Senior Program Manager

Job Description

The Senior Program Manager is an engaging and challenging opportunity that is instrumental in driving the creation and launch of groundbreaking smart home products. We are looking for a creative, customer-obsessed and results-oriented Senior Program Manager who wants to live on the edge of technologies that bring software and hardware together, within the connected home. We are seeking someone to support our efforts in building world-class mobile and hardware solutions for our direct-to-consumer products, as well as our business partners. Your role involves leading software development efforts, from initial concept through to market release, with a focus on pioneering new technologies and features in the connected devices space.

POSITION LOCATION:

This position is eligible for a hybrid schedule with all work performed in Meriden, CT, Oak Creek, WI, North Olmsted, OH, Deerfield, IL OR San Francisco, CA

RESPONSIBLIITIES:

• Helping with cross-functional planning efforts - from concept to launch - required to introduce new hardware products into our software platforms.
• Working closely with software product managers to remove obstacles and organize team activities.
• Leading meetings and working sessions to help unblock product development efforts.
• Helping create and revise achievable plans to deliver hardware products (supported by the software platform) to market in coordination with commercial hardware product managers, hardware project managers and software product teams.
• Working closely with and supporting software product owners and their agile teams to build a plan of record for all software integration efforts, including any new feature development, quality assurance testing, and field trials. Helping re-plan efforts, when necessary, based on program realities.
• Supporting and using common templates, terminology, and definitions for all phases of the software and hardware development processes.
• Working with functions external to product development (marketing, customer support, sales) to coordinate needs directly associated with new product launches including installation guides, support articles, etc.
• Working with platform release managers (mobile, server) to build release schedules for new product initiatives.
• Executing and delivering customer value in accordance with the company innovation process.
• Participating in key rituals required as part of the company New Product Introduction process: discovery process, team composition. Helping understand and plan staffing needs, working with functional managers across the product development organization to compose balanced, effective scrum teams.
• Build relationships and communicate effectively with other departments, such as marketing, sales, hardware and commercial product managers, to ensure that everyone is on the same page.
• Surface risks, coaching on mitigating those risks and giving broad management insight into those risks.
• Facilitating reporting against plan for all assigned initiatives to management and stakeholders, through regular program reviews.
• Serving as an escalation for product teams, to help manage scope, time plans and resources.
• Remaining flexible to shifting project priorities and workload adjustments.
• Focus for this role will be launching new connected products within our Water portfolio.

Qualifications

• BA/BS degree or equivalent practical experience.
• 7-10 years of experience with project management.
• 3+ years of experience in software project or program management, with a strong preference for experience in smart home technology and new product development.
• Working knowledge using Jira for planning, dashboard creation, issue management and report generation.
• Well-versed in Agile Principles, scrum master certification a plus.
• Willingness to travel up to approximately 15% of the time, both domestically and internationally.
• Comprehensive understanding of software development processes and lifestyle.
• Strong formal project management, analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Expert communication, influence and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to help organize complex efforts.
• Drive to ship world-class products.
• Ability to grasp program details (technical, functional, operational), and communicate them at all levels of the organization.
• Familiarity with complex software development including mobile, backend and firmware.
• Working knowledge of industry standard practices for developing and manufacturing hardware.
• Experience with IoT and networked products.
• Experience using data and metrics to assess product health to help drive improvements.
• Ability to deal with ambiguity and be flexible.
• Obsession with accuracy and detailed issue reporting.
• Ability to stay calm under pressure.