Senior/Staff Product Manager (NARA)

About Skylight Skylight is a digital consultancy using design and technology to help government agencies deliver better public services. We’re at the forefront of a civic movement to reinvent how all levels of government serve families, patients, and many others in today’s digital world. If you want to play a part in driving this critical movement forward, we’d love for you to join our growing team of public interest technologists. The work we do matters. About the job At Skylight, product managers are responsible for strategy, planning, execution, stakeholder management, and team health. Product managers partner with researchers, designers, engineers, client stakeholders, and others to inform their product decisions. At a high level, it’s the product manager’s job to figure out what to build next and why. Skylight is partnering with the National Archives (NARA) to improve how electronic records across the government are migrated, preserved, and accessed. On this team, you’ll lead a cross-functional group turning a complex records-modernization problem into a shippable product, partnering closely with National Archives stakeholders to set direction and priorities. What to know going in The National Archives team works largely on Eastern Time, while Skylight’s team spans the U.S. You’ll coordinate across time zones and keep some overlap with Eastern hours. What you’ll do Lead a cross-functional team of researchers, designers, and engineers to build and ship high-impact products and services Shape a product strategy and roadmap for modernizing how government records are migrated, preserved, and accessed — including vision, objectives, measures of success, and a prioritized backlog Manage the direction, scope, and priorities of the product initiative, building from user research to minimum viable products to scalable solutions Facilitate team ceremonies and stakeholder syncs, and draw on data and feedback to steer the roadmap Work in close partnership with government teams to transfer digital skills and product knowledge throughout the course of the project Creatively navigate bureaucratic challenges and align government partners around existing processes and technologies What we’re looking for Basic qualifications Understand lean product principles and how to apply them (e.g., minimum viable product) at various stages of the product life cycle in order to mitigate risk, validate assumptions, and amplify learning Can develop a product strategy that is informed by an understanding of the problem to be solved, prioritizes outcomes over feature sets, and establishes the direction of the product over time (e.g., product roadmap), including success criteria Ability to execute the product strategy by breaking down the product’s scope into usable chunks of value that can be realized sooner rather than later, creating and maintaining a prioritized backlog with validated user stories, and facilitating team ceremonies over the course of the product’s iterations Understand how to engage in the process of human-centered design in order to better inform product direction Ability to collaborate with folks outside of your discipline, such as researchers, designers, engineers, and others, in order to get things done Ability to manage clients and stakeholders in a way that builds trust, alignment, and healthy environments for individuals and teams Understand the merits of different software development methodologies (e.g., agile, lean) and how to put them into practice Experience working on cross-functional teams (product, design, engineering, ops) in iterative delivery A mindset and work approach that aligns with our core values Nice-to-haves Experience leading technical products such as APIs, system services, pipelines, etc. Experience leading product in data-, records-, or content-heavy domains Experience delivering technology in government, regulated industries, or other public-benefit settings A track record of staying aligned and accountab…