Product Manager

About Us

TechSmart is a software and workforce development company that is shifting the paradigm of how tech employers view talent pipelines into high-demand software development careers. Our focus is on the largest untapped talent pool in the U.S, the K-12 public school system. Our passion is to prepare students to compete for software development jobs directly from high school.

We do this by partnering with school districts to implement rigorous software development academic pathways that enable students to earn industry-based certifications and develop the depth of knowledge and skills needed to pass coding interviews.

About the Role

As a Product Manager, you will plan and execute the product strategy of our web-based, software-as-service learning Platform. Working with a seasoned and supportive group of leaders and makers, you will shape the experiences and interfaces that guide students toward software development excellence.

We are looking for a product-oriented thinker to join our team and help invent the future of K-12 education. The ideal candidate is able to own multiple projects independently from start to finish; is effective at creating solutions with all users in mind; strives to understand peoples’ intentions, needs, behaviors, thoughts and emotions; uses data to drive processes; and has strong collaboration and communication skills.

In this role, you will...

• Impact the lives of tens of thousands of elementary, middle, and high school students and their teachers via learning pathways to professional software development jobs.
• Enhance the usability and accessibility of our online learning platform by shaping, prioritizing, shepherding, testing, and delivering features.
• Collaborate with our product, curriculum, engineering, customer success, and sales teams to understand problems, discover use cases, examine assumptions, and imagine solutions.
• Support product initiatives by defining user stories, acceptance criteria, and implementation boundaries, tracked using modern product management tools and methodologies.
• Maintain team productivity of our platform engineering team by scheduling tasks, managing their workflows, creating delivery forecasts, and making release announcements.

As a product leader, you will...

• Shape the vision of our products to align with customer needs and business goals.
• Leverage user research and customer signals to spot product opportunities.
• Design features, identify dependencies, monitor progress, and announce releases.
• Manage roadmaps that are prioritized based on impact, effort, confidence and seasonality.
• Organize software engineering tasks into work streams that maximize developer flow.

As a collaborator, you will...

• Empathize with stakeholders to unravel complex issues, define outcomes, and brainstorm ideas.
• Facilitate discussions, share insights, and provide solutions that balance competing goals.
• Coordinate product roadmaps and iterative milestones with customers and colleagues.
• Influence decisions with effective reasoning, communication, and human-centered design.
• Remove barriers impeding progress, escalating issues when necessary to mitigate risk.

This is a full-time, 100% remote position. We are seeking applicants who can collaborate with our team Monday–Friday between the hours of 9 AM to 3 PM Pacific Time.

About You

TechSmart is committed to building a diverse team, at all levels, that mirror the populations we strive to serve. We also recognize the gender and diversity gaps in computer science achievement, and encourage applications from underrepresented individuals.

In addition to being legally authorized to work in the United States, our ideal team member will have the following qualities:

Professional Skills

• A growth mindset, respect for others, empathy, honesty, humility, and accountability.
• Excellent verbal and written communication, as well as the ability to give and receive feedback.
• Ability to prioritize and manage several milestones and projects efficiently.
• Ability to delegate work based on software engineer skill sets and career growth opportunities.
• Ability to collaborate with product design on visual mockups and written acceptance criteria.

Product Management

• Proficiency with an online product roadmap tool such as Productboard.
• Proficiency with defining features, managing roadmaps, and coordinating across teams.
• Proficiency with human-centered visual design and agile software development.
• Proficiency with defining and using metrics to make decisions and persuade stakeholders.

Project Management

• Proficiency with an online project kanban board such as AgilePlace.
• Proficiency with splitting a large software project into smaller work tasks and phases.
• Proficiency with predicting when all tasks for a phase or project will be done.
• Proficiency with communicating project releases to end users.

Prior Experience

• At least three years of professional experience with both product and project management.
• At least two years of professional experience working on software-as-a-service web applications.

Salary and Benefits

TechSmart's Product team is transitioning to standardized salaries based on position, no matter where you live. For this role, the salary is $100,000 per year. Other benefits include:

• Medical, vision, and dental insurance benefits for you and your family. (Employee premiums are covered 100% by the company.)
• 11 paid holidays per year, in addition to the paid vacation outlined below.
• 15 paid vacation days for the first year, increasing to 20 days per year afterwards. (No carryover cap, no annual reset, 125% maximum balance.)
• 6.5 paid sick and safe days per year, with an extra 2 days available immediately after your first day. (No carryover cap, no annual reset, no maximum balance.)
• Paid family and medical leave, including parental leave.
• Paid bereavement leave.
• Optional 401(k) retirement savings plans. (No company match at this time.)
• Optional Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) for healthcare and dependent care expenses.
• A $400 home office stipend to use alongside an Apple MacBook Pro company laptop.

How to Apply

Please include the latest copy of your resume and a brief cover letter highlighting why you'd like to join us and how you would be a fit for this position. Applications lacking a cover letter or that provide only a generic cover letter will be disadvantaged.