Staff Product Manager

Mechanical Orchard is a fast-growing startup that takes a fresh view on old problems. We replace legacy computing systems for the Global 2000, with a focus on mitigating risk and creating a genuinely solid foundation for innovating and adapting. 

Our background in software development and the impact on the industry is well known, and we've literally helped write the book on XP and other impactful agile practices. We’re applying the same thoughtfulness and rigor in weaving AI into everything we do. We believe in the durable principles behind agile, and embrace the power of cross-functional teams, collective ownership, test driven development, short feedback loops, and continuous improvement.

We are Generous, Ethical, Effective, and Kind.

Product Managers at Mechanical Orchard modernize crucial applications that power the world’s largest companies. They balance long term strategy with tactical delivery. They identify and mitigate risk through effective stakeholder communication, cross-discipline collaboration, and providing clarity and focus for teams. They apply a lean and iterative mindset to the complex and highly technical problems of long-term software modernization. 

Product Managers at Mechanical Orchard are responsible for

• Owning and running the backlog of work for their teams
• Providing clarity and focus on complex technical projects
• Driving incremental progress in terms of learning, mitigated risk, and delivery of modernized applications to production
• Creatively unblocking the project team from technical and organizational impediments
• Understanding and balancing tradeoffs between customer needs, user needs, technical limitations, and security constraints while maintaining sustainable pace
• Using lean principles to de-risk work
• Driving decision making within the team and with internal and external stakeholders
• Proactively communicating, internally and externally, with leadership and client stakeholders to ensure transparency and clarity in project progress, risk, and milestones
• Maintaining tight feedback loops within the project team, with internal stakeholders, and with customer stakeholders
• Maintaining focus and forward momentum for the project team
• Establishing and maintaining excellent customer relationships, with alignment on priorities and progress
• Contributing to the continuous improvement of our software delivery practice across the entire product lifecycle by applying and advocating for modern agile and product management practices

Typical activities include

• Creating and maintaining a vision, strategy, and roadmap for legacy software modernization projects
• Facilitating decision-making meetings with cross-discipline teams and leaders at all organizational levels
• Communicating with internal and external stakeholders about project progress, risk, and milestones
• Maintaining a backlog of highly technical modernization work, including acceptance testing
• Developing novel processes and tools for testing that modernized software is equivalent to its legacy counterpart and meets all performance requirements
• Developing novel processes and tools for visualizing and communicating progress of legacy software modernization
• Attending and facilitating agile team ceremonies such as daily standup, weekly planning, and weekly retrospectives