Senior Director of Product Management bei Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, MA

About the Department

The MBTA’s Technology Innovation Department’s (TID) Senior Director of Product Management directs the product development, planning, and tracking, so that it produces the best results for our riders and operations staff. The Senior Director of Product Management is responsible for how the TID builds custom software: product operations, process, and mindset.

The Senior Director of Product Management articulates a vision for how TID practices the craft of product development. This role establishes processes for every stage of the product development lifecycle, coaching product managers to ensure that their products have clear goals, meaningful metrics, up-to-date roadmaps, and helpful frameworks for decision-making and prioritization. The Senior Director of Product Management ensures that product managers are following Agile best practices in working within cross-functional teams, communicate with the Chief Digital Officer (CDO) and the individual product managers, and across to Program and Functional Leads to ensure buy-in of overall vision, ideas, frameworks, and processes.

Position Duties

As a member of TID’s leadership team, the Senior Director of Product Management works with the departments functional Senior Directors of UX Research and Design, and Software Engineering, and programmatic Senior Directors of Fares Technology, Transit Technology, and Rider Tools programs to establish cross-program standards for product management and direct teams to implement that vision.

Departmental Product Management Leadership

• Collaborate across program teams:

• Fares Technology to collect rider fares across all modes;

• Transit Technology communicates digital schedules, vehicle locations and arrival predictions through service management tools;

• Rider Tools provides Transit Technology information in real-time to riders across the system on screens and through public address elements, on the website, and through the MBTA mobile application, MBTA Go.

• Collaborate with Senior Directors of functional areas to support teams in adhering to cross-functional standards of project, product management, and design standard implementation in engineering:

• UX Research and Design advocates for human-centered design technological solutions, champions equitable and inclusive research and design practices to peer leaders and to external partners, fosters, spreads, and operationalizes design, research, and content strategy best practices;

• Software Engineering builds—and, occasionally, buys—custom software: software engineering operations, process, standards and rituals.

• Work with Program Leads to establish cross-program objectives, such as how we measure progress, establish project prioritization criteria, and groom new project ideas/proposals

• Manage backlog of new project and product ideas/proposals

People and Product Management

• Hold TID and its product teams to excellence in execution quality. Help teams troubleshoot project, personnel, or stakeholder issues and, where challenges are identified, turn them into opportunities for continuous improvement.

• Manage product managers by removing blockers, performing general administration and management, and resolving questions about the product discipline.

• Standardize how specific product tasks (e.g., feature specs, roadmaps, design exploration tickets, etc.) are done across product teams.

• Direct the hiring of TID product managers (i.e., be the hiring manager for all open roles and continually improve the processes for outreach, interviewing, etc.).

• Align product staff with the right skills, skill levels, and bandwidth to program areas that will meet the program’s vision, timeline, and budget.

Push TID to be Better

• Be a committed, vocal, collaborative member of TID Leads and push for TID to do better in any/all dimensions of its work.

• As a member of TID’s leadership team, this role is responsible for leading, practicing and upholding TID’s working agreements, which are essential to the department’s success.

• Perform all other duties and projects that may be assigned.

• Additional responsibilities may include a focus on one or more departments or locations. See applicable addendum for department or location-specific functions.

Physical Demands and Working Conditions

• The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Available to work all shifts and locations as assigned or directed.

• Available to work as per assignment by the MBTA twenty-four (24) hours per day, seven (7) days per week as directed by supervisory staff for severe weather conditions, emergencies or any other circumstances that may potentially impact service or the safety of service.

• Have the ability to work any and all shifts and/or locations assigned or directed.

Supervision

• Direct supervision of ten (10) or more Product Managers.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution.

• Ten (10) years of experience managing a portfolio of multiple hardware and software products.

• Seven (7) years of experience managing, supervising, and/or leading agile product development teams.

• Experience developing multi-year product strategy.

• Experience developing a product roadmap, quarterly road mapping process, and/or standardized product management processes

• Effective organizational, analytical, confidentiality, multi-tasking and time management skills

• Executive level communication skills

Other Qualifications

• A High School Diploma or GED with an additional seven (7) years of directly related experience substitutes for the bachelor's degree requirement.

• An associate degree from an accredited institution and additional three (3) years of directly related experience substitutes for the bachelor's degree requirement.

• A master's degree in a related subject may substitute for two (2) years of general experience.

• A nationally recognized certification, or statewide/professional certification in a related field substitutes for one year of experience.

Preferred Experience and Skills

• Experience with product management in an agile environment.

• Experience in public sector, government, transit agency.