Manager, IT Product

Af - Group - Lansing, MI

Full-time - Mid Level

Lansing, MI

Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations

About the position

The Product Manager will lead the development and implementation of technology solutions by collaborating with internal stakeholders and external clients. This role focuses on defining and prioritizing the product vision and roadmap while applying agile principles to deliver innovative product solutions that meet business needs.

Responsibilities

• Lead and drive product planning; oversee development and implementation.
• Maintain the overall product backlog.
• Monitor resource burn rate and adjust project resources as required for successful delivery.
• Motivate, lead, and manage team members effectively.
• Implement and maintain a rapid application development methodology optimizing an Agile approach.
• Collaborate with Product Owners on product direction, deliverables, and release planning.
• Engage with Underwriting, Claims, and Finance Business Units to define product needs and innovation opportunities.
• Identify and solution cross-functional requirements with internal peers.
• Aid in the development of clear documentation, user manuals, training materials, and business process flows.
• Escalate high-level risks and issues to Program leadership.
• Coordinate responses on project issues for presentation to Program leadership and oversight committees.
• Collaborate with Change Management for clear project communication.
• Work with business process analysts on process alignment and optimization.
• Address identified blockers with Scrum Masters and share responsibility for overall delivery.
• Collaborate with architecture on the technical direction of the product.
• Lead analysis and estimation efforts for project and team resource needs.
• Collaborate on major design decisions with other Leads and Architects.
• Provide technical leadership to the team in meeting milestones and deliverables.
• Serve as a point of escalation for requirements, design, development, and testing activities.
• Facilitate design and development working sessions.
• Ensure adoption and application of technical best practices.
• Provide subject matter expertise on legacy systems and business rules.
• Participate in sponsor and executive update meetings as needed.
• Participate in architecture meetings to understand the linkage between architecture and configuration.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in computer science or related field (or equivalent experience).
• Five years of progressive responsibility in an IT environment with demonstrated technical knowledge.
• Three years of leadership experience in IT.
• Experience within the insurance industry is highly preferred.
• Experience leading technical teams in a collaborative environment for insurance business applications.
• Experience with major IT processes, particularly application development, database administration, and data warehousing.
• Experience creating and maintaining technical documentation.
• Experience with Agile/Scrum methodologies.

Nice-to-haves

• Knowledge of XML tools.
• Knowledge of SOA and multi-application/cross-platform integrations.
• Knowledge of data scripting and programming.
• Working knowledge of Lean principles and practices.

Benefits

• Health insurance
• 401k retirement plan
• Paid holidays
• Flexible scheduling
• Professional development opportunities