Senior Product Manager | Forward Deployed

About the Role

At Epicor we are building the world’s first cognitive ERP, and Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE) is how we prove its value inside our most strategic accounts. As the Senior Product Manager, Forward Deployed Engineering you will work with an embedded team of engineers on‑site with customers, own the strategy, roadmap, and outcomes for the solutions they ship, establish the operating model for strategic account engagement, prioritize key technical problems, and scale field learnings into durable improvements for Epicor’s core platform. This hands‑on role will guide and grow the FDE team, partner directly with customers and executives, make critical technical decisions, and build rapid prototypes when speed demands it. The role offers true ownership, direct customer access, and a mandate to move fast.

Why This Role Is Different

The forward deployed engineering model places technical talent directly at the point of action. Engineers operate where the problems live, feeding critical insights back into the core product. Leading this function is one of the highest‑leverage product roles in the company because you sit at the intersection of customer reality and the product roadmap. Success requires navigating complex enterprise realities—legacy data models, decades‑old integrations, SSO security reviews, compliance constraints, and building trust with customer teams—while turning breakthroughs into reusable patterns for future deployments. Agentic AI is shifting the traditional boundaries between Engineering, Product, UX, and Data Science, so the leader must span these disciplines with depth in architecture, product judgment, empathy, and executive presence.

Responsibilities

• Lead and scale the team: build, mentor, and grow the Forward Deployed Engineering team; set high standards for customer engagement, solution delivery, and knowledge sharing.
• Own the product and roadmap: manage the lifecycle of field‑developed capabilities into a coherent, multi‑year roadmap; decide which solutions become reusable product features and which remain custom, partnering with executive leadership to align strategy.
• Define the operating model: establish how FDE engagements operate, including account selection, resource staffing, discovery, deployment, and platform integration.
• Stay technical and hands‑on: evaluate architecture designs, review technical trade‑offs, and build rapid prototypes when needed to maintain momentum and earn team trust.
• Work backwards from the customer: lead discovery and advisory sessions with strategic accounts to uncover high‑value problems, ensuring customer needs drive development.
• Execute cross‑functionally: coordinate with engineering, data science, UX, marketing, and field teams to maintain development urgency and align customer feedback with the broader roadmap.
• Drive go‑to‑market and value: partner with Product Marketing and Sales on engagement expansion; develop pricing, packaging, and ROI models grounded in measurable customer value.

Qualifications

• Player‑coach leadership: ability to lead a technical team from the front, raising engineering standards and removing blockers through active participation.
• Builder’s instincts: background building and maintaining software, with a strong capability to move from concept to working prototype quickly.
• Product judgment: sharp analytical skills to evaluate field data and determine what should be turned into platform features, reusable patterns, or isolated solutions.
• AI‑native thinking: solid understanding of LLMs, RAG, agents, and AI‑driven software to set technical direction and evaluate team engineering bets.
• Customer obsession: proven experience leading technical customer discovery and designing solutions based on operational empathy.
• Executive presence: clear communication skills to articulate product vision to engineers, operators, and CIOs alike, with the confidence to defend technical positions.
• Bias toward action: ability to move fast, make decisions with incomplete information, and prioritize shipped and adopted software.
• 5+ years of combined product management and engineering experience, with a track record of launching and scaling software products.
• Hands‑on technical background building and maintaining software, along with rapid prototyping skills in modern languages.
• Experience leading or mentoring technical teams as a manager or tech lead.
• Direct customer‑facing experience managing technical and business stakeholders, including executive leadership.
• Experience integrating software in enterprise environments, including APIs, data pipelines, authentication/SSO, and cloud platforms.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Business, or a related field; or equivalent practical experience.
• Willingness to travel to customer sites (typically 20% to 40%).

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree, such as an MBA or Master’s in Computer Science or AI/ML.
• Experience building or leading a forward‑deployed, solutions engineering, or technical delivery function.
• Hands‑on experience deploying AI/ML or LLM‑based solutions to production, including R