Product Manager I, II, or Senior

Summary Of Job Responsibilities
The Product Manager, Investments, will determine and oversee the strategy and roadmap development for their products to fulfill customer outcomes and PERA’s strategic objectives. They will serve as a trusted liaison between the business and technology, leading discovery and prioritization of pain points and problems to solve, as well as validate potential solutions. The Product Manager is a key player who effectively integrates, motivates, and builds relationships with and between team members, key stakeholders, customers, and executives involved with the end-to-end product life cycle. They set priorities and guide and support development and operational activities.
The role represents the interests of Investments teams including Investments Management, Operations, Accounting, and Information Technology (IT) in the creation and delivery of products and advises these divisions on technology opportunities and capabilities. In this capacity the Product Manager is an active member of both the technical teams and business units and may participate in initiatives such as business process improvement. The Product Manager will continuously use data to empower decision making and inform product direction in ways that build toward positive business outcomes.
Essential Duties And Responsibilities
*Employees are held accountable for all duties of the job. Individuals must be able to perform these duties with or without reasonable accommodations.*

• Develop a deep understanding of business goals and processes to inform product priorities and improvement recommendations.
• Understand business and end-user needs; identify and prioritize features to be delivered to meet those needs.
• Participate in capacity planning, working with project managers, development teams, and business leaders to align product roadmaps to available resources.
• Manage project prioritization, aligning initiatives with business goals, customer needs, and strategic objectives.
• Facilitate trade-off discussions to balance competing priorities, ensuring the highest-impact projects receive appropriate focus and resources.
• Regularly communicate with product stakeholders and develop strong relationships to surface, balance, and prioritize feedback from multiple groups.
• Socialize the product strategy and ensure a common understanding among stakeholder groups.
• Lead product strategy, planning, and life cycle management efforts to support the ongoing evolution and innovation of the product.
• Monitor business and technology trends to inform product strategy and proactively propose new solutions.
• Establish product roadmaps and release plans that satisfy requirements and achieve customer outcomes.
• Communicate complex issues and problems to a non-technical audience.
• Consider impacts to business processes when developing roadmaps; identify prioritization criteria to align across groups.
• Demonstrate an ability to solve problems with buy-in from other divisions.
• Performs other duties as assigned

Skills And Competencies

• Strong interpersonal skills; able to build strong relationships and collaboration across diverse and matrixed stakeholders and customers.
• Ability to facilitate difficult discussions, prioritization of competing interests, managing both strategic and tactical interests.
• Ability to surface, prioritize, and balance multiple stakeholder priorities.
• Ability to understand complex business problems and interpret business needs.
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex technical information in a condensed manner to various stakeholders verbally and in writing.
• Strong problem solving and analytical skills.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent years of experience.
• 3+ years of professional experience with a track record of increasing responsibility.
• Relevant work history with product management, project management, strategic planning, or related roles.
• Experience in pension industry, benefits administration, or other financial services industries is a plus.

Working Conditions
*The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.*

• Standard office environment with frequent telephone communication, computer operation, and other office productivity machinery, such as a copy and printer machine.
• Occasional moving and positioning supplies in excess of 20 pounds
• All employees are expected to present themselves in a professional manner in alignment with the financial services industry
• Ability to sit for prolonged periods of time
• Ability to operate standard PC equipment
• Ability to handle stress associated with frequent deadline and tight schedules

HYBRID WORK OPTION

• Opportunity to work from home up to three days per week. Eligibility dependent upon factors detailed in PERA's Work from Home Policy.

LEVELING GUIDE
Level II and Senior requirements include those of the preceding level or levels.
Product Manager
Product Manager II
Senior Product Manager
Scope and Complexity
Manages established product areas with moderate complexity, focusing on executing the product roadmap and supporting feature delivery.
Works closely with business and technical teams to understand problems and validate solutions.
Participates in prioritization discussions and ensure product decisions align with business goals.
Manages larger or more complex product areas, often with multiple stakeholders or systems involved.
Drives end-to-end product life cycle activities ensuring alignment across technical and business groups.
Leads trade-off and prioritization conversations to balance competing needs and maximize business value.
Owns highly complex, cross-organizational product domains with broad impacts across key stakeholder groups.
Shapes long-term product strategy, informed by business outcomes, customer needs, technology trends, and enterprise-level considerations.
Anticipates future constraints, risks, opportunities; leads enterprise-scale planning and roadmap alignment.
Communications And Skills
Ability to communicate technical or complex issues clearly to non-technical stakeholders.
Strong interpersonal skills, demonstrating ability to build collaborative relationships across business units.
Demonstrates solid analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
Skilled at facilitating challenging discussions and aligning diverse stakeholder groups.
Regularly socializes product strategy and ensures shared understanding across teams.
Strong ability to interpret complex business problems and translate them into actionable product plans.
Highly effective communicator capable of breaking down deeply complex technical or business issues for executive audiences.
Expert in prioritization frameworks, data-driven decision-making, and stakeholder alignment strategies.
Anticipates organizational needs and drives consensus across diverse and sometimes competing groups.
Leadership
Functions As a Team Contributor Who Influences Without Authority.
Supports cross-functional collaboration and helps drive alignment on product priorities.
Demonstrates initiative in surfacing product opportunities and proposing improvements.
Operates as a trusted partner to both business and technical teams.
Helps mentor Product Management staff or cross-functional team members.
Makes data-driven decisions and proactively proposes innovative solutions aligned with organizational strategy.
Acts as a strategic leader influencing enterprise-wide product initiatives.
Leads cross-functional teams in discovery, problem-solving, and new innovative initiatives.
Demonstrates ownership of outcomes, securing buy-in from executives and business units, and navigating ambiguity with confidence.
Education And/or Experience
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
Typically, 3+ years of professional experience including exposure to product management, project management, or strategic planning.
Bachelor’s degree plus deeper, relevant experience – typically 5-7 years across product management, strategy, or related roles.
Experience in financial services or pension administration is increasingly valuable.
Bachelor’s degree plus 7-10 years of progressive product management or strategic leadership experience.
Significant background in financial services, investment operations, or other complex, high-transaction environments is strongly preferred due to complexity of domain needs.