Sr. Technical Product Manager

Sr. Technical Product Manager

Job Category: Technology

Location: Houston, TX 77073, USA

Job Description

Essential Job Functions

Product Design (the right business workflows)

Own the roadmap for Forwarding Operations technology, covering centralization strategy, universal task inbox, orchestration and metadata layer, and AR/AP automation. Conduct deep process shadowing and interviews with ops teams across regions. Map current-state workflows from booking through customs clearance, documentation, and exception handling; and identify the highest-leverage automation opportunities. Design SOPs and future-state workflows; build mockups and POCs to validate operational feasibility before engineering investment.

Technical Design (the right approach)

Define the architecture of an orchestration and metadata layer for workflow provider plug-ins, enabling the business to swap and integrate operational tools without rebuilding core flows. Lead technical design for a universal task inbox; a cross-system, cross-region queue for freight ops tasks. Oversee integrations with financial systems for AR/AP automation. Drive zero-touch execution initiatives for specific freight corridors and modes. Ensure standard engineering patterns are followed; identify and resolve cross-team capability gaps.

Success (execution and measurement)

Define operational KPIs: task completion time, exception rates, manual touchpoints per shipment, and ops cost per file. Partner with performance management and training teams for structured ops rollouts. Create meaningful measurement frameworks throughout the project lifecycle, with particular emphasis on instrumentation during rollouts to track adoption, impact, and operational improvements. Instrument experiments with analytics and data science; evaluate automation impact rigorously. Drive adoption of new ops tools through change management and internal enablement.

Cross-team Coordination

Build strong relationships with operations leadership across central and regional teams. Understand regional operational differences, customs regimes, carrier relationships, documentation standards and ensure platform flexibility to accommodate them. Serve as the primary voice of forwarding operations within the TPM and engineering teams.

Physical Requirements

• Talking, hearing and using hands to operate a computer keyboard, mouse and other computer components
• Sitting for extended periods of time
• Vision abilities required by this job include close vision and the ability to adjust focus
• Job may require regular and punctual attendance as well as presence on-site at the assigned work location

Other Skills/Abilities

Cross-Functional Leadership & Technical Acumen:

Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functionally across engineering, AI, data science, and business operations teams. Academic or practical experience with fundamentals of AI across modalities (vision, language, multimodal). Comfort reading and writing code; familiarity with modern application ecosystems including APIs, messaging and queueing systems, and typical software engineering patterns. Experience working in Agile or Scrum environments. Strong ability to build relationships across technical and non-technical stakeholders and translate between business requirements and technical constraints.

Domain and Measurement Expertise:

Deep understanding of freight forwarding execution: bookings, documentation (BLs, AWBs, customs), and exception management. Experience designing workflow orchestration systems, task management platforms, or process automation tools. Strong comfort with financial operations technology; AR/AP systems and invoicing automation. Strong data orientation with ability to define and instrument operational KPIs from scratch. Proven track record of creating meaningful measurement frameworks, especially during product rollouts and organizational change initiatives.

Communication and Organization:

Excellent communication skills with the ability to articulate complex technical and operational concepts to diverse audiences. Strong analytical skills with solid experience in writing functional and technical specifications. Strong teamwork skills in both local and distributed settings across different geographic locations. Strong organization skills with excellent attention to detail. Proficiency with product management tools, diagramming tools (Visio, Miro), and collaboration platforms. Ability to drive short-term actions consistent with long-term strategic goals. Effective listening skills and stakeholder empathy.

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Business Administration, or related field.
• 10+ years of product management experience with strong preference for operations, workflow automation, or logistics technology.
• All TPM candidates must demonstrate:
• Cross-team leadership experience across engineering, AI, data science, and business operations
• Comfort reading and writing code and working with modern application ecosystems ( APIs, messaging and queueing systems)
• Experience in Agile or Scrum environments
• Ability to build strong relationships across technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Desirable: Prior experience building applications as an engineer or product manager; familiarity with freight forwarding and international logistics; Cargo Wise or similar freight Transportation Management Systems (TMS)/Warehouse Management Systems (WMS); EDI or API-based carrier integrations; change management experience for large operational teams.

Why Should You Work for Crane?

At Crane, we believe in providing our employees with excellent benefits at a Great Place to Work.

We offer:

• Quarterly Incentive Plan
• 136 hours of Paid Time Off which equals 17 days for the year, that can be used for Sick Time or for Personal Use
• Excellent Medical, Dental and Vision benefits