Senior Product Manager

About the Paid Leave Division

Paid Leave is a new program launched in 2026. It provides partial wage replacement to Minnesota workers who are out of work due to a qualifying condition, such as a severe health condition or caring for a family member or a new child. We are building a program that is easy for every Minnesotan to use, engaging those who depend on us—workers, employers, caregivers, and insurers—to understand their needs and build the program accordingly. We are using modern service delivery and product practices to deliver the program. The Paid Leave team has high standards and an unrelenting commitment to serving Minnesotans. It is a start-up environment without legacy systems or preconceived ways of working, offering a unique opportunity to create human-centric processes and systems.

Position Purpose

We are seeking an energetic, self-motivated Senior Product Manager to join our innovative team. You will play a key role in helping us continue our approach of building and delivering a modern, intuitive, and easy-to-use Paid Leave Product and Program. You will collaborate closely with engineering teams, business stakeholders, and user experience design teams to develop the Paid Leave product. You will communicate and drive strategy as well as day-to-day decisions regarding product development and product releases.

Key Responsibilities

• Partner closely with the Chief Product Officer and Deputy Chief Product Officer to create a short-term, clear product roadmap of prioritized features and initiatives that work toward the overall product vision.

• Socialize this roadmap with the engineers, designers, and business analysts to create alignment and focus within the team.

• Lead prioritization for your backlog and regularly facilitate discussions with leadership around the “what, why, and how” of these decisions with supporting details.

• Collaborate with Design, Customer Engagement, Legal, and Policy teams to ensure the product is in line with all relevant statutes, regulations, and rules while still meeting user and business needs.

• Define success metrics and consistently measure the impact of the team’s work.

• Work with Product Leadership, stakeholders, and architects to define product scope and prioritization and be flexible to iterate/change per latest developments to meet deadlines.

• Break down complex product requirements into clear, functional specifications that can be used to create detailed and thorough user stories.

• Have a deep understanding of the “why” behind the work you and your team are doing and the impact it will make, regularly share and socialize this, generating energy and buy-in for the Paid Leave product.

• Participate in Agile ceremonies like sprint planning, daily scrums, product demos, test phases, retrospectives to ensure on-time high-quality delivery.

Minimum Qualifications

• Four (4) years of experience in a Product Manager/Product Owner role.

• A Bachelor's degree in Product Management, Public Policy, Business, Communications, or other closely related field may substitute one (1) year of experience; a Master’s degree may substitute for eighteen (18) months of experience.

Skills

• Determining and communicating the critical next steps needed to create and maintain momentum on a project.

• Experience building working relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

• Experience working as a Product Manager within an agile product team.

• Ability to prioritize work and clearly communicate your prioritization strategy.

Benefits

• One of the most affordable health insurance plans in Minnesota.

• Other benefits include:

  • Paid vacation and sick leave

  • 12 paid holidays each year

  • Low-cost medical, dental, vision, and prescription drug plans

  • Fertility care, including IVF

  • Dental and orthodontic care for adults and children

  • 6 weeks paid leave for parents of newborn or newly adopted children

  • Pension plan providing income when you retire (after working at least three years)

  • Employer-paid life insurance to provide support for your family in the event of death

  • Short-term and long-term disability insurance providing income if you are unable to work due to illness or injury

  • Tax-free expense accounts for health, dental, and dependent care

• Resources that promote physical, emotional, social, and financial well-being.

• Support to help you reach your career goals, including training, classes, and professional development.

• Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (Some positions may qualify for this program. For more information, visit the Federal Student Aid website at studentaid.gov).

• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for work/life support.