback, business impact, and technical strategy.
Partner closely with Engineering to define requirements, refine backlog priorities, and guide implementation.
Collaborate with architects and engineers to design scalable, cloud-native platform capabilities.
Establish clear product boundaries between customer-managed infrastructure and Appian-managed functionality.
Write detailed product requirements and specifications for engineering teams.
Track feature adoption and success through customer feedback, product metrics, and usage analytics.
Own the product lifecycle from ideation through documentation, launch, and ongoing enhancements.
Partner with Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success to support go-to-market initiatives and product positioning.
Build strong relationships with enterprise customers to understand complex deployment challenges and influence future product direction.