Summary

The Product Manager plays a key role within the Information Technology department and will be responsible for the management of technology products and their success.  The role will also serve as a product owner responsible for providing the product development team with a product vision and prioritized list of features.

The ideal candidate will bridge the gap between stakeholders and the technical team, ensuring that business requirements are clearly defined and effectively communicated. The Product Manager will play a crucial role in the entire product lifecycle, to include strategic planning and product solution development, market launch, feature enhancement, and ongoing product optimization.  This role ensures that all product solutions align with the company’s strategic goals, meet market needs, product roadmap, and deliver value to our dealer customers, agents, and field sales teams.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Product Management

• Translate business strategy into product strategy.
• Own the product roadmap and execute the product strategy.
• Drive action throughout the organization to get products to market.
• Plan and own product launches, feature releases to include owning the business case for product impact and benefit.
• Provide product insights to stakeholders on the product and market needs.
• Write high-level requirements.
• Manage all aspects of the in-life product from concept-to-launch, to include customer feedback, requirements, and issue resolution.
• Serve as a scrum master as needed throughout the development life cycle.

Product Owner

• Represent the business and customer within the development process.
• Articulate the product vision based on the product roadmap and product strategy.
• Write requirements as user stories and epics.
• Maintain and prioritize the product backlog.
• Track releases.
• Participate in daily scrum meetings, planning, reviews, and retrospectives.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree required; MBA or other advanced degree preferred.
• Minimum of 15 years of experience in product management, with at least 5 years in a leadership role within a digital solutions-based company. Proven record of accomplishment of successfully managing and scaling complex product portfolios. 
• Deep understanding of customer needs and behavior in the SaaS space. Experience leveraging customer insights to drive product development and enhance user experience. Familiarity with research administration is a plus.
• Experience with agile development methodologies and digital technology product management tools and software.
• Certified Scrum Master or similar certification a plus.
• Automotive F&I experience a plus.
• Proven enterprise program management experience and discipline in complex situations.

• Advanced analytical skills.
• Demonstrated success in fostering a collaborative and high-performing team environment, ensuring alignment with organizational goals, and driving continuous improvement.
• Demonstrated skill in managing matrixed teams focused on large complex initiatives.
• Expert understanding of business structures, interrelationships, and sensitivity analyses.

Skills

• Successful leadership experience with a keen focus on dealer, lender, and customer satisfaction.  Dedicated to understanding and meeting stakeholder needs, both inside and outside the company.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills.
• Strong decision-making and problem-solving skills, to include unfavorable situations. 
• Innovative thinking with ability to mobilize ideas into action.
• Proven ability to develop meaningful KPIs and use these to drive desired outcomes.
• Demonstrated ability to identify, develop, socialize to get buy in, and implement process improvements.
• Excellent managerial and leadership skills with the capacity to motivate, influence, and achieve outcomes within a geographically distributed matrixed team.
• Proven ability to evaluate alternative courses of action and make sound management decisions in ambiguous and sometimes unfavorable conditions.
• Must be able to simultaneously manage multiple tasks of varying complexity, priority, and ambiguity.
• Adaptive thinking and a strong critical thinking mindset.
• Must possess strong verbal and written communication skills including the ability to share complex, technical topics clearly, concisely, effectively, and professionally.
• Proven ability to effectively influence at all levels of the organization.
• Must be highly analytical, process oriented, collaborative, and creative.
• Demonstrated ability to manage in ambiguity and demonstrate grit and perseverance in unfavorable conditions while maintaining a professional approach.
• Must be intrinsically motivated (cannot require constant support/supervision).

Physical Demands

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to type and look at a computer screen for long periods of the day. Occasional travel, including overnight, will be required, up to 40%. 

Qualifications

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed above are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations will be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

Note

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice. 

Employee signature below constitutes employee's understanding of the responsibilities and the job qualifications of the position. 

Employee__________________________________ Date_____________ 

Automobile Protection Corporation (APCO) is a Drug Free Workplace as well as an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants shall be considered for all positions without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local law.