Senior Product Manager

Role Description

The State of Colorado is seeking a Senior Product Manager to help build the next generation of public services. The Senior Product Manager serves as the interface between the agency’s mission and the delivery pod’s work. This position is responsible for deciding what gets built and why, ensuring the pod is always working on the highest-priority items.

• Write and maintain a well-groomed backlog using user stories that are outcome-oriented, appropriately sized, and grounded in real constituent needs.
• Draft initial product backlogs for RFPs, translating problem spaces into indicative user stories.
• Apply frameworks such as Value vs. Effort or "Now/Next/Later" to make and defend prioritization decisions.
• Proactively manage scope by saying "no" clearly and constructively to work that does not serve the current priority.
• Run essential agile planning cycles, including sprint planning, refinement, reviews, and retrospectives.
• Conduct quarterly roadmap conversations with agency leadership to align long-term goals with delivery capacity.
• Regularly update IT Director and agency program staff about status in terms of outcomes (mission impact) rather than just progress (activity).
• Partner with Service Designers to interpret journey maps, blueprints, and problem frames.
• Define and track objectives and key results (OKRs) and success metrics.
• Build the product ownership capacity of agency staff over time.
• Manage the product's lifecycle from discovery through to ongoing continuous improvement.
• Collaborate deeply with engineering to validate technical architecture decisions.
• Collaborate with the Delivery Engineer on build/buy/SaaS evaluations.

Qualifications

• Knowledge of product management fundamentals, including backlog ownership and user story writing.
• Knowledge of agile planning and development cycles.
• Knowledge of user-centered design principles.
• Knowledge of State agency program context.
• Knowledge of the product lifecycle from discovery through to continuous improvement.
• Awareness of the build/buy/SaaS tradeoff space.
• Ability to define and develop meaningful success metrics.
• Ability to decline work that doesn't serve the current priority.
• Ability to communicate product status in terms of outcomes.
• Ability to facilitate stakeholder conversations that produce ranked decisions.
• Ability to distinguish between user needs and stakeholder “wants.
• Ability to work effectively in the space between agency program staff and the pod.
• Ability to own the product's success metrics and track them honestly.
• Ability to adapt communication style and level of detail to the audience.

Requirements

• A minimum of five (5) years of experience in technology product management.
• A track record of working across disciplines — design, engineering, policy, or operations.

Preferred Qualifications

• Relevant certifications such as Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO).
• Experience working within a digital service agency or a government-adjacent technology firm.
• Experience evaluating software solutions and managing vendor relationships.
• Background in User-Centered Design (UCD).

Conditions of Employment

• OIT employees must comply with any screening procedures in place at state agency locations.
• A pre-employment background check will be conducted as part of the selection process.
• This position may require travel within the specified geographic area.

Supplemental Information

If this posting indicates “remote from anywhere in CO” in the title, periodic reporting to the primary state work location designated for the position is required. All remote work must be performed in Colorado.

The State of Colorado strives to create a Colorado for All by building and maintaining workplaces that value and respect all Coloradans through a commitment to equal opportunity and hiring based on merit and fitness.