Product Manager

Description

The Product Manager is responsible for defining market requirements and packaging the features into product releases. This position involves close interaction with development leads, product architects, and key customers. A strong understanding of library technical services and related products is required. Job duties include gathering requirements from existing and potential customers as well as recent evaluators, writing Agile-compliant market requirements, managing the implementation process, developing go-to-market messaging, marketing communications, and collateral in support of company’s sales and marketing efforts.


Responsibilities:
A strong candidate will have knowledge in the following areas: principles and practices of library operations; knowledge of the acquisitions process for serials and electronic resources and understanding of the electronic resources life cycle related to license review, access management, subscription renewal and electronic records maintenance. Candidates with understanding of how library knowledge bases provide accurate publication, subscription, license and management information are preferred

• Manage primary and secondary market research, perform environmental scans, monitor competitive landscape, and work closely with development partner libraries to identify, understand and validate need for buy/build/partner relationships. Identify and develop user  personas for individual products to ensure requirements are communicated in a clear, concise and actionable manner.
• Monitor technical trends. Assess changing needs of the marketplace and provide leadership to Product Development in establishing requirements that will drive product success.
• Write product requirements and use case scenarios. Identify and communicate product requirements working with Product Development to assess, prioritize and manage product deliverables and release sets across product portfolio taking into account custom software, bug fixes, new product and functional enhancements. Adhere to Company’s Agile Development practices.
• Working with Product Development team establish, manage and lead beta test planning.  Train other departments, creating release notes, and communicate new products or enhancements to the company.
• Contribute significantly to product launch plans implementation. Actively monitor plan progress and conduct pro-active communication. Manage and engage development partner listserv throughout development lifecycle.
• Work to ensure high-levels of customer satisfaction resulting from product installations. Monitor customer sales, relationships, and support calls to ensure product meets the highest levels of performance. Use this information flow as input to product enhancements and new features.
• Manage 3rd party vendors and partners as needed to support product portfolio. Develop technical product presentation and sales support material in support of these relationships.
• Present at user group and trade conferences. Perform in the capacity of product champion within the library market at large. Represent the company at trade shows, in library forums, and standards committees. Act as a strategic peer representing the company on library listservs and other social media.
• Compose marketing release notes. Act as key resource to sales and marketing organizations to articulate a clear, singular product vision, communicate product features and benefits and competitive positioning and comparisons that drive tactical sales and marketing program development. Prepare and deliver presentations, white papers, articles, and participate in social media as needed. Contribute content to bid proposals and RFP responses.
• Maintain a status dashboard of product portfolio. Articulate product strategy, customer  needs, product requirements and portfolio status at a corporate and product-team level.

Desired Skills and Experience

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills are necessary as this position requires engaging with customers, partner vendors and competitors, as well  as with all departments within the company.
• Experience working with electronic resource licensing terms and serials vendors a plus.
• Ability and willingness to travel (15%) domestically with occasional trips of 7-8 days including weekends.
• Ability to communicate at the corporate and product-team level.
• Master of Library Science and/or substantive experience in libraries or the library automation marketplace.  Demonstrated understanding of the Library and Internet markets.
• Solid understanding of Company’s competitors and competitive offerings.
• Prior Scrum, Agile and PMP training and practice.
• Strong personal organization, verbal and written skills.