Associate Project Manager, User Test

Introduction

iRobot’s User Test team mission is to de-risk the design of our products and provide directional guidance on the future economic success of the product. Through extensive in-home testing, the UT team gathers the voice of the customer and validates technical improvements and design choices during the development process. Throughout the testing, the team analyzes the results and curates critical product performance insights that are shared with the technical teams, the product teams and the executive team.
iRobot is seeking an Associate Project Manager to play an important role in the development process. In this role, you will be the key link between the development team and users who are validating that our prototypes and software are operating as intended in real world environments. Users will provide you with insights of their needs and preferences, as well as report any issues they encounter while using the robot. As an Associate Project Manager, you will set up and maintain our test platform and manage all aspects of the test, ensuring issues are discovered early in development cycle and enabling iRobot to make better, more robust robots that delights our customers.
The individual in this role will work as part of the User Test Team and will work closely with Chief Engineers, Program Managers, Product Managers, as well as Software Engineering, Test Engineering and User Experience leads. The successful candidate will have experience or capability to quickly learn all aspects of user-facing testing.

What You Will Do:

• Develop Alpha and Beta program plans, processes, and user education materials
• Recruit and onboard Alpha and Beta users (employees as well as external users using a third-party database)
• Maintain test project timelines / schedules in accordance with the scope of each program
• Act as the liaison between testers and project stakeholders; triage feedback, communicate expectations, and ensure that the voice of the customer is heard
• Review and analyze users’ feedback, debug issues, and escalate high-priority issues to the development team
• Define and document the test process, setup online projects in Centercode, and integrate user feedback with other platforms (e.g. Slack, Jira, Cloud integration, etc.), utilizing JSON coding
• Create Jira tickets and participate in triage meetings. This requires a working knowledge using Jira or related product defect tracking tools (Jira, Agile Central/Rally, etc.) plus the ability to translate technical language (e.g. engineers requests) into user friendly directions that can be followed by the Alpha/Beta users
• Define users’ weekly tasks/activities by working with product development team
• Ensure users stay engaged throughout the duration of the test (using the test product, completing weekly tasks, reporting issues, answering surveys, etc.)
• Gather, analyze, and present test findings and survey analysis to internal stakeholders in clear, actionable reports, representing user sentiment in product team meetings
• Multi-tasking and being detail-oriented is critical in managing multiple moving parts of the fast-paced R&D team and processes

To Be Successful You Will Have:

• Bachelor's degree in related field or equivalent experience
• Minimum 3 years of experience as project coordinator of field testing (Alpha, Beta, etc.).
• Proven written and verbal communication skills
• Clear understanding of project management best practices
• Demonstrated ability to take ownership of task execution and work with minimal supervision
• Experience interacting with customers and resolving issues
• Experience utilizing online testing platform (e.g. Centercode)
• Proficiency with Confluence, Slack and Microsoft PowerPoint/ Excel/ Word
• Familiarity with software APIs (JSON) is a plus
• Strong attention to detail and ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines
• Motivation to pursue new possibilities to improve current processes, and obtain training or guidance as needed to try new things
• Must have strong organizational skills, be detail-oriented, and mission-accomplish focused

In Return You Can Expect:

• Cohesive team with diverse talents. Always willing to share expertise and help out on challenges
• Wellness Perks
• Learning and development resources

Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or assume sponsorship of any additional employment visas at this time.