Manager, Product

Product Manager For Travel Experience

A Manager, Product is a product leader who manages the product team responsible for one or more complex products. A player-coach role, the Manager, Product brings together the individual skillsets of a product manager with those of a leader of people. They are responsible for the long-term strategy and vision for a set of products as well as for the performance and growth of the product practitioners on the product team(s) they oversee. Mgr, Product is a critical leadership role for Thrivent's operating model product teams. They lead product discovery efforts and are accountable for improving the performance of their product over time by overseeing effective delivery of product improvements and successfully marketing and promoting their product with users. They partner effectively with, and provide clarity and inspiration to, other disciplines on their team (business, design, engineering, analytics, etc.) and lead collaboration efforts with stakeholders from other teams across Thrivent to align on priorities and develop effective solutions to user challenges to optimize the end user experience. A Mgr, Product typically will have deep experience as a product manager and aspire to manage both products and people. They play a key role across product stakeholders to actively engage, develop, coach and influence product team operations, practices, and talent. This role typically has direct supervision responsibilities for between 1 and 4 product owners. As part of Thrivent's Product Operating Model transformation, the Product Manager for the Travel Experience Product will play a pivotal role in shaping and activating a dedicated team focused on delivering safe, flexible, cost-effective, and satisfying travel experiences for all company travelers. This leader will create and drive the vision and roadmap for the product, ensuring travelers feel confident, connected, and cared for throughout the entire travel lifecycle. The Product Manager will foster strong partnerships and alignment with key stakeholders, including Event Planning, Legal & Procurement, Corporate Security and Insurance, Engineering, and Finance, to continuously improve and innovate the travel experience.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Responsible for the long-term product roadmap as part of a larger business strategy.
• Consistently and iteratively ensures that business strategies are being executed through product roadmaps.
• Leads team collaboration to manage and prioritize product roadmap and releases across multiple products.
• Collaborates to resolve conflicts in a constructive manner when they arise.
• Accountable to ensure that product teams understand the business outcomes needed, and that business outcomes are tied to a broader business goal or objective.
• Identifies and tracks performance metrics both evergreen key performance indicators to monitor the overall health of the product and objectives to focus efforts on making specific, measurable improvements to experiences that drive positive outcomes.
• Facilitates conversations and coaching with product teams and relevant stakeholders to address gaps and necessary improvements to delivering specific improvements.
• Identifies and tracks Key Performance Metrics; accountable to ensure that KPIs are delivering the necessary business value.
• Ensures outcomes on the roadmap fit within capacity constraints and are prioritized and sequenced in order to maximize value to the customer.
• Engages with customers and users on a regular basis to uncover implicit and explicit needs and translate to product hypothesis which are tested and refined to deliver solutions.
• Collaborates across product teams to develop and roll out operational plans.
• Researches and identifies industry best practices and trends to increase effectiveness.
• Acquires, maintains and applies advanced knowledge of the business, its products and processes, and an academic understanding of Product Management.
• Recruits, develops, and sustains a high-performing team while promoting a culture of shared accountability, operational excellence, and partnership across the organization.
• Models Thrivent's leadership competencies Model the Way, Rally the Team, and Deliver Outcomes.
• Supports and / or develops an environment in which Thrivent employees and colleagues are focused on continuous improvement, exceptional employee engagement, and an unwavering commitment to our clients.
• Shapes and / or supports a culture that represents the Thrivent purpose, promise and values, ensuring that Thrivent's trust and reputation remain strong with its clients.

Qualifications & Skills

Required : Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience. 10+ years relevant business experience, including in product manager role, product owner role or similar. Understand fundamentals of iterative development, software development process and procedures. Expertise in the principles of Agile Product Management, stakeholder management, market and user research, technology management, and process design. High-level of organization and attention to detail. Passion and understanding of new technology and trends. Excellent communication, collaboration and influence skills among all organizational levels; strong facilitation and executive communications skills.

Preferred : Certified Product Manager or similar certification. May have prior supervisory experience. Strong ability to effectively manage and resolve conflicting priorities. Experience in developing and delivering product strategy, articulated in terms of value and outcomes with relevant and compelling metrics and measurements. Demonstrated success in developing and launching products or services focused on customer experience, safety, or travel. Proven ability to build strong partnerships and communicate effectively with diverse stakeholders, including HR, legal, procurement, security, engineering, and finance. Familiarity with travel industry standards, risk management, or traveler safety best practices. Expertise with foundational product management tools, techniques and principles across discovery, design, build, release, and measure cycle. Proven experience in leading and influencing cross-functional teams. Demonstrated experience with user interface design and best practices for usability. Experience working in large, complex organizational initiatives. Advanced skills in MS Office Suite with particular emphasis on Excel and PowerPoint. Adept at financial management to administer budgets across multiple products and ensure the product meets its requirements for return on investment.