Associate Product Manager

Position Purpose

The Associate Product Manager plays a vital role in evaluating market demands and collaborating with cross-functional teams to swiftly deliver valuable solutions. The main goal is to enhance business outcomes by boosting sales, optimizing efficiency, and elevating customer satisfaction through high-quality product delivery. This position involves close teamwork with developers, designers, and business stakeholders within a defined enterprise product segment. The Associate Product Manager also tracks progress and oversees the financial aspects of the product team.

This role works under the guidance of senior Product Management colleagues.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategy & Planning (20%): Engage deeply with customers to understand their needs, define the minimum viable product (MVP), and anticipate future requirements.
• Communicate product vision and priorities effectively with development teams, cross-functional units, and external partners.
• Set goals and metrics to assess product impact, regularly updating the product backlog to reflect new insights.
• Oversee and refine the product backlog, making decisions focused on maximum value delivery.
• Keep abreast of research and competitive trends to recommend superior solutions, ensuring the product remains best in its category.
• Delivery & Execution (60%): Develop, test, and refine product hypotheses through user research and testing methods.
• Ensure adherence to quality and change management standards through thorough documentation and review.
• Create, prioritize, and approve user stories, incorporating them into the release schedule.
• Make daily product decisions that optimize value creation.
• Evaluate feature pros, cons, dependencies, and potential issues while considering value.
• Participate actively in daily stand-ups, iteration planning, demos, and retrospectives.
• Translate complex technical details into accessible terms for non-technical stakeholders.
• Maintain regular updates on financials and product documentation in company systems.
• Manage vendor-related purchase orders and invoicing processes.
• People Engagement (20%): Promote collaboration across teams including Engineering and UX to identify and solve obstacles.
• Act as an advocate for users and stakeholders by deeply understanding their needs.
• Work with the product team continuously to evaluate progress, share lessons learned, and plan next steps.

Reporting and Travel

This position typically reports to a Product Management Manager or Senior Manager and involves less than 10% overnight travel.

Work Environment

Work is mostly seated in a comfortable office setting, with occasional opportunities to move around. Rarely may involve lifting light items. Indoor working conditions are generally comfortable.

Qualifications

• Must be at least eighteen years old.
• Legal authorization to work in the United States is required.
• Preferred: 0 to 1 year of relevant experience.
• Exposure to modern product management practices and agile methodologies like extreme programming (XP), including paired programming, test-driven development, and continuous deployment.
• Experience in fast-paced, dynamic settings with frequently changing priorities.
• Ability to communicate and influence both technical and non-technical teams at all organizational levels.
• Familiarity with cross-functional collaborative software design and development teams.
• Experience creating, prioritizing, and approving user stories.
• Conducting user research and testing to better comprehend user needs.
• Understanding of metrics and analytics to evaluate product value.

Education

A high school diploma or GED is typically required. No additional education is preferred.

Competencies

• Collaborative partnership building to achieve shared goals.
• Effective communication tailored to diverse audiences.
• Innovative mindset to enhance organizational success.
• Strong customer orientation and solution delivery.
• Consistent achievement of results under challenging circumstances.
• Comfortable interaction with diverse groups.
• Adaptable learning through trial and error.
• Ability to navigate complex organizational processes and dynamics.
• Proactive self-development using various learning avenues.