Sr Product Mgr I

Reed Technology•Raleigh, NC

About The Position

The Senior Product Manager I will own a product or one or more product features within a complex product. He/she will be responsible for developing a commercially successful product strategy and lead project execution with minimal guidance that is based on qualitative and quantitative customer understanding. He/she will develop strong technology relationships looking for ways to address customer needs and will be seen as a critical stakeholder for feedback on new feature ideas. He/she will informally coach more junior PMs and interview and recruit new PM candidates.

Requirements

Suggested Minimum Years of PM Experience: 6-8 years
Critical Experiences: • Recognized as full owner of a product or sizable feature of a complex product. • Released new product or product features to the market, from collaborative conceptualization to execution to post-release management. • Frequent product customer engagements that lead to positive commercial outcomes.
Education to Qualify: Bachelors or Masters degree in a technical subject (Computer Science or Engineering discipline) is preferred, but not essential.

Responsibilities

Customer Focus • Gathers, evaluates and has a solid understanding of customer use cases. • Maintains close contact with customers to gain a sense for where the market is heading given multiple considerations. • Creates processes that are adept at recognizing customer needs. • Aligns/coaches the team to ensure customer needs are met. • Understands competitors and regulatory environment. • Segments markets and understands needs of those sub-segments in greater detail.
Data-Driven Decision-Making & Analysis • Leverages metrics to track progress on customer needs and ensures that product efforts move those metrics. • Is proficient at pulling and accessing data from multiple sources, and managing through data ambiguity. • Considers various options to balance complex conflicting priorities. • Identifies the most important data to consider and sets KPIs, priorities and dashboards. • Develops multiple hypothesis-driven product evaluation strategies, including AB testing for interactive products, and assesses the expected efficacy of each. • Is comfortable to take an analytical, data-driven approach for situations where rigorous data sets are unavailable.
Go to Market & Product Marketing Lifecycle • Develops clear go to market launch plans through coordinated development with external customer facing teams such as marketing and sales. • Drafts PR, marketing and sales collateral. • Develops or supports pricing strategy, if applicable. • Is independently accountable for portions of launch and strategy execution as assigned. • Drives process and external communication for products that will be sunsetted, including plan for migrating customers. • Supports and participates in business strategic planning, contributing to sales and business development strategy.
Product Delivery & Development Lifecycle • Has a thorough understanding of the broader product experience and uses this knowledge to develop comprehensive prototypes. • Drives key end-to-end lifecycle components, from planning to release. • Has a thorough understanding of the company's SDLC processes, including agile processes. • Helps drive solutions for complicated design challenges. • Writes clear requirements for complex features or products and is responsive to requests for clarifications. • Manages product without direct supervision, involving manager or other senior leaders only when appropriate.
Strategy & Commercial Acumen • Develops product vision and roadmap plan aligned with business strategy and communicates across all critical stakeholders. • Understands and communicates the need to show a return on investment and prepares an operating budget for the product. • Uses knowledge of competitors to inform product decisions and roadmaps. • Writes or supports business cases for investment. • Understands how to use data to drive commercial decisions and growth opportunities for the product.
Technical Skills • Understands company technology stack at a high level, for the broader product. • Utilizes or extend the company's platform and underlying technologies to create new product features. • Speaks knowledgably with tech and data counterparts about development approaches in consideration. • Learns about new technologies to support new product development efforts. • Is comfortable analyzing data using existing software packages (e.g. Excel).
Competencies: Personal Capability Practices Self-Development • Takes ownership of own development and career • Initiates regular conversations with manager, coach or mentor regarding self-development • Understands what is required by the business to be successful and maps development plan accordingly • Learns from success and failures • Looks to build challenges into current assignments • Utilizes formal and informal networks effectively
Solves Problems and Analyzes Issues • Is able to ask effective questions and collect facts from multiple sources in order to solve problems • Is able to effectively identify and analyze problems and propose solutions • Effectively manages day-to-day issues and problems without intervention
Innovates • Develops new ideas to improve process or product, and is able to prepare implementation plans • Integrates and builds on new ideas from others • Creates new opportunities by applying different perspectives and challenging the status -quo • Is recognised as an innovative thinker
Interpersonal Skills Communicates Powerfully and Prolifically • Provides clear instructions and direction to others • Is able to both actively listen to and effectively question to understand another’s viewpoint • Helps others understand situations by communicating business context
Collaboration and Teamwork • Encourages co-operation between all members of the team • Seeks team members’ input and expertise; facilitates open and interactive discussion of matters affecting the team • Helps people to resolve conflict • Identifies and removes barriers to team performance • Identifies ways for further collaboration across teams
Builds Relationships • Establishes rapport with others on the team and across teams • Works effectively with others to get work done • Treats all individuals with respect • Handles difficult situations, minimizing conflict
Inspires and motivates others to high performance • Brings to the group a high level of energy and enthusiasm • Supports others when they go the extra mile • Fosters a supportive environment where appropriate coaching, training and development and other resources are provided to increase the competence, morale and confidence of team members • Takes time to understand individuals holistically, i.e. what is important to them both at work and outside of work
Develops Others • Shares own specialist skills and knowledge with other members of the team • Acts as a buddy to new individuals on a team • Looks for opportunities to provide feedback to others
Focus On Results Drives for Results • Communicates expectations clearly • Follows through on commitments to ensure they are successfully completed and goal are achieved • Promotes a strong sense of urgency for reaching goals • Builds commitment in others for their individual and team objectives