As a Product Manager at Bocoup, you’ll provide product guidance for web applications, online communities, and web browsers, while co-developing and driving Bocoup’s goals for the web platform, centered in justice and inclusion. You’ll work with Technical Project Managers, Engineers, Designers, Bocoup leadership, and Director- and Executive-level client contacts to design and maintain a strategic product vision. You will support the successful delivery of individual projects to execute and iterate on this product vision. Through a combination of research, coalition building, and an understanding of Bocoup’s values and the web platform ecosystem, you will inform technical architecture, identify and recommend product and platform improvements, and serve as a strategic advisor to a range of stakeholders within and across projects.
About Bocoup
Bocoup is a justice-focused consulting firm that partners with tech companies and nonprofits to increase inclusion on the web. We started in 2009 with a focus on JavaScript and open source ethics. Over the past four years, we have shifted to focus more explicitly on increasing access and equity with web technology by working with partners on engineering, design, and product and organizational strategy. Our recent projects include engineering for Scratch (the beginner-friendly programming language), web standards for assistive technologies like screen-readers, and eviction defense tools for tenants in Los Angeles County.
We are looking for a diverse pool of applicants who are committed to justice and equity, including those from historically marginalized groups — women, people of color, people with disabilities, formerly incarcerated people, people who identify as LGBTQIA+, first and second generation immigrants, and people from low-income backgrounds.
You’ll love this role if:
- You are excited about developing and driving an inclusive, accessible and justice-oriented product vision for the web platform across multiple stakeholders (eg partner companies, activist organizations, community groups, and standards bodies).
- You enjoy the complexity of working across a broad technology ecosystem.
- You care about inclusion in tech, assistive technology, and centering the priorities of marginalized communities in designing the future of the web platform.
- You value long-term strategic platform development and maintenance over short-term or “rapid” innovation.
- You are curious. You value the expertise of and enjoy learning from people with a broad range of backgrounds and experiences beyond engineering, including product strategy, accessibility, activism, and community organizing.
- You are comfortable working with a distributed team, remote customers, and communicating with both via text- and video-based channels—across 3-4 timezones. Despite these timezone differences, we ensure all team members maintain a locally-based schedule that works for them.
- You love to write, and know how to produce excellent documentation, product narratives, and partner communications in a collaborative way.
- You enjoy either talking or writing about the work you and your team are doing for public and partner-facing communications.
- You have a team mindset, value mentorship, and are committed to the success of others.
Reporting and Team Structure
This role reports to the Head of Strategy & Operations, and works with project teams of 2-6 engineers, designers and project managers. Our small team cares about individual mentorship, close collaboration, and opportunities to pursue stretch projects. We are committed to maintaining a safe and inclusive work environment, and expect all team members to uphold our company values and adhere to our Code of Conduct.
Day to Day Responsibilities
- Lead strategy across 4 to 6 rotating projects, depending on size and capacity, aligning those projects’ roadmaps with customer strategy, web platform process, and Bocoup mission and values.
- Build coalitions to find common ground between competing companies who share technology.
- Conduct research, synthesize input, and document product requirements.
- Keep up with trends and guide Bocoup’s ability to influence in areas such as assistive technology, no code programming, and web platform standards.
- Attend and participate in web standards groups related to customer and Bocoup projects.
- Share your passion through creating educational content for our blog, workshops, and other educational resources and forums.
- Share your work at Bocoup through attending and contributing to community events, and representing the team at conferences abroad.
- Contribute to internal projects, and work on tools and products for your peers at Bocoup.
- Mentor team members and share your knowledge of strategic product development, industry trends and insights, and other domain expertise.
- Advocate for and embody Bocoup’s code of conduct and values
Skills & Expectations
The ideal candidate will have:
- Commitment to our mission and values, including Transparency, Quality, Service, Learning, Inclusion, Respect, and Social Justice. You developed this commitment through your own lived experience, education and/or activism.
- Experience centering the user through inclusive design or co-design, and an interest in implementing design justice principles in your work.
- 4-6+ years of product experience, including experience in a tech company.
- Experience successfully building coalitions and driving consensus, product development and strategic vision execution across large, competing organizations.
- Ability to simultaneously operate at a broad and strategic level, while also driving progress on specific, individual tasks with project managers and implementers.
- Strong risk assessment, pattern recognition, strategic sequencing, empathetic and persuasive communication, scope management, process development, stakeholder mapping & communication.
- Technical background or understanding of web platform technologies.
- Nice to have: Experience with web standards, and web browser engineering organizations.
- Nice to have: Understandings of the architecture of the web platform, web application architecture, and/or web security, accessibility, and privacy.
For more about compensation, benefits, culture, workload expectations and interview process, see the full job description here.