Staff Product Manager (HHS)

Description

The company is a digital consultancy that uses design and technology to help government agencies deliver better public services.

It is part of a civic push to change how governments at every level serve families, patients, and others in a digital world.

Product managers own strategy, planning, execution, stakeholder management, and team health. They work with researchers, designers, engineers, and client stakeholders to decide what to build next and why.

The team supports HHS's Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) across a growing set of high-visibility projects that often arrive quickly with unclear scope.

The product team covers three areas. The OCIO portfolio involves taking in and shaping new projects. The ATO/GRC tool replacement modernizes Authority to Operate and governance, risk, and compliance processes on an aggressive timeline with many federal stakeholders. The CTIR Intelligence Data Hub is a greenfield effort for HHS's Cybersecurity and Resilience team that will merge threat intelligence sources, including ThreatConnect, Intel 471, Feedly, Google Threat Intelligence, and Splunk, into one FedRAMP High-compliant workbench for analysts and leadership.

Client leadership sees moving too slowly as a bigger risk than being wrong.

As lead product manager, you will be the team's main contact with OCIO and lead a small group of product managers, while likely owning a workstream of your own.

This is a player/coach role. You will report directly to the company's contract leadership and work on the front lines with HHS and company leadership.

Priorities change often. You will need to absorb new work quickly, learn enough to act, and return with a plan without waiting months to learn everything. You will sometimes push back with the client and sometimes disagree and commit. You will do well if you like showing early, imperfect work and improving it.

You also act as a people manager. You will keep growing your craft and contributing to client work while developing the people you manage, handling their performance, and shaping the conditions that help them do their best work.

The interview process includes a preliminary screen, a skills interview, a behavioral interview, and a reverse interview where you meet your potential team. It usually takes four conversations over two to three weeks.

Candidates who do not meet every qualification are still encouraged to apply.

Responsibilities

• Turn incoming OCIO requests into scoped, prioritized work by finding the real need behind each one.
• Set up light intake, planning, and team routines that let the team move fast without extra overhead.
• Own a product workstream by turning user and stakeholder needs into a vision, a roadmap, and a prioritized backlog.
• Work with HHS and company leadership as priorities move, deciding when to push back and when to commit.
• Build strong working relationships with the people you manage and support their growth.
• Coach individuals through growth, feedback, and daily challenges.

Requirements

• Apply lean product principles, such as minimum viable product, at each stage of the product life cycle to reduce risk, test assumptions, and grow learning.
• Build a product strategy grounded in the problem, favoring outcomes over features, setting direction over time through a roadmap, and defining success criteria.
• Split scope into valuable chunks that can ship sooner, keep a prioritized backlog of validated user stories, and run team ceremonies across iterations.
• Use human-centered design to inform product direction.
• Collaborate well with people outside your discipline, including researchers, designers, and engineers.
• Manage clients and stakeholders in a way that builds trust, alignment, and healthy environments for people and teams.
• Understand the merits of agile, lean, and other software development methods and how to apply them.
• Have directly managed product managers and set up lightweight team systems and agile practices that change as needs change.
• Have strong client-facing consulting experience, turning ambiguous requests into scoped work.
• Have worked on cross-functional teams (product, design, engineering, ops) in iterative delivery.
• Share a work approach that aligns with the company's core values.
• Some roles are on federal contracts that accept additional years of experience or a degree as a substitute.
• Work must be conducted within the U.S., excluding U.S. territories.
• Be legally authorized to work in the U.S. now and in the future without sponsorship.
• Be able to obtain and maintain a public trust clearance.
• Nice to have: Jira and Atlassian administration or configuration experience.
• Nice to have: experience on federal contracts or in a consulting setting serving a CIO organization.
• Nice to have: experience delivering technology in government, regulated industries, or other public-benefit settings.
• Nice to have: a track record of staying aligned and accountable on remote teams.

Conditions

This is a fully remote, full-time, exempt position.

The role is remote, but occasional travel to DC may come up.

The expected start date is as soon as possible.

Salary is set from interview results and your current seniority. Current ranges for a Product Manager at the company are: Associate Product Manager $90,000, $125,000; Product Manager I $120,000, $140,000; Product Manager II $135,000, $160,000; Senior Product Manager $150,000, $185,000; Staff Product Manager $170,000, $203,000; Principal Product Manager $180,000, $230,000.

The company considers candidates from a range of backgrounds and experiences.

Candidates can ask the recruiting team for reasonable accommodations during the application or interview process.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• Short-term and long-term disability insurance.
• Life and AD&D insurance.
• Dependent care FSA, healthcare FSA, and health savings account.
• Dollar-for-dollar 401(k) match up to 10% of your salary, with no vesting period.
• Flexible paid time off, generally around 25 days per year, plus 11 paid federal holidays.
• Up to 12 weeks of paid time off for eligible new birth, adoption, or foster parents.
• Performance rewards, including an annual salary increase, an annual performance bonus, spot bonuses, and stock options.
• Business development and sales bonuses.
• Referral bonuses.
• An annual $2,000 allowance for professional development.
• An annual $750 allowance for tech-related purchases.
• An annual swag budget of $100 for company merchandise such as hoodies and hats.
• A flexible, remote-friendly work environment.