Plays an integral role in helping AARP bring to market and evolve Staying Sharp (stayingsharp.aarp.org) to achieve the organization’s ambitious goal of delivering a robust Brain Health program. The role includes product definition (features, business requirements, detailed technical requirements), planning, and product development. Orchestrates the continual improvement of the Customer Experience by defining innovative and profitable new features while enhancing existing ones. Functions as single point of contact for Technical teams on the entire software lifecycle of Staying Sharp platform, including execution of the product vision, short-term planning, creating business requirements, and managing the work of a dedicated team comprised of internal and external vendors and/or contractors.
- Collaborates enterprise-wide with internal leaders and individual contributors to execute Staying Sharp’s digital product roadmap.
- Develops a strong sense of empathy with the Staying Sharp program and its customers in order to build a new digital product that resonates with the target audience.
- Creates new product development internal materials (roadmaps, plans, and presentations) to garner support on direction, and future investment from senior management.
- Leads product development efforts for the new Staying Sharp specialized platform, a key program for increasing AARP relevance, impact, and revenue. Provides insight that impacts overall AARP growth strategy including:
- Defining the overall targets and acting as the key liaison.
- Defining the strategy to achieve the goals.
- Defining key projects, sequencing, and milestones.
- Evangelizing the product, team’s successes, and pilots.
- Works with Information Systems and Business Analytics to ensure the requisite systems and reporting infrastructure is in place.
- Identifies dependencies in functional work streams and ensures issues are escalated and resolved quickly.
- Develops and directs procedures and methods to ensure quality standards are met and maintained within the program.
- Tracks and communicates the program’s progress.
- Thinks as a business leader.
- 10+ years of experience in a related digital field demonstrating expertise in program or product management.
- Familiarity with Agile development processes a major plus.
- Experience leveraging customer research and insights to discover, define (or refine), and clarify user-centric changes in the digital environment. Proven knowledge of user-centric web standards, design, and usability.
- Ability to translate high-level business features and requests into detailed technical specifications, flows, requirements, and user stories.
- Ability to adapt to rapidly shifting priorities in a fast-paced environment, to respond quickly to changing business needs/timelines, to maintain relentless attention to detail, and to complete high- quality projects on time.
- Action orientation. A decisive, quick study with proven analytical ability and strategic business and product development/management skills. Owns day-to-day oversight of the Staying Sharp platform.
- Ability to influence/negotiate with teams to produce desired outcomes within tight timeframes.
- Must be well versed in software applications and internet and mobile technologies.
- Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, spreadsheet, PowerPoint.
- Understanding of technical limitations and constraints.
- Strong planning and organizing skills.
- Demonstrated problem solving skills.
- Interpersonal savvy.
- Minimum travel required.
- Role cannot be performed remotely due to nature of internal collaborators and stakeholders.
AARP offers competitive benefits with a 401K, 100% company funded pension plan, health, dental, vision and life insurance, STD/LTD, paid vacation and sick, and other benefits.