Senior Product Manager

CA Office of Data and Innovation•Sacramento, CA

1d•$141,336 - $168,384•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Product Manager is responsible for helping to deliver a better customer experience for Californians using government services. They will bring product thinking to state departments in a way that is learnable, scalable, and durable. Location: The employee’s workstation is located in Oakland, CA; Sacramento, CA. Travel to the Sacramento headquarters will be required. This position provides telework opportunities in accordance with agency telework policies Annual salary: $141,336 to $168,384 based on experience and qualifications Benefits: The state offers many benefits , including pension, health benefits (including after retirement), life insurance, employee assistance program, and much more. Appointment: This position is appointed by the Governor of California. Last day to apply: Until filled. What you’ll do Lead cross-functional teams, working in collaboration with state departments, to help build and deliver great services and experiences for residents; Help shape and implement business processes and lasting organizational change; Help establish product management as a practice in state government. We encourage you to apply if you: Understand that product management in state government is different from product management in private sector; Have a passion for the user and a proven ability to deliver value for customers; Are comfortable being a consultant, providing expert guidance and advice; Are experienced in managing diverse stakeholders and leading cross-functional teams. Areas our Senior Product Managers support: Vision and strategy Champion the customer, ensuring that the needs of Californians are understood and prioritized. Help establish product approaches and modern product practices as a standard in state government. Establish and communicate product vision, create and operationalize product plans. Product & project management Lead teams of researchers, designers, engineers and other data experts, and department partners, in problem definition, product visioning, planning, and implementation. Assess and document existing business processes and identify opportunities for organizational change and improvement. Drive user-focused, data-informed decision-making. Facilitate project management processes and practices including project plans, schedule, budget, stakeholder management, stand-ups, backlog grooming, sprint planning and retrospectives. Stakeholder engagement Collaborate with diverse stakeholder groups, ranging from executive leadership to departmental business programs, IT teams and others to assess need, value, usability, feasibility, cost, and capabilities of potential software or other product solutions. Build and manage relationships with clients and stakeholders across multiple levels of government. Set appropriate expectations, respect and empathize with client needs and internal processes, and tactfully challenge ideas when there are other ways to better deliver on user needs, and make services more equitable and inclusive You will find additional information about the job in the Duty Statement.

Requirements

Understand that product management in state government is different from product management in private sector
Have a passion for the user and a proven ability to deliver value for customers
Are comfortable being a consultant, providing expert guidance and advice
Are experienced in managing diverse stakeholders and leading cross-functional teams
5+ years of product management experience, specifically in the digital or tech space -- managing cross-functional teams to meet deadlines, navigating complex external client relationships, analyzing and documenting processes and shipping products
Ability to identify and understand internal or external customer needs and interests and deliver customer-centric solutions
A track record of launching product experiences that improved the customers’ lives
A track record of leading business process and organizational change
An understanding of qualitative and quantitative research & analytical methods and when to apply them to inform a product plan
Ability to gather input from and communicate with a large number of internal and external stakeholders
Comfortable working on a variety of collaboration platforms, and sometimes adapting to what the client may use
Ability to inspire and rally a team around a clear vision, strategy and roadmap
Ability to manage priorities despite ambiguity and changing circumstances/information
Strong organizational skills and attention to detail
Ability to communicate clearly and increase transparency, with a strong competency in situational awareness and conflict resolution
Ability to grow and nurture existing and new client relationships to help drive prioritization across multiple projects and create ecosystems of success

Nice To Haves

having also worked in the gov tech space is a bonus
Experience in government procurement or in implementing and/or procuring large technology systems is a bonus but not required
Strong ability to communicate to diverse non-technical audiences

Responsibilities

Lead cross-functional teams, working in collaboration with state departments, to help build and deliver great services and experiences for residents
Help shape and implement business processes and lasting organizational change
Help establish product management as a practice in state government
Champion the customer, ensuring that the needs of Californians are understood and prioritized
Help establish product approaches and modern product practices as a standard in state government
Establish and communicate product vision, create and operationalize product plans
Lead teams of researchers, designers, engineers and other data experts, and department partners, in problem definition, product visioning, planning, and implementation
Assess and document existing business processes and identify opportunities for organizational change and improvement
Drive user-focused, data-informed decision-making
Facilitate project management processes and practices including project plans, schedule, budget, stakeholder management, stand-ups, backlog grooming, sprint planning and retrospectives
Collaborate with diverse stakeholder groups, ranging from executive leadership to departmental business programs, IT teams and others to assess need, value, usability, feasibility, cost, and capabilities of potential software or other product solutions
Build and manage relationships with clients and stakeholders across multiple levels of government
Set appropriate expectations, respect and empathize with client needs and internal processes, and tactfully challenge ideas when there are other ways to better deliver on user needs, and make services more equitable and inclusive