Sr Lead Product Manager - Validated Designs

Lumen Technologies

11h•Remote

About The Position

Lumen Validated Designs accelerate time-to-value, reduce deployment cost, and simplify technology adoption with production-tested architectures, built on the Lumen Network and Digital Platform with Connected Ecosystem partners. They reinforce Lumen's leadership as a trusted partner in #digitaltransformation, #cloud, #security, and #AI. We're seeking a Sr. Lead Product Manager, Validated Designs to define and execute the product strategy, roadmap, and operating rhythm for a scalable validated-solution program that accelerates customer adoption through repeatable, multi-partner designs. This role operates at the intersection of product management, solution architecture, partner strategy, and go-to-market readiness—turning market problems into validated offerings, enabling sales and delivery teams, and ensuring technical and commercial success. This role is responsible for shaping the LVD funnel and pipeline, helping define use cases and partner-integrated solutions, establishing clear requirements and success metrics, and driving cross-functional alignment across Product, Technology, Connected Ecosystem, Marketing, Sales, and Finance to deliver market-ready validated solutions. The individual in this role serves as the voice of the customer and the field—translating customer pain points, industry priorities, and partner capabilities into repeatable architectures, adoption guidance, and enablement assets that accelerate time-to-value and support scalable go-to-market execution.

Requirements

8+ years of progressive experience in product management, product strategy, product operations, and/or technical program leadership for B2B technology solutions.
Strong technical foundation with the ability to navigate complex solution spaces (e.g., networking, cloud, security, edge, data/AI) and translate technical concepts into customer-ready outcomes and assets.
Experience building repeatable solution offers and enablement artifacts (e.g., reference architectures, adoption guides, validation plans/results, demos, field enablement content) in partnership with engineering, architects, and ecosystem partners.
Demonstrated ability to synthesize disparate inputs (customer pain points, partner capabilities, internal constraints) into clear requirements, prioritized roadmaps, and executive-ready recommendations; strong analytical and KPI-driven operating approach.
Outstanding communication and stakeholder-management skills, including ability to engage with senior leaders and external partners; ability to create clarity and drive decisions in complex, cross-functional environments.
Proven ability to manage multiple concurrent initiatives, establish operating cadences, and drive on-time delivery across matrixed teams with shared ownership.

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with AI fundamentals and industry trends; experience incorporating AI-enabled capabilities into solution narratives and validated use cases is a plus.

Responsibilities

Own the LVD product strategy and roadmap: Define the vision, portfolio strategy, and prioritized roadmap for Validated Designs aligned to corporate strategy, product strategy, Connected Ecosystem priorities, and customer demand signals.
Build and manage the LVD pipeline: Work with cross functional teams to develop intake mechanisms for use cases and partner opportunities; translate inputs into milestones and stage-gate criteria for discovery, architecture, validation, adoption, and lifecycle.
Define requirements, outcomes, and metrics: Establish measurable success criteria (e.g., time-to-validation, deployment readiness, adoption, attach, and partner satisfaction) and drive a metrics cadence and reporting that enables decisions.
Drive cross-functional execution: Partner with Solution Architecture, Engineering, Product, Program Management, and Connected Ecosystem to ensure each LVD is scoped, sequenced, incubated, and delivered with the right technical depth, quality bar, and market readiness.
Partner and stakeholder alignment: Work with partner teams and internal leaders to define joint value propositions, roles/responsibilities, and deliverables; ensure clear governance, decisions, and communications throughout delivery.
Operationalize releases and enablement: Coordinate publishing, documentation readiness, sales/SE enablement assets, internal launch communications, and GTM materials in concert with Marketing and Sales; ensure LVD assets are consumable and maintained over time.
Lifecycle and continuous improvement: Manage post-launch performance, feedback loops, and updates; identify opportunities to streamline the end-to-end LVD framework, templates, and workflows to increase speed and consistency.