Product Operations Manager
Position Summary: This role drives the execution and customer coordination of pre-GA readiness activities (such as alpha/beta testing) and product end of life. The employee is expected to be highly self-sufficient and leverage all resources at his/her disposal to effectively manage multiple, concurrent initiatives, balancing timelines and deliverables. Proactively manages change within their internal (athenistas) and external (clients) customer base; this advocacy is aimed at ensuring a smooth rollout and high adoption specific to new features and functionality, and represents the interests of all clients and client-facing athenistas. The Product Operations Manager is a valued consultant on how to structure alpha/beta activities, determines the need for and executes on status reporting.
Essential Functions (Duties and Responsibilities): Key functions of this role include recruiting customers and organizing the release of product testing through various stages, providing feedback and data from customers to the Product Managers on the product, communicating the status of products internally and externally as a trusted business partner, and driving Product Operations team process improvement and inter-team collaboration. The employee is responsible for working between R&D, client-facing teams, and clients, to ensure that new features are rolled out smoothly and successfully, and deliver value across our client base.
30% [Primary Function] Recruit customers and organize the release of product testing through various stages
Drive the creation of the pre-GA readiness plan (in partnership with Product Management) including hypotheses and measures of success, to ensure effective validation activities such as alphas and betas
Understand the customers and their various roles and positions in depth to aid the roll out of new functionality
Ensure that alpha and beta testing clients are the appropriate mix to adequately test functionality and deliver widespread success
Organize the rollout of new functionality to the customer base in any alpha, beta, and GA stage
Drive the support plan and training for Customer Success during the handoffs to GA
Ensure that alpha and beta testing clients are the appropriate mix to adequately test functionality and determine widespread success and oversee recruiting
Recommend release activities and user communications with cross-functional internal teams including other product lines, operations teams, etc.
Contribute to processes, training, and documentation to support effective, well communicated product and service changes across the R&D and client-facing organizations
30% Provide feedback and data from customers to the Product Managers on the product
Lead the ongoing customer communication and feedback on the designs, success, pain points and business needs of our clients and client-facing teams, into Product Management, UX and other members of the scrum team to inform product improvements and rollout strategies
Create reports for the Product Management team to show them opportunities for improvement in their products based on feedback
Maintain a positive and close relationship with customers and client-facing teams during roll out to understand the success
30% Communicate the status of products internally and externally as a trusted business partner
Communicate the status of products with internal stakeholders in Customer Success and Marketing, and organize training where necessary to build internal support for planned product changes—functionality-related or otherwise
Communicate status of products and athena’s alpha/beta/GA methodologies with internal stakeholders in Customer Success and Marketing, and provide training where necessary
Partner with Customer Marketing, Customer Engagement, Product Marketing, Technical Writers, and Product Education to create and review functionality-related content
Communication of functionality rollback / cancellation with clients and internal teams (Customer Success, Product Marketing)
Create and execute on the End of life product communications for all customers affected whether in GA, Beta, or Alpha
10% Drive Product Operations team process improvement and cross-team collaboration
Lead projects within the Product Operations team to establish and/or improve team processes and strategy
Share successes and growth opportunities of Associates and Sr. Associates on team with People Manager
Serve as a subject matter expert on cross-functional projects with respect to the use of core athenaNet products and services
Answer complex questions related to athenaNet functionality on an as-needed basis, coming from Product and the various client-facing team members, and occasionally from other teams across athenahealth such as Compliance
Education & Experience Required:
Bachelor’s Degree required; Degree (Bachelor’s or Masters) in Computer Science, Business, or Product Design preferred
A minimum of 3-5 years of client communications, project management, or user research
Strong understanding of healthcare / health IT environment and athenahealth product line
Experience with client communications in a B2B setting
Ability to explain your positioning and influence various people around the company in an effective way
Excellent verbal and written communication skills, especially with customers
Proficiency in all standard athenahealth software tools required, including Google Drive/Docs/Sheets/Slides, Microsoft Office, WebEx, SharePoint, and Salesforce
Working knowledge of Agile/Kanban organizational tools such as JIRA and Trello and Scrum ceremonies required
Knowledge & Skills:
Ability to apply knowledge of business strategies and concepts in order to accomplish critical work and meet organizational goals
Ability to drive inter-team collaboration in order to achieve business results
Self-starter willing to prioritize team success over personal gains
Demonstrated analytical and problem solving skills including data mining and analysis
Demonstrated ability to develop and deliver multi-mode communications that convey a clear understanding of the unique needs of different audiences
Proven ability to multi-task and handle rapidly changing priorities
Aptitude for reengineering processes and tools to improve organizational scalability, efficiency, and quality
Ability to gain support and commitment of others to achieve business goals
Demonstrated past success with building relationships both internally and externally in order to meet organizational goals
Position Summary: This role drives the execution and customer coordination of pre-GA readiness activities (such as alpha/beta testing) and product end of life. The employee is expected to be highly self-sufficient and leverage all resources at his/her disposal to effectively manage multiple, concurrent initiatives, balancing timelines and deliverables. Proactively manages change within their internal (athenistas) and external (clients) customer base; this advocacy is aimed at ensuring a smooth rollout and high adoption specific to new features and functionality, and represents the interests of all clients and client-facing athenistas. The Product Operations Manager is a valued consultant on how to structure alpha/beta activities, determines the need for and executes on status reporting.
Essential Functions (Duties and Responsibilities): Key functions of this role include recruiting customers and organizing the release of product testing through various stages, providing feedback and data from customers to the Product Managers on the product, communicating the status of products internally and externally as a trusted business partner, and driving Product Operations team process improvement and inter-team collaboration. The employee is responsible for working between R&D, client-facing teams, and clients, to ensure that new features are rolled out smoothly and successfully, and deliver value across our client base.
30% [Primary Function] Recruit customers and organize the release of product testing through various stages
Drive the creation of the pre-GA readiness plan (in partnership with Product Management) including hypotheses and measures of success, to ensure effective validation activities such as alphas and betas
Understand the customers and their various roles and positions in depth to aid the roll out of new functionality
Ensure that alpha and beta testing clients are the appropriate mix to adequately test functionality and deliver widespread success
Organize the rollout of new functionality to the customer base in any alpha, beta, and GA stage
Drive the support plan and training for Customer Success during the handoffs to GA
Ensure that alpha and beta testing clients are the appropriate mix to adequately test functionality and determine widespread success and oversee recruiting
Recommend release activities and user communications with cross-functional internal teams including other product lines, operations teams, etc.
Contribute to processes, training, and documentation to support effective, well communicated product and service changes across the R&D and client-facing organizations
30% Provide feedback and data from customers to the Product Managers on the product
Lead the ongoing customer communication and feedback on the designs, success, pain points and business needs of our clients and client-facing teams, into Product Management, UX and other members of the scrum team to inform product improvements and rollout strategies
Create reports for the Product Management team to show them opportunities for improvement in their products based on feedback
Maintain a positive and close relationship with customers and client-facing teams during roll out to understand the success
30% Communicate the status of products internally and externally as a trusted business partner
Communicate the status of products with internal stakeholders in Customer Success and Marketing, and organize training where necessary to build internal support for planned product changes—functionality-related or otherwise
Communicate status of products and athena’s alpha/beta/GA methodologies with internal stakeholders in Customer Success and Marketing, and provide training where necessary
Partner with Customer Marketing, Customer Engagement, Product Marketing, Technical Writers, and Product Education to create and review functionality-related content
Communication of functionality rollback / cancellation with clients and internal teams (Customer Success, Product Marketing)
Create and execute on the End of life product communications for all customers affected whether in GA, Beta, or Alpha
10% Drive Product Operations team process improvement and cross-team collaboration
Lead projects within the Product Operations team to establish and/or improve team processes and strategy
Share successes and growth opportunities of Associates and Sr. Associates on team with People Manager
Serve as a subject matter expert on cross-functional projects with respect to the use of core athenaNet products and services
Answer complex questions related to athenaNet functionality on an as-needed basis, coming from Product and the various client-facing team members, and occasionally from other teams across athenahealth such as Compliance
Education & Experience Required:
Bachelor’s Degree required; Degree (Bachelor’s or Masters) in Computer Science, Business, or Product Design preferred
A minimum of 3-5 years of client communications, project management, or user research
Strong understanding of healthcare / health IT environment and athenahealth product line
Experience with client communications in a B2B setting
Ability to explain your positioning and influence various people around the company in an effective way
Excellent verbal and written communication skills, especially with customers
Proficiency in all standard athenahealth software tools required, including Google Drive/Docs/Sheets/Slides, Microsoft Office, WebEx, SharePoint, and Salesforce
Working knowledge of Agile/Kanban organizational tools such as JIRA and Trello and Scrum ceremonies required
Knowledge & Skills:
Ability to apply knowledge of business strategies and concepts in order to accomplish critical work and meet organizational goals
Ability to drive inter-team collaboration in order to achieve business results
Self-starter willing to prioritize team success over personal gains
Demonstrated analytical and problem solving skills including data mining and analysis
Demonstrated ability to develop and deliver multi-mode communications that convey a clear understanding of the unique needs of different audiences
Proven ability to multi-task and handle rapidly changing priorities
Aptitude for reengineering processes and tools to improve organizational scalability, efficiency, and quality
Ability to gain support and commitment of others to achieve business goals
Demonstrated past success with building relationships both internally and externally in order to meet organizational goals