Staff/Principal Product Manager, Technical (HHS)

About Skylight

Skylight is a digital consultancy using design and technology to help government agencies deliver better public services. We’re at the forefront of a civic movement to reinvent how all levels of government serve families, patients, and many others in today's digital world.

If you want to play a part in driving this critical movement forward, we’d love for you to join our growing team of public interest technologists. The work we do matters.

About the job

At Skylight, product managers are responsible for strategy, planning, execution, stakeholder management, and team health. Product managers partner with researchers, designers, engineers, client stakeholders, and others to inform their product decisions. At a high level, it’s the product manager’s job to figure out what to build next and why. 

As a technical product manager, you’ll bring a deep understanding of engineering practices and technical systems to guide product decisions, translate complex requirements into actionable plans, and work closely with development teams to ensure successful implementation.

What you’ll do

• Lead a cross-functional team of researchers, designers, engineers, and subject matter experts to build and ship high-impact products and services
• Work closely with engineers to define the scope of work for a highly technical end-user product
• Translate needs from users and government partners into a product strategy, including vision, objectives, measures of success, product roadmap, and product backlog
• Manage the direction, scope, and priorities of the product initiative, building from user research to minimum viable products to scalable solutions
• Write user stories, prioritize stories, and build release plans
• Facilitate team ceremonies such as planning meetings, stakeholder syncs, and retrospectives
• Draw on data and feedback to inform the product strategy and roadmap
• Work in close partnership with government teams to transfer digital skills and product knowledge throughout the course of the project
• Creatively navigate bureaucratic challenges, paving the way for more intuitive processes in the future
• Collaborate with government partners to ensure compatibility with existing processes and technologies

What we're looking for

Minimum qualifications

• Understanding of lean product principles and how to apply them (e.g., minimum viable product) at various stages of the product life cycle in order to mitigate risk, validate assumptions, and amplify learning
• Ability to develop a product strategy informed by an understanding of the problem to be solved, prioritize outcomes over feature sets, and establish the direction of the product over time (e.g., product roadmap), including success criteria
• Ability to execute the product strategy by breaking down the product’s scope into usable chunks of value that can be realized sooner rather than later, create and maintain a prioritized backlog with validated user stories, and facilitate team ceremonies 
• Understanding of how to engage in the process of human-centered design in order to better inform product direction
• Ability to collaborate with team members and partners outside of your discipline, such as researchers, designers, engineers, and others
• Ability to manage clients and stakeholders in a way that builds trust, alignment, and a healthy environment for individuals and teams
• Understanding of the merits of different software development methodologies (e.g., agile, lean) and how to put them into practice
• Ability to work successfully within a professional services environment (e.g., can communicate effectively with clients)
• Passion for creating better public outcomes through great government services
• A mindset and work approach that aligns with our core values
• Ability to travel for work from time to time

Nice-to-have qualifications

• Experience working in public health
• Prior experience working in the civic tech space
• Experience working in a remote team environment

Don’t meet 100% of the criteria but think you can do the job? We’d love to chat anyway! We’re on a mission to build diverse teams, and studies have shown that women and marginalized folks are less likely to apply to jobs if they don’t check every box.

Other requirements

• All work must be conducted within the U.S., excluding U.S. territories. Some federal contracts require U.S. citizenship to be eligible for employment.
• You must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. now and in the future without sponsorshi