Job Description

Custom Software Systems, Inc. (CSS) is seeking a Senior Product Manager to lead the strategy and development of a cloud-based research computing platform supporting economic research. The ideal candidate brings strong technical product management experience, hands-on knowledge of cloud infrastructure (AWS, Azure, or GCP), and a proven ability to translate complex user needs into secure, scalable platform solutions. This is a technical Product Management role, not a Project or Program Management position. U.S. Citizenship is required.

Responsibilities

• Lead one or more multi-disciplinary agile delivery teams to deliver excellent new products and/or iterations to existing products to meet user needs.
• Gather user requirements based on a communicable understanding of diverse audience groups.
• Create effective, prioritized product descriptions and delivery plans to meet user needs cost-effectively.
• Manage a product roadmap for a set of features from inception through implementation; collect requirements, establish key performance metrics, craft the user experience, and drive execution.
• Manage the end-to-end product strategy and roadmap for a cloud-based platform to

support economic research.

• Partner closely with researchers across our economic divisions to gather requirements and translate them into clear product specifications and priorities
• Deeply understand user needs and pain points across different use cases and use that

insight to drive prioritization and solutioning.

• Partner with architecture, cloud engineering, enterprise data platform, security, and the

platform delivery team to design and develop a platform that meets the needs of

researchers while ensuring proper data governance and security.

• Lead discovery efforts including user research, journey mapping, and workflow design to ensure solutions are usable and aligned with real-world processes
• Demonstrate ownership, operate with high agency, and hold teams accountable to ensure cross-team alignment and timely delivery of outcomes and deliverables.
• Balance short-term delivery with long-term platform strategy to support scalable

solutions.

• Define success metrics and continuously measure, iterate, and improve the product based on usage data and user feedback.
• Manage stakeholder expectations and implement processes for sharing relevant

information and project updates with business stakeholders in a clear and consistent

manner.

• Communicate product vision, progress, and tradeoffs clearly to technical, non-technical, and executive stakeholders.

Citizenship

· US Citizenship

Required Qualifications

• Minimum of ten (10) years of professional experience.
• Minimum of six (6) years of technical product management experience, with at least four (4) years of experience working directly with cloud infrastructure (AWS, Azure, GCP) in a product or engineering capacity. Candidates with only project or program management experience need not apply.
• At least six (6) years in product management, engineering, and/or management consulting.
• At least three (3) years of product management, product design, agile delivery, business analysis, data science, or software engineering.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Experience managing the delivery, ongoing success, and continuous improvement of one or more digital products and/or platforms.
• Deep understanding of cloud infrastructure and services, including compute, storage,

networking, security, containers, orchestration, etc.

• Hands-on experience with system design for cloud-based applications and systems.
• Proficiency in platform engineering principles like CI/CD pipelines, IaC, observability

and monitoring.

• Strong understanding of modern AI-based development workflows.
• Proven track record of shipping successful enterprise or research and development

focused products from conception to launch

• Experience collaborating closely with security and compliance teams, including

navigating data governance, access controls, and risk review processes.

• Demonstrated ability to work cross-functionally across engineering, security, data, and

business/end-user stakeholders.

• Demonstrated experience defining strategy and roadmaps for enterprise platforms.
• Excellent communication skills, ability to engage effectively with business, technical, and executive stakeholders

Education

• Bachelor’s Degree in business, computer science or related fields.

Certifications

• At least one of the following or its equivalent:
• ITIL 4 Foundation certifications
• Certified Product Manager

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with academic research-based workflows is a huge plus.

Compensation & Benefits[1][2]

• Wage Range: Negotiable
• General Benefits: Custom Software Systems, Inc. offers our employees a competitive benefits package that may include:
• Health insurance plans
• Health Savings Account (HSA)

[1] Compensation range must be coordinated with and approved by the CSS Chief Operating Officer (COO).

[2] Compensation & Benefits information is required for all Maryland Employers effective October 1, 2024.