Senior Product Manager

Posted Apr 1

Coforma is looking for an experienced Digital Product Manager to lead a team in developing solutions for our federal clients.

The ideal candidate will have 6+ years of experience in digital product management in a cross-functional agile environment, ideally in the public sector, professional services, or a highly-regulated industry. To be successful, this person must have a deep understanding of the consulting mindset, user-centered prioritization, and the ability to build trust with a wide variety of stakeholders in a complex organization. The role requires a candidate who has excellent communication, leadership and technical product skills. This is a customer-facing role, working to translate the needs of users and the business into digital product features.

Coforma Product Managers are both leaders and individual contributors. As leaders, they are team champions, decision makers and coaches. They are the primary point of contact for business stakeholders and responsible for driving a shared vision both within the team and across partners. As an individual contributor, Coforma Product Managers are responsible for analyzing, defining, documenting, prioritizing, testing and iterating on functional requirements. They collaborate with partners in Research, Design and Development to deliver iterative value to both the user and the business.

Being a Product Manager in the public sector is both challenging and rewarding. With the civic-tech movement at its early stages, Product Managers can play a vital role in shaping the movement and guiding it towards a direction where policy and technology can work hand-in-hand to create inclusive and easy to access digital services. Coforma Product Managers have the opportunity to:

-Facilitate the conversation and implementation of best practices that can improve processes and ways or working, such as expanding product thinking

-Assist in creating a culture of innovation, collaboration and cross-functional work

-Mitigate skepticism to change by demonstrating the benefits of working transparently and collaboratively across functions

-Champion skill diversity in team composition

-Prioritize responsible innovation

If you’re passionate about improving lives through digital products and services, Coforma is a great company for you.

$141,000—$163,000 Base Salary + Benefits + Growth Potential

Exact compensation may vary based on skills and experience

This posting is set to close on March 17, 2023 unless an extension has been noted.

The desired start date for this role is April 4, 2023.

What You Can Expect

Our work moves fast and so will you! With the support of your manager, team members and the Coforma community, you’ll dive right into getting familiar with Coforma and the project you’ll be working on. This role requires a proactive self-starter who is comfortable taking an early lead while remaining humble, collaborative and flexible.

Week 1 — Get to know your manager, fellow Product Managers, and Coforma teammates
Month 1 — Become an expert on your product; norm and form with your project team, build relationships with key stakeholders, and start making decisions!
Year 1 — Take on new challenges as a senior member of the Product Management team - this might include contributing to business development efforts, formal peer mentoring/coaching, or leading initiatives to support our growing Product organization

Mindset

As a consultant, you find joy in the art of the short stint and look for opportunities to challenge the status quo
As a collaborative leader, you leverage influence and trust, not authority to drive progress
As a storyteller, you effectively sell the product vision to a wide variety of audiences, communicate plans without overcommitting the team, and raise risks without derailing progress
As a decision maker, you’re comfortable driving (or shifting) direction with limited and evolving information
As a continuous learner, you have a growth mindset, and inquisitive nature and aren’t afraid to take calculated risks
As an expert in the art of product management, you take a holistic approach to the evaluating the factors and interactions that could contribute to desired outcomes

Required Skills and Experience

6+ years as a Product Manager building digital products in a cross-functional agile environment
Expert knowledge of agile frameworks and principles and the ability to coach and mentor peers as needed
In-depth knowledge of the requirements management cycle with excellence in defining, writing, and testing requirements, acceptance criteria, and definition of done
Superior relationship building skills in large, complex stakeholder environments
Exceptional communication skills across business, technical, and creative stakeholders
Proven ability driving progress in ambiguous environments
Prior experience in a client-facing consulting or contracting role
Experience working in the public sector or a highly-regulated industry
Strong people management skills as a peer team leader
Full-time U.S. resident and citizen of the United States

Preferred Qualifications

Formal training in a variety of agile delivery frameworks
2+ years working on a remote team
Experience in a rapidly growing small company or startup environment
Prior professional services, government, or federal consulting experience
Experience writing or editing product processes for government or commercial proposals
Familiarity with accessibility requirements

We Don't Care About

Whether or not you have a degree of any kind
Whether your educational major, if you had one, is related to this role
Whether or not you have GitHub contributions
Whether or not you have worked at a well-recognized company
Whether you’re sure that you check every single box perfectly

We Do Care About

Your passions, professional or otherwise
Your well-informed opinions about technology, teams, and process
You

We're Coforma

The stress of job searching can make you wonder if you’re enough. Studies have even shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs when they don’t meet every qualification. We believe that you ARE enough, and that it’s okay not to meet every requirement. We’re building a culture that’s authentic, inclusive, and diverse. If you’re excited to work with us but not sure you check every box, apply anyway! You may be just right for this or another role.

About Us

We use creativity to get results for clients and the communities they serve.

We’ve honed a modern, agile, user-centered approach that elevates human needs through thoughtfully-designed systems and products.

From connecting families in crisis at the US border to improving the way governments consume COVID-19 mobility data through a more accessible and user-friendly tool, we’re dedicated to improving people’s lives through thoughtful technology products and services. Together. Our cross-functional team works closely with each other and with our government, nonprofit, and commercial partners to research, design, and build better products and services.

Coforma employs over 100 talented creators. Our leadership has decades of experience in improving government digital services from a civic service mindset, and a strong record of developing innovative technology solutions for government, enterprise, and nonprofits.

We thoughtfully integrate design into product development. We are experts in leading the design and development of products to meet business goals, build alignment, and deliver value through technically feasible and iterative design activities.

Business objectives and human beings are at the center of our work. We work very closely and collaboratively with our partners, from solicitation through to delivery, to ensure that the solution provides a high level of value to the business. Accessibility is never overlooked in our work, and our iterative approach validates the utility and delight of the final product.

Equal Opportunity & Inclusive Workplace

Coforma is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, age, pregnancy, disability, work-related injury, covered veteran status, political ideology, marital status, or any other factor that the law protects from employment discrimination. As a federal government contractor, all employees of Coforma are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by January 4, 2022. Background checks and other security clearances may be required for some roles as it relates to the nature of our client work.

Our team and our office aims to be an accessible and hospitable place to work. We welcome applicants, contractors, and employees who are committed to improving our culture and practices.