The Software Product Manager drives the creation of market-driven vision, strategies, and plans for one or more assigned product lines.  The person in this role is also responsible for keeping the overall organization informed of and in step with developments in his or her assigned products.  The Software Product Manager works with internal functional managers and cross-functional teams to set and execute brand strategy, innovation strategy and pipeline, as well as marketing and pricing strategy.

YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES

• Driving the vision of company products by partnering with business units across the organization including but not limited to Software Engineering, Sales, Marketing, and Operations.
• Specifying market requirements for current and future products by conducting formal and informal market research supported by on-going exploration with customers and prospects.
• Understanding and continuous learning of our industry, the competitive landscape, market analysis, innovation, and company goals to successfully drive products.
• Making informed suggestions for developing new competitive and alternative offerings based on knowledge of the market and contact with customers and prospects.
• Analyzing current and potential partner relationships for the products managed.
• Describing the product’s ability to solve market problems and position accordingly.
• Identifying product requirements and partnering on go-to-market strategies with an understanding of the product positioning, key benefits, and target customer.
• Assisting the sales team with key customers for the product.
• Understanding of key deliverables the product has or does not have and what influences purchase decisions.
• Planning and foresight to mitigate any negative impacts that may occur against the product.
• Working closely with user experience in the research and description of product features.
• Assisting with product roadmap planning.
• Other responsibilities as assigned.

YOUR COMPETENCIES

• Must be able to effectively communicate with all business units across the company.
• Technical skills to hold substantive discussions with software developers, and the business and communication skills needed to communicate technical decisions and trade-offs to management.
• The ability to prioritize new features and change requests while collaborating with numerous stakeholders, both internal and external.
• Ability to build relationships and work collaboratively with others.
• Be able to tell someone “no” – and be able to justify your decision.
• A self-starter who’s comfortable prioritizing their own work on a daily basis.
• Entrepreneurial focused.
• Ability and desire to problem solve, prioritize, and multi-task in a fast-paced environment.

YOUR EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE

• Four-year related degree, MBA preferred.
• 3+ years of software product management experience preferred.
• Some software development skills/experience, ideally including familiarity with object-oriented programming languages (C#, C++, etc.) and database technology including MS SQL Server and/or Oracle.
• Experience working with Agile software development preferred.