Associate Director of Product at CityOfNewYork

ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN FINANCE BOARD The Campaign Finance Board is a nonpartisan, independent city agency that empowers New Yorkers to have a greater impact on their elections. Our mission is to make local democracy more open, transparent, and equitable by removing barriers to participation. We make it easier for New Yorkers to vote, meaningfully support candidates for city office, and run for office themselves. NYC Votes, our voter engagement initiative, meets people where they are to share trustworthy election information and help New Yorkers make a plan to vote. We publish the citywide Voter Guide, which delivers information about candidates directly to voters’ doors. Our public matching funds program ensures small contributions can make a big difference, allowing regular people to run for office by relying on the support of other regular people, not just wealthy donors and special interests. And we lift the veil on how candidates raise and spend money, increasing transparency and accountability in local government. We believe that when every New Yorker is empowered to participate meaningfully in elections, candidates will better reflect the communities they serve, elected leaders will be more accountable to the public, and New Yorkers will have a democracy they can truly trust. ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT 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. 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. JOB DESCRIPTION The Associate Director of Product will work closely with the Senior Director of Product to build out and support the Campaign Finance Board’s first Product Management office, including helping to manage a mixed team of product designers, project managers, and business analysts. As an Associate Director of Product Management at the Campaign Finance Board (CFB), you will aid the strategy, vision, and execution of product initiatives that support the agency’s mission and deliver impactful, enterprise-grade applications. In this role, you will partner closely with UX, Engineering, QA, Project Managers, and CFB Subject Matter Experts to drive product outcomes from concept through delivery. The ideal candidate is a strategic thinker and hands-on leader who can translate complex problems into intuitive solutions while fostering a culture of continuous improvement. You are someone who anticipates challenges, aligns teams around shared goals, and ensures products deliver measurable value to users and the organization. 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. - New products and features. - Creating and maintaining roadmaps. - User research and data analysis. - Feature selection and prioritization. - Project management of technical efforts. - Ticket creation, maintenance, and agile ceremonies. Responsibilities include but are not limited to: - Define and communicate product vision, strategy, and roadmaps aligned with organizational goals and stakeholder needs. - Act as a strategic thinker and hands-on leader who independently navigates and removes ambiguity, translating complex business problems into clear, intuitive solutions. - Utilize research and data analysis to create frameworks for deeply understanding user needs, driving iterative improvements of current systems and developing impactful new features. - Lead and align cross-functional teams, including UX, Engineering, QA, Project Managers, and CFB Subject Matter Experts, to manage the successful delivery of products, from feature selection and prioritization to launch. - Partner closely with UX and Engineering leadership to guide product design and implementation decisions, ensuring the delivery of impactful, enterprise-grade applications during both new product development and legacy overhauls and upgrades. - Own and refine the product lifecycle, from initial requirements definition through ticket creation, maintenance, and agile ceremonies, ensuring all products deliver measurable value to both users and the organization. - Identify risks, dependencies, and blockers that impact product outcomes and orchestrate solutions proactively. - Supervise, mentor, and guide the mixed team of product designers, project managers, and business analysts, fostering professional growth and a culture of continuous improvement within the new Product Management office. - Craft clear, compelling narratives that both inspire the team and represent product decisions with the clarity and context needed to align teams around shared goals and a single vision. - Positively influence the collaboration culture across the agency, serving as a partner who ensures technical and design constraints are thoughtfully integrated into product work. - Serve as the product function representative to executive stakeholders, providing necessary transparency and ensuring clear communication on product performance and progress. - Contribute to long-term strategic planning and the evolution of the CFB’s digital ecosystem. Required Qualifications: - Bachelor’s degree in a related field and a minimum of 7 years of product management experience, including leading complex, user-facing software products. - Demonstrated success in owning and delivering strategic product initiatives in an enterprise environment. - Expertise in product discovery, user research, prioritization frameworks, and the full software development lifecycle (SDLC). - Exceptional communication skills with experience influencing leadership and cross-functional teams. - Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities, with experience defining and tracking product KPIs. - Proficiency with Azure DevOps, Monday, Microsoft Office Suite, JIRA, Confluence, and modern product management tools. - Experience with Agile methodologies; prior leadership or management experience preferred. 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. Knowledge - Deep, practical knowledge of the full Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), a high level of expertise in Agile methodologies (including ticket creation, maintenance, and agile ceremonies), and the principles of Human-Centered Design (HCD). - Comprehensive understanding of the technical landscape for delivering impactful, enterprise-grade applications, including strategies for legacy overhauls and upgrades and managing complex user-facing software products. - Expert-level knowledge of product discovery, user research, and prioritization frameworks, and proficiency with required technical tools (e.g., Azure DevOps, JIRA, Confluence) for managing technical efforts. - A deeper knowledge and background in at least one key product domain (e.g., Engineering, Data Analytics, UX/Design, or Project Management) to effectively partner with and guide cross-functional leadership. Skills - Exceptional analytical and problem-solving abilities, skilled at leveraging user research and data analysis to translate complex business problems into intuitive solutions and measurable product requirements. - High quality communication skills, with proven experience crafting compelling narratives that align and inspire teams, and the ability to influence and provide transparency to executive stakeholders. - The ability to define and track clear product KPIs and success metrics, ensuring all products deliver measurable value to users and the organization. - Capable of operating simultaneously as a strategic thinker and a hands-on leader, defining the long-term product vision and roadmaps while owning the day-to-day requirements definition and agile ceremonies. - Excellent people management skills, with the ability to supervise, mentor, and guide a mixed team (designers, project managers, business analysts), fostering professional growth and a culture of continuous improvement. - Solid and objective hiring evaluation skills. - Excellent people management skills, with the ability to supervise, mentor, and guide a mixed team (designers, project managers, business analysts), fostering professional growth and a culture of continuous improvement. Abilities - The proven ability to independently navigate and remove ambiguity while proactively identifying and orchestrating creative solutions for risks, dependencies, and blockers that impact product outcomes. - Define and track clear product KPIs and success metrics, ensuring all products deliver measurable value to users and the organization. - The ability to be highly adaptable, balancing solid long-term planning with the flexibility to integrate technical and design constraints and refine plans based on new insights. - Ability to operate at both a high senior strategy level and participate as an individual contributor on project work. Other - Strong attention to detail, which is critical for owning the product lifecycle and refining requirements, even when operating at a senior strategic level. - Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, including leading a diverse staff. - Exhibits passion and energy for the work and the agency’s mission. - A commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, including leading a diverse staff, and a focus on positively influencing the collaboration culture across the agency. - Demonstrating empathy and emotional intelligence in both giving and receiving feedback and supports a culture of continuous improvement and psychological safety. - Employing communication skills to positively influence the collaboration culture across the agency. 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 managing people. - Previous work in government, civic, or political tech. - Experience building a Product team from scratch. - Experience modernizing legacy products. EXECUTIVE PROGRAM MANAGER (CFB - 06894