Lead Product Manager - APIs

Basic Function

The Lead Technical Product Manager (TPM), APIs is responsible for translating vision and strategy for APIs across the Axcess Suite into strategic solutions for internal and external consumers in partnership with product managers, other technical product managers, user experience team and development teams. The Lead TPM, APIs works closely with customers to understand their needs, and test concepts and solutions. They also engage with internal stakeholders including sales, marketing, implementation, training and support teams to gather their customer insights and their own functional needs. The Lead TPM, APIs brings the voice of customers and internal stakeholders to user experience and development teams, and, in close partnership with them, get the solution ready.

Essential Duties and responsibilities

• Proactively seeks detailed understanding of vision, and near-term and long-term priorities for the CCH Axcess APIs, including productization of APIs, based on the APIs potential for use outside the context of one solution
• Leads customer interactions, in partnership with user experience team, to understand their unmet needs and test concepts and solutions throughout the development process
• Develops and maintains the API roadmap for the CCH Axcess Suite, using input from customers
• Gathers and documents into user stories functional and non-functional requirements from product managers, customers and internal stakeholders, including, marketing, sales, implementation, training, development and support teams
• Represents the voice of customers and internal stakeholders to user experience and development teams throughout the solution development process
• Partners with the development team to strike the right balance of scope, schedule and resources to maximize progress towards their portfolio goals
• Partners with program/project manager to develop detailed project plans and closely track performance against those plans; conveys progress, any deviations and impacts of those deviations to product managers in a timely fashion
• Inspects and accepts or rejects completed work for the development sprint, and ensures new functionality meets the acceptance criteria
• Oversee the API product throughout its lifecycle, including managing API versioning and decommissioning
• Evangelizes the use of the API product with development teams to increase the adoption and consumption of the API product capabilities
• Develops and maintains API specifications and documentation including samples within the developer portal
• Provide support to API product consumers by answering questions and responding to feedback
• Researches and evaluates new API trends
• Maintains deep subject matter expertise in relevant product domains, including features and functionality

Other Duties

Performs other duties as assigned by supervisor.

Job Qualifications

Education: 

Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university, or equivalent experience

Computer Science or Software Engineering Degree preferred

Experience: 

• Minimum 5 years of experience in product management with at least 3 years focus on API
• Three or more years with Agile Scrum methodologies as a product owner/technical product manager preferred
• Three or more years in product management of B2B enterprise SaaS software products preferred
• Three or more years in one of these areas preferred – 1) software solution development for Tax and accounting industry, 2) professional experience in CPA firm

Other Knowledge, Skills, Abilities or Certifications: 

• Experience driving all aspects of the software development lifecycle with development teams - iteration themes, backlog grooming, story mapping, user story creation and decomposition, retrospectives, etc.
• Experience leading the product design process with user experience team and product architects
• Experience leading customer interviews, concept testing and usability testing
• Time management and project management
• Proficiency in translating business requirements into technical requirements
• Defining acceptance criteria for functional and non-functional requirements
• Negotiation
• Process orientation and data analysis
• Breaking down complex ideas into simple concepts
• Influencing
• Adaptability
• Aligning deliverables with strategy and priority
• Focus on solutions and possibilities
• Nimble, quick to respond or adjust
• Disciplined leader who holds themselves and others accountable
• Collaboration
• Meeting facilitation and presentation