The Product Manager-Services R&D position involves being responsible for leading the activities surrounding the business analysis, product development, product management, sales enablement and financial success of a services portfolio in Microsoft while maintaining a high standard of quality and team leadership. The Product Manager will lead performance reporting for their service and own the strategic plan including: performance objectives, pricing models, competitive positioning, and guide go-to-market plans. The Product Manager Service R&D works with a cross-functional team to execute the plan. In addition, this person will be the knowledge resource for industry trends, market opportunities; key customer needs and seek to uncover new growth opportunities.
Key Areas of Responsibility Manage the lifecycle of products/services in the identified area of focus from idea selection and prioritization through to service creation, updates, and retirement aligned to a customer's lifecycle, driving for profitability, quality and consistency in delivery of the service. Build effective relationships between functional departments to ensure business alignment including but not limited to all services teams, marketing, PPM, and sales.
Develop a profitable services strategy Develop and drive service strategy and roadmap for their identified area of focus, taking into consideration business objectives, identified and unarticulated needs, competitive landscape, market positioning and resource constraints. Work collaboratively with stakeholders and Senior Product Managers to develop this strategy into an achievable roadmap that delivers on business goals. Envisioning, articulating and prioritizing a long-term services strategy around Microsoft licensing. Develop high level knowledge around Microsoft products Drive the roadmap working closely with Senior Product Manager, technical architect, sales, customers, partners and partner management, presales solutions teams, engineers and architect. Clearly communicating strategy and goals to project teams and ensuring delivery against them. Gathering and unearthing unmet customer needs through research, data analysis, competitive research and any other relevant tools. Release Management - determine release schedule and ongoing management of services to incorporate and communicate new features and functionality. Develop financial P&L performance, forecasting, and ROI around the service line.
Drive Service development Lead and manage cross-functional collaboration for the development of new service. Ability to take a product from MVP to controlled release and to full launch. Full technical understanding of the product and ability to articulate in detail and at a high level depending on audience. Create and maintain currency of the of pricing models and SOW templates used by Business Development and pre-sales teams. Provide capacity planning input around sales and delivery of the services to ensure the service is scalable, managing supply vs demand. Maintain the services including analysis of revenue and margins of existing products. Update and remediate or retire services based on performance and market needs. Ensure clear and continuous feedback loops exist. Develop and maintain sales/pre-sales collateral and training related to service creation as it relates to their portfolio. Participate in service development efforts including Service Exception Reviews. Participate and contribute to technical design reviews. Lead and participate in ambassador teams to drive service prioritization and service creation consensus.
Go to Market Enable various cross functional sales and pre-sales teams through availability of sales trainings and assets. Measure effectiveness of enablement activities
National travel 5% of the time Education and/or Experience Qualifications Bachelor's Degree in Business, Marketing, Finance, Sales, Information Technology or 7+ business-related field experience 3+ years' experience in IT including any combination of the following: Product or Program Management Sales / Marketing Management
Other Required Qualifications Prior experience in IT Professional or Managed Services (Delivery or Pre-Sales) Demonstrated knowledge of technology landscape and ability to quickly learn new solution areas. Proven record of successful project management and organizational skills Proficient with Microsoft Office; Excel, Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint Experience with sales productivity tools Knowledge of Agile, ITIL, Waterfall or similar methodologies Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to effectively communicate at all levels of the company including Senior Leadership. Demonstrated ability to analyze data and conduct primary research. Ability to multitask and be adaptable in a fast-changing environment. Strong understanding of the dynamics of cross-functional teams, with the ability to creatively problem solve and drive alignment in the absence of direct reporting relationships. Demonstrated ability to work independently with little direction.
Preferred Qualification MBA Two+ years of business analysis experience Ability to evaluate opportunities and drive priorities with a clear focus on business priorities.