Senior Product Manager

The Senior Product Manager leads and manages the Innovation Lab, a new ODI consulting service that helps state departments make better decisions before they make big investments. The Innovation Lab team works with state departments on time-boxed, structured engagements to define problems, identify gaps, align stakeholders, set priorities, and reduce complexity so departments can make research-and data-informed decisions. The Senior Product Manager will bring product management, consulting best practices, and human-centered design practices to state departments in a way that is practical, scalable, and durable.


We encourage you to apply with your resume and a cover letter that explains how you:

• Understand that product and delivery management in state government is different from product management in the private sector
• Are comfortable being a consultant and expert advisor, providing kind, candid, effective guidance across different levels and functions while respecting department context and operational realities;
• Thrive amid ambiguity.
• Bring experience in user research or service design, if applicable, and how that shapes your approach.

Location: The employee's workstation is located in Sacramento, Los Angeles, Oakland or San Diego. Travel may be required to attend meetings in Sacramento, offsite, conferences, and/or training classes as needed. This position provides telework opportunities in accordance with agency telework policies.

Appointment: This position is appointed by the Governor of California.

Last day to apply: Until Filled.
What you'll do

• Lead the cross-functional, multi-disciplinary, dedicated Innovation Lab team, working in collaboration with state departments to de-risk complex projects and deliver actionable, evidence-based recommendations;
• Translate complex problems into clear scopes of work, and client deliverables including recommendations and roadmaps
• Own the delivery cadence and day-to-day priorities for Innovation Lab engagements, ensuring the team delivers value to departments and other stakeholders;
• Integrate UX research, service design, data strategy, technical strategy, and project management findings into coherent recommendations and handoff materials;
• Set a clear product vision for Innovation Lab engagements and service, drive an iterative approach, and ensure effective delivery;
• Help mature the Innovation Lab service model, including methods, repeatable patterns, referral criteria, feedback loops, performance measures, and approaches for continuous improvement.

You will find additional information about the job in the Duty Statement.

Desirable qualifications

• Extensive experience of product management in the digital or technology space, including experience translating ambiguous problems into scopes, roadmaps, backlogs, milestones, and deliverables.
• Consulting experience, including navigating complex client and stakeholder relationships.
• Experience managing cross-functional teams to deliver discovery insights, recommendations, services, or products. Relevant disciplines include UX research, service design, data analysis, technical strategy, software engineering, content strategy, project management, or department operations.
• Experience identifying and understanding internal or external customer needs and interests and deliver customer-centric solutions.
• Experience dealing with change and ambiguity, and need to adjust to new information and constraints
• Experience conducting user research, and/or experience creating visual design like presentation decks for example
• Experience using qualitative and quantitative research, analytics, service mapping, and process analysis to inform product delivery and service design.
• Experience with agile delivery methods, backlog management, sprint planning, retrospectives, and iterative product development.
• Experience creating clarity, accountability, and structure for multi-disciplinary teams amidst ambiguity and changing information.
• Experience gathering input from and communicating with a large number of internal and external stakeholders, including executive, technical, program, and non-technical audiences.
• Experience proactively, clearly, and kindly managing expectations, facilitating consensus, negotiating conflicting needs, and advocating for user needs.
• Experience applying accessibility, equity, privacy, security, compliance, and other constraints relevant to public digital services.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail; comfortable working across collaboration platforms and adapting to client tools and processes.
• Experience in government, government procurement, or implementing and/or procuring large technology systems is a bonus but not required.