Senior Product Manager (Remote from anywhere in CO)

Senior Product Manager

The Colorado Governor's Office of Information Technology is in the middle of a transformation worth joining. We're building cross-functional pod teams that partner directly with agencies to design, deliver, and continuously improve services that work for Coloradans. Good government depends on technology that works. And OIT exists to make that true for every Coloradan. The State of Colorado is seeking a Senior Product Manager to help build the next generation of public services. We're looking for people who want to do the best work of their careers in service of the public. 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. Unlike a traditional business analyst or project coordinator, this is a prioritization role and not a requirements-gathering role. The Senior Product Manager owns the product backlog, runs planning cycles, and grounds every decision in user research and outcome-based metrics rather than simple activity tracking.

What you'll do:

• 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 that structure procurement without locking the pod into fixed, rigid scope.
• 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, ensuring agency stakeholders are informed and aligned.
• 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, translating these artifacts into actionable backlog inputs.
• Define and track objectives and key results (OKRs) and success metrics; evaluate and communicate when shipped features fail to deliver expected outcomes.
• Build the product ownership capacity of agency staff over time, ensuring the agency becomes a stronger partner rather than a dependent.
• Manage the product's lifecycle from discovery through to ongoing continuous improvement.
• Regularly partner with Service Designers to understand & apply journey maps/service blueprints for desired outcomes.
• Collaborate deeply with engineering to validate technical architecture decisions.
• Collaborate with the Delivery Engineer on build/buy/SaaS evaluations, contributing backlog context, mission-impact perspective, and constituent needs to inform the technical decision

What you bring:

• Knowledge of product management fundamentals, including backlog ownership, user story writing, prioritization frameworks such as value vs. effort or now/next/later, and what it means to govern a product rather than a project.
• Knowledge of agile planning and development cycles: sprint planning, refinement, reviews, and retrospectives work, and the PM's role is in each.
• Knowledge of user-centered design principles sufficient to work productively with the Service Designer, interpret research findings, and translate constituent needs into backlog priorities.
• Knowledge of State agency program context in regards to the way in which Colorado agencies deliver services, make decisions, and structure program priorities.
• Knowledge of the product lifecycle from discovery through to continuous improvement.
• Awareness of the build/buy/SaaS tradeoff space, common state IT patterns, and how technology investment decisions get made and funded in state government.
• Ability to define and develop meaningful success metrics that go beyond delivery activity toward mission impact.
• Ability to decline work that doesn't serve the current priority, and document that decision in a way that keeps agency stakeholders informed rather than surprised
• Ability to communicate product status in terms of outcomes, not just progress
• Ability to facilitate stakeholder conversations that produce ranked decisions, rather than a list of any and all desired items.
• Ability to distinguish between user needs and stakeholder "wants, make operational decisions based on that information, and bring stakeholders into alignment.
• Ability to work effectively in the space between agency program staff (who understand the mission) and the pod (who understands delivery) without becoming a passive translator
• Ability to own the product's success metrics and track them honestly, including when a shipped feature isn't delivering the expected outcome
• Ability to adapt communication style and level of detail to the audience

Minimum Qualifications, Substitutions, Conditions of Employment & Appeal Rights

A wide salary range is posted for this position and any job offer is based upon a salary analysis to comply with the Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act. The salary analysis considers relevant experience, education, certifications, and state seniority as compared to others doing substantially similar work. While all offers are compliant with the Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, there is no guarantee an offer will be at the top of the posted range based on the salary analysis. This is a skills-based job announcement. The required minimum qualifications and/or education (if substituting for the proven experience, knowledge, and skills), are as follows:

• A minimum of five (5) years of experience in technology product management, which includes working in or leading cross-functional teams using iterative, user-centered methods.
• A track record of working across disciplines — design, engineering, policy, or operations — to ship things that work for real people
• Additional appropriate education will substitute for the required experience on a year-for-year basis, but cannot completely substitute for these qualifications.
• Additional, appropriate paid or unpaid experience will substitute for the required education on a year-for-year basis.
• Training or Certification related to the work assigned to the position will be assigned credit towards substitution for experience and/or education, but cannot completely substitute for these qualifications.

Substitutions:

• Additional appropriate education will substitute for the required experience on a year-for-year basis, but cannot completely substitute for these qualifications.
• Training or Certification related to the work assigned to the position will be assigned credit towards substitution for experience and/or education, but cannot completely substitute for these qualifications.
• If the minimum qualifications include a degree requirement, additional appropriate paid or unpaid experience will substitute for the required education on a year-for-year basis.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Relevant certifications such as Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), Pragmatic Institute Product Management, or Professional Product Manager (PPM).
• Experience working within a digital service agency or a government-adjacent technology firm, successfully translating mission-driven policy goals into actionable product backlogs.
• Experience evaluating software solutions (e.g., custom build, SaaS, commercial off-the-shelf) and managing vendor relationships to ensure external technical deliveries align with agile, outcome-oriented product roadmaps.
• Background in User-Centered Design (UCD).

Conditions of Employment:

• OIT employees must comply with any screening procedures in place at state entity locations where they might be required to perform work.
• A pre-employment background check will be conducted as part of the selection process.
• Positions supporting some agencies such as the Department of Corrections and the Department of Public Safety will also require a pre-employment drug test.
• This position may require travel within the specified geographic area, and to locations across the state as needed.

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.
• While candidates from out of state will be considered for this role, the candidate selected for the position must relocate and reside in Colorado on the first day of their new position. A reasonable timeframe for relocation will be established on an individual basis, while considering business needs, and determining a start date.
• We know it's important to support each other, and that means having a healthy balance of work and personal time. Visit our benefits to learn more about some of our great offerings that allow us all to have fulfilling lives.
• Visit our How to Apply webpage to learn more about our application process and what to expect after you apply.
• 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