Product Manager- Junior

Key Responsibilities

• Executes the direction of the Product Owner by leading complex digital products and service initiatives from discovery through delivery, including customer-facing and operational products such as online services, appointment scheduling, queue management, customer portals, websites, mobile driver licenses (mDL), and internal operational tools

• Works with stakeholders, frontline staff, vendors, and technical teams to translate business needs, operational requirements, and customer feedback into actionable product requirements, workflows, user stories, and prioritized backlogs

• Develops a strong understanding of DMV operations, policies, and customer pain points to identify opportunities to improve customer experience, operational efficiency, and service delivery

• Conducts and supports user research and usability testing activities including customer interviews, prototype testing, operational observations, and feedback analysis to inform product decisions and validate solutions

• Serves as a day-to-day lead for assigned initiatives by coordinating across vendors, agency stakeholders, and internal teams to ensure work progresses toward defined goals, timelines, and outcomes

• Partners closely with vendor teams to drive iterative delivery of working software and services.

• Help hold vendors accountable for timelines, product quality, usability, testing readiness, issue resolution, and delivery expectations

• Exercises sound judgment in making day-to-day product and operational decisions while understanding when risks, policy concerns, stakeholder conflicts, or delivery challenges should be escalated to the Product Owner

• Leads backlog refinement, sprint planning, release coordination, and product prioritization activities while supporting roadmap development and milestone planning.

• Monitors product performance and operational outcomes through analytics, customer feedback, operational metrics, and frontline observations to identify trends, risks, and opportunities for continuous improvement

• Champions user-centered, iterative, and outcome-driven delivery practices that focus on delivering measurable value to customers, staff, and the agency through incremental improvements and continuous learning

Required Skills & Experience

• Experience leading the development, launch, modernization, or continuous improvement of digital products, software platforms, or customer-facing technology services.

• Demonstrated experience working across the full product lifecycle, including discovery, prioritization, delivery, launch, measurement, and continuous improvement.

• Experience working closely with software development teams, designers, vendors, and engineers in Agile or iterative delivery environments.

• Strong ability to balance user needs, operational constraints, business objectives, policy requirements, and technical considerations when making product decisions.

• Experience conducting user research, usability testing, customer interviews, service design activities, or other customer-centered product discovery practices.

• Familiarity with accessibility, customer experience, service design, or digital transformation initiatives.

Preferred experience working in government, transportation, financial services, healthcare, or other policy- or regulation-constrained environments.

Desired Attributes

• Demonstrated curiosity about customer behavior, operational challenges, and opportunities to improve public services.

• Comfortable working in ambiguity and using research, data, and experimentation to inform decisions.

• Ability to balance customer needs, operational realities, technical constraints, and business priorities when making recommendations.

• Strong ownership mindset with a bias toward action, continuous improvement, and delivering measurable outcomes.

• Experience working in highly regulated environments where policy, compliance, and technology considerations must be balanced.

• Passion for improving government services through modern digital products and user-centered design.

Soft Skills

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences.

• Ability to influence decisions and build alignment across stakeholders without direct authority.

• Strong facilitation and active listening skills, particularly when working with customers, frontline staff, and leadership.

• Comfortable navigating competing priorities, making tradeoffs, and driving decisions forward.

• Collaborative, adaptable, and resilient in fast-paced environments with evolving priorities.

Flexible work from home options available.