Product Owner (Contract to Hire)

Forbes is a dynamic, forward-thinking media company.  Over the course of the past three years, we’ve grown both our print and digital audiences faster than any other major media company (according to Google Analytics and MRI). We continue that trajectory by investing in the best journalists, technologists and analysts in the business.

We are currently seeking creative and entrepreneurial Product Owners (Contract to Hire) to own the life-cycle of one or more of our core business products. They will work collaboratively with teams of engineers and designers to evolve our websites and tools to meet the needs of our users, brand partners, and editorial staff. Our Product Owners bring the best user experience, business strategy, and product design to market by validating creative ideas with usability studies, A/B testing methodologies and analytics. They work closely with the development leads and cross-functional teams on various corporate initiatives across different digital platforms – desktop, mobile, video, email, social, audio and more.

If you’re looking for challenges and opportunities similar to those of a startup, with the benefits of a seasoned, successful company, then read on.

Responsibilities:

  • Plan and coordinate the execution and delivery of your product roadmap through close collaboration with UX/UI designers, engineering teams, quality assurance, and third party vendors
  • Participate in daily development stand-ups to monitor progress and adjust priorities if needed
  • Define product KPIs, actively measure and analyze existing products for opportunities to innovate and improve
  • Define product requirements in partnership with stakeholders and in alignment with the overall platform strategy
  • Demonstrate a willingness to experiment, iterate, innovate, and fail quickly.
  • Communicate effectively and consistently with customers, partners, business and technical teams and maintain strong relationships with relevant stakeholders
  • Document new features and communicate functionality to end users
  • Integrate usability studies, research and market analysis into product requirements to enhance user satisfaction
  • Actively engage development and QA teams to facilitate implementation of new products and understand challenges they are facing
  • Collaborate with UX/UI teams to improve user experience across all platforms and products
  • Keep abreast of the competitive landscape, industry trends, and digital innovation within the marketplace

Required skills & expertise:

  • 3-5 years of technical product management experience working on web products
  • Hands-on experience in all stages of the website product lifecycle, bonus points for prior engineering or design experience
  • A passionate commitment to user-centered design and development
  • Proven track record of making smart trade-offs between feature development versus time-to-market
  • Deep working experience with desktop/mobile analytics tools such as Google Analytics, Omniture, Mixpanel, etc.
  • Extensive knowledge of product and software development techniques and agile methodologies.
  • Solid grasp of web design principles and a good understanding of front-end web technologies.
  • Excellent problem-solving, organizational, analytical, and communication skills
  • Great team player with respect for others, yet able to work independently
  • Enthusiasm for new technologies and new media
  • Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience (technical or analytical field a plus)