Senior Director of Product

BUSINESS TITLE: Senior Director of Product

CIVIL SERVICE TITLE/LEVEL: 06939 ASSOCIATE EXECUTIVE PROGRAM MA

DEPARTMENT:  Strategy, Products, and Innovation

NUMBER OF POSITIONS: 1

SALARY RANGE:  $175,000-195,000

POSITION STATUS: X Full-Time 

APPLICATION DEADLINE: UNTIL FILLED

JOB ID: 713067 

Start your career here at the NYC Campaign Finance Board. Click on the link to learn more about the open positions at our agency!

The New York City Campaign Finance Board manages New York City’s small donor democracy program and educates and engages voters via NYC Votes. The CFB has enjoyed a tremendous arc of progress over its 30-year history, and our updated flagship small donor democracy program is the centerpiece of this progress.

We eliminate barriers to participation by providing access to the resources New Yorkers need to vote or run for office and amplify the voices of small donors with New York City’s small donor democracy program.

We are dedicated to making New York City’s local democracy more open, transparent, and equitable. You would be working with a team that is mission-driven and committed to continuous improvement.

The Strategy, Products, and Innovation division is the agency’s newest division and leads the strategic planning and policy work, working across the agency to test out and implement new ideas. This division also creates the agency’s product roadmap to take us into future elections while  maintaining and improving existing systems. The new Product Strategy vertical will be responsible for creating the overall roadmap for tech modernization and process improvements; prioritize tech projects to pursue, and liaise between technical engineers and subject matter experts; and align tech projects with the agency’s strategic plan and objectives. Plans for this vertical include building new teams for product management as well as user experience and service design, as well as some reorganization of existing PMO functions. 

The Director of Product will lead the NYC Campaign Finance Board’s first Product Management office. This office will be responsible for strategy, planning, and managing delivery of technical products for CFB, including:

• iterative improvements of current systems (ex: improve the interfaces and portals by which candidates and the public interact with NYCCFB)
• legacy overhauls and upgrades (ex: move core databases to the cloud)
• new products and features (new payments platform, salesforce public outreach platform)
• creating and maintaining roadmaps
• user research and data analysis
• feature selection and prioritization
• project management of technical efforts
• ticket creation, maintenance, and agile ceremonies

This position will require the selected candidate to obtain NYC residency within 90 days of starting their job, and be in-person in the CFB Manhattan office a minimum of 1 day a week. 

The Director role will be a managerial position over the office’s PMs, a key component of the hiring pipeline, a strategic partner for CFB leadership, and be able to chip in and act as a senior-level Product Manager and Product Strategist when needed. The Director will report to the First Deputy Executive Director. 

The Director will also be responsible for understanding the needs of CFB and helping to craft the job description and hiring pipeline for future individual contributor PMs to build out their office. This is a dynamic role that will have a large impact on elections in the City of New York and the future of the CFB. 

The ideal candidate will be a senior product manager with people management experience, have worked in government, civic, or political tech before, and have a background in engineering, user research, or design. A strong ‘get things done’ attitude, high emotional intelligence, and excellent communication skills are essential. Responsibilities for this role include, but are not limited to:  

Product Management & Product Strategy

• Build an overall product roadmap, including prioritization of new features vs. improving old ones, risk analysis of legacy systems, and plans for rollout/change management
• Work with other leaders to identify and agree on actionable and measurable goals
• Set a cadence for measuring and re-visiting these goals
• Report regularly to leadership team on progress and metrics
• Ensure open and frequent channels for feedback, internal and external, qualitative and quantitative
• Incorporate human-centered design and data-driven decision making into all areas of work
• Occasionally act as PM on direct project work including discovery sprints, running development teams, and overseeing launches

Product Delivery

• Overhaul IT delivery pipeline to make best use of existing talents, more efficient and effective delivery of products, and incorporate industry best practices
• Create and uphold standard expectations for agile development including short development sprints, iterative feedback cycles, and strong practices for QA, privacy, and security
• Identify and improve any current methods of task identification and prioritization
• Ensure Product team is working smoothly in partnership with project and engineering teams, listening to their input and setting realistic expectations

Leadership & Hiring

• Build a model for CFB’s Product Management practice and work with other CFB leaders to integrate this model with their methods of working
• Help create and actively participate in the pipeline for hiring Product Managers
• Manage a team of Product Managers, including onboarding, offboarding, regular 1:1s, recurring constructive feedback, and mentorship
• Occasionally advocate for CFB in a public setting, at public speaking engagements, recruiting events, etc.

ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, ABILITIES & OTHER BEHAVIORS (KSAOs)

We're seeking individuals eager to make an impact, even if they don't tick every box on our job description. We believe in the power of diverse perspectives and the unique blend of lived experiences, non-traditional education pathways, practical know-how, and a variety of skills and abilities that each candidate brings to the table. If you're ready to learn and grow with us, we encourage you to apply and be part of our dynamic team. 

KSAOs are attributes essential to perform a job.

Knowledge

• Proficiency in the standards of agile software development and human centered design practices
• Up-to-date market awareness of technology products and practices
• Deeper knowledge and background in one of: engineering, data, design, user research, or project management

Skills

• Strong problem-solving skills with a focus on data and the human experience
• Ability to prioritize and make future plans, knowing they’ll probably have to change
• Knows how to put together a roadmap and metric-based goals
• Solid and objective hiring evaluation skills
• Empathy and emotional intelligence
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Collaborative working style with both internal colleagues and external stakeholders
• Excellent people management skills, with experience mentoring staff for career growth

Abilities

• Works well under pressure
• Able to plan, and then be flexible enough to change that plan
• Creative problem solver

Other

• Able to take and give feedback well.
• Strong attention to detail, even when operating at a senior level.
• Ability to operate at both a high senior strategy level, and participate as an individual contributor on project work.
• Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, including leading a diverse staff
• Exhibits passion and energy for the work and the agency’s mission.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Five (5) years of experience in product management, with a demonstrated track record of discovery and delivery of technological projects
• Three (3) years of hiring and managing people 
• Previous work in government, civic, or political tech
• Experience building a Product team from scratch
• Experience modernizing legacy products

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MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Depending on the civil service job title code, this section will be auto-populated.

1. A bachelor’s degree from an accredited college including or supplemented by at least twelve-semester credits (or the equivalent of twelve-semester credits) in accounting, auditing, business or public administration, computer science, economics, finance, statistics, graphic design, personnel or human resources administration, user experience design, or a closely related area of study and one year of satisfactory full-time experience in accounting, auditing (including compliance or investigative auditing), business or public administration, business analysis, computer science, database administration, economics, finance, fiscal or economic management or research, statistics, graphic design, personnel or human resources administration, user experience design, or a closely related field; or
2. A four-year high school diploma or its educational equivalent and five years of experience as described in “1” above; or
3. Education and/or experience equivalent to “1” above.

TO APPLY:

All applicants must apply through NYC Government Jobs | Explore Careers | City of New York

• Please search and apply to the job ID number listed above.
• Resume and cover letter are required for consideration.
• Note that only applicants under consideration will be contacted.

For more information on careers with the NYC Campaign Finance Board visit our website at https://www.nyccfb.info/ to access the full listing of job opportunities and to learn more about our agency.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The City of New York provides generous medical benefits (including dental and vision through respective unions or funds), retirement, tuition reimbursement, and additional ancillary benefits. CFB offers a flexible and hybrid work schedule, opportunities for career development, learning & development (leadership training and coaching), wellness programs, and much more! 

As a prospective employee of the City of New York, you may be eligible for federal loan forgiveness programs and state repayment assistance programs. For more information, please visit the U.S. Department of Education’s website at StudentAid.gov/PSLF. 

The CFB is an equal opportunity employer firmly committed to diversity. All individuals are encouraged to apply. If you anticipate needing any type of reasonable accommodation to apply for an employment opportunity, please contact access@nyccfb.info or (212) 409-1800. 

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.