Product and Manufacturing Lead

Department BSD SUR – OHNS: Thirty Million Words About the Department The TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health at the University of Chicago develops, tests, and implements evidence-based interventions designed to promote very young children’s cognitive and social-emotional development, with a priority placed on that of children living in poverty. TMW Center interventions are designed to be overlaid onto existing health, education, and social service systems working at scale in a given community in order to meet families where they already are. The TMW Center has a robust research and development strategy that includes further development and testing of TMW interventions; harnessing technology to support behavior change, intervention engagement, and analysis; and furthering strategies to engage parents in the TMW Center’s interventions across the health, early learning, and social service sectors. Job Summary The Product and Manufacturing Lead will oversee the overall delivery of the TMW Center’s wearable research device. This individual will ensure that all internal and external stakeholders are working effectively to meet ambitious goals. Responsibilities In collaboration with TMW Center Leadership, supports the development of, and executes the strategy and roadmap for wearable device user experiences. Manages the product/project managers for other segments of wearable device development (e.g., back‑end development, wearable algorithm, etc.). Oversees wearable device supply chain and manufacturing streams to ensure timely product delivery and progress to goals. Helps lead development of wearable device use case scaling and customer service models. Leads the end‑to‑end product development process, ensuring delivery of high‑quality end user apps for parents, educators, administrators and program managers. Supports new use case creation by working with internal and external stakeholders to define new requirements and enable required capabilities. Understands and interprets stakeholder feedback, analyzes user behavior and prioritizes features based on customer needs and organizational objectives. Collaborates with TMW operations on inventory and supplier management to ensure availability and efficient assembly, testing, and use of wearable device across phases of product life cycle; regularly convenes hardware and manufacturing experts to ensure progress to goals. Supports safety certification process and quality assurance to ensure testing and certification requirements are met. Manages the product backlog, prioritizes features, and makes data‑driven decisions to optimize resource allocation and ensures predictable and timely releases. Drives cross‑functional collaboration across hardware engineering, data science, software developers, and user experience to ensure initiatives are prioritized against TMW and wearable device leadership objectives and communicates key developments to stakeholders in a timely manner. Facilitates roundtable discussions and regular reports with leadership to ensure work streams, timelines, and roadmaps are aligned to achieve product and project goals. Drives collaboration and alignment across other cross‑function teams. Assesses scope and timelines, prepares project plans, identifies and resolves risks and mitigations to continuously prioritize execution against wearable device product objectives. Oversees and manages project/product managers responsible for various elements of product development to ensure overall project timeliness, managing trade‑offs and stakeholder awareness. Trains and coaches individual product managers, as needed, in building systems and processes for efficient operations and provide ongoing feedback to improve project management skills and risk‑trade‑off decision making. Develops and implements processes and systems for on‑the‑ground wearable device customer service and tech support, including processes and systems for on‑the‑ground support in Connecticut. Develops and refines processes to successfully shape and position wearable device for scaling and measurement in early education settings, ensuring that the wearable device interface integrates on‑the‑ground feedback and fidelity of implementation learnings. In collaboration with Leadership and others, helps develop strategy for scaling. Regular visits to Chicago and Connecticut to meet with teams, gather information and ensure fidelity of implementation. Works independently to develop detailed work plans, schedules, project estimates, resource plans, and status reports. Assembles and leads a project team, assigns individual responsibilities, identifies appropriate resources needed, and develops schedules to ensure timely completion of projects. Tracks progress, conducts analysis, as well as prepares for and facilitates project meetings. Ensures adherence to quality standards and reviews project deliverables. Acts as a resource and subject matter expert for project team and provides analytical guidance. Interprets complex project issues and provides analytical guidance to a project team. Leads and coordinates the successful integration of vendor tasks and tracks and reviews vendor deliverables. Performs other related work as needed. Minimum Qualifications Education Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in a related field. Work Experience Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 7+ years of work experience in a related job discipline. Preferred Qualifications Experience Experience in product development, software development, and other related fields. Experience in healthcare, early learning, and social service sectors. Preferred Competencies Ability to multi‑task and manage multiple projects simultaneously. Excellent organizational skills, including strong attention to detail. Proven ability to establish and stick to timelines. Problem‑solving skills, including a strong ability to prioritize. Initiative and independent judgment. Excellent verbal and written communication skills. Proficiency with Word, Excel, Teams, Outlook, and PowerPoint as well as conduct and participate in Zoom meetings on camera. Demonstrated ability to build diverse relationships and manage professional workload with minimal supervision. Job Family Administration & Management Role Impact Individual Contributor FLSA Status Exempt Pay Frequency Monthly Scheduled Weekly Hours 40 Benefits Eligible Yes Drug Test Required No Health Screen Required No Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required No Posting Statement The University of Chicago is an affirmative action/equal opportunity/disabled/veterans and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, status as an individual with a disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University’s Notice of Nondiscrimination. Staff job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call View phone number on click.appcast.io or submit a request via Applicant Inquiry Form. We seek a diverse pool of applicants who wish to join an academic community that places the highest value on rigorous inquiry and encourages a diversity of perspectives, experiences, groups of individuals, and ideas to inform and stimulate intellectual challenge, engagement, and exchange. All offers of employment are contingent upon a background check that includes a review of conviction history. A conviction does not automatically preclude University employment. Rather, the University considers conviction information on a case‑by‑case basis and assesses the nature of the offense, the circumstances surrounding it, the proximity in time of the conviction, and its relevance to the position. The University of Chicago’s Annual Security & Fire Safety Report provides information about University offices and programs that provide safety support, crime and fire statistics, emergency response and communications plans, and other policies and information. 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