The Sr. Digital Product Manager leads the product management efforts for a development pod in support of current and future digital and mobile initiatives serving the marketing, engagement, and programmatic needs of the Society.
Working with stakeholders and other functions across the Society, we build and implement world-class products to serve our constituents, including Explorers, Educators and Students, and Key Influencers (Foundations, Policy Makers, Donors, etc). These products include the NGS website and associated CMS, Explorer directory, mobile apps, community tools for Explorers and Educators, an outward-facing learning management system (LMS) and the associated educational asset CMS.
The Sr. Manager is an accomplished, practical, results-driven and customer-focused product manager with a mature approach to defining, building and delivering great digital software products. She/he will lead the product management efforts for one of the software development teams (“pod” or “divlet”) that make up the delivery arm of the Digital department.
- Lead product development and implementation for stakeholder needs. Work with stakeholders throughout the Society as well as internal and external users to develop product roadmaps and requirements. Develop recommendations and solutions to effect the business owner’s required outcome, ranging from straightforward webpages to industry-leading interactive experiences based on application integration and custom development (20%)
- Collaborate with members of the Design/UX group to develop and test digital user experiences that bring the features to life. (20%)
- Work closely with the engineering team to define digital solutions (features, functions, etc.) that solve identified business needs. Utilize appropriate processes, workflows, etc. (e.g. Agile, user testing, QA, etc.) to ensure product quality and performance while delivering on time and on budget. (20%)
- Keep up with current trends, technologies and best practices in software development and delivery. (10%)
- Collaborate with extended stakeholder group (finance, legal, marketing, IT) as appropriate (10%)
- 5+ years of product management experience leading the development of enterprise-class software products
- Experience developing publishing tools or content management system will be favorably considered.
Knowledge and Skills Required
- A proven and seasoned product manager. Someone who can help organizations and stakeholders think through their objectives, conceive of digital solutions, manage the implementation of those solutions, and tests them to ensure success.
- A track record of building and going to market with successful products (and likely a few misses too).
- Technical depth that fosters understanding and respect of world-class engineers.
- Experience working with business owners to develop a deep understanding of customer needs.
- Exceptional skill at clear, concise, and compelling communication.
- Strong analytical background for data-driven rigor in decision-making.
- Strong understanding of product workflow and processes (e.g. Agile, user testing, Q/A, etc.)
- Pro-active self-starter with a “can do” approach to problem solving who thrives with hard challenges and approaches problems with a data-driven mindset
- Follows industry trends, best practices, etc. to ensure we’re ahead of the curve