Product Manager (Temporary; Four Years)

Department: Digital

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: Stephen A. Schwarzman Building

Reporting To: Robert Collins

Compensation: $120,000 - $125,000 / year

Description

This is not a remote role. This is a hybrid role; 3 days in office in NYC; 2 days remote. This role is grant funded and TEMPORARY for four years.

Overview

The New York Public Library has been an essential provider of free books, information, ideas, and education for all New Yorkers for over 125 years. Founded in 1895, NYPL is the nation's largest neighborhood public library system and the most used research library in the world. NYPL provides a fundamental resource to millions of readers, learners and scholars. The digital portfolio of products and platforms is the core lynchpin in how our patrons near and far can access information to create new content, support their personal learning and build stronger communities.

Reporting to the Director of Product, Scholarly eBooks, the Product Manager will support the NYPL’s institutional goal to increase the availability of digital content. The Scholarly eBooks initiative seeks to develop more equitable service to those researchers who may not be able to come in person to our reading rooms in New York City. We aim to enable researchers globally to discover and use digital content to create the next great works of scholarship and learning. The role will focus on identifying clearance opportunities and fostering strategic collaborations to make additional digital content discoverable and available. The ideal candidate will be an accomplished product manager with substantial mission-driven business acumen and sense of entrepreneurship.

This is a four-year, grant-funded temporary position.

Responsibilities:

• Contribute to the vision and strategy for NYPL’s Scholarly eBooks initiative, which seeks to expand the corpus of digital books available and discoverable to researchers

• Research, identify and help plan and implement opportunities to source, clear and make digital content available and discoverable

• Qualify collections prospects in a risk-appropriate manner, balancing opportunities for volume with the requirements of the Library’s mission and risk tolerance

• Collaborate closely with thought leaders and staff from across the NYPL, as well as from partner institutions, publishers, authors, and presses

• Identify and track key metrics and user data to assess performance and identify potential areas for learning and improvement.

• Collaborate with Product Design/UX, Engineering, and Project Management to drive completion of user research and drive technology & product outcomes in support of the Scholarly eBooks initiative and its supporting experiences and tools

• Perform other related duties as necessary

We are looking for someone we can count on to:

Own :

• The research and discovery of new collections to bring into the corpus of content available in our Scholarly eBooks products

• The translation of broad business and user needs into non-ambiguous requirements and product user stories for our development teams

• The development of the roadmap for expanding the corpus of books

• The development of measures of success and KPIs for the products and initiatives

• The user research and UX testing for scholarly eBooks products

• The communication strategy with stakeholders inside and outside the library

Teach :

• Best practices of product development, business analysis and data analysis to the broader Scholarly eBooks team

• Facilitating conversations with stakeholders to keep them informed on product progress, or define new business needs

Learn:

• Researcher and institutional needs and constraints to properly represent them in key decision making moments

• The latest market, technology and legal trends to keep the Scholarly eBooks team on the bleeding edge of knowledge sharing and research

Improve :

• The volume, discoverability and availability of the NYPL and partners’ digital content

• The speed of bringing new content online

• The velocity of the Scholarly eBooks team

Some expectations for this role are that within:

1 month , this person will:

• Understand the functional structure and core mission of NYPL & Digital

• Understand the product vision and strategy for the Scholarly eBooks initiative

• Establish contacts in all functional areas of the Digital Team including: Content Strategy, Development, Design/UX, Project Management and Quality Assurance

• Learn about the relevant projects and digital products that this position will support

• Meet key stakeholders from around the institution and relevant outside stakeholders and understand their roles

3 months , this person will:

• Have an understanding of the competitive landscape, audience priorities, and key factors impacting our initiative

• Have deeper understanding of the library structure and systems for acquiring and otherwise providing access to scholarly books in digital formats and the various initiatives supporting this effort

• Be able to participate in and contribute to scrum meetings including use of JIRA, Confluence, Airtable and other product management tools

• Establish contacts across the institution to discover business needs

6 months and beyond , this person will:

• Define and socialize a one-year roadmap for assigned areas

• Communicate stakeholder findings to Design/UX and Engineering

• Author business requirements documentation

• Develop domain knowledge and understanding of user needs and pain points for assigned areas

Required Education, Experience & Skills

Required Education and Certifications

• Bachelor's degree in technology, business, psychology or related field -OR - 5+ years of experience as a product owner in a technology services/digital media organization or combination of both degree and lesser experience (no less than 3 years of direct experience)

Required Experience

• Familiarity with content management systems: Drupal, Content Cafe, Contentful, etc.

• Use of Scrum methodologies, specifically the practice of writing User Stories and Acceptance Criteria

Required Skills

• Demonstrable ability to work on a deadline

• Organized, focused, extremely detailed oriented and adept at prioritization

• Ability to work collaboratively with multiple technical and non-technical teams to develop goals

• Excellent interpersonal, presentation, oral and written communication skills, including the ability to work effectively with all levels of staff and users

Managerial/Supervisory Responsibilities:

• N/A

More...

Core Values

All team members are expected and encouraged to embody the NYPL Core Values:

• Be Helpful to patrons and colleagues

• Be Resourceful in solving problems

• Be Curious in all aspects of your work

• Be Welcoming and Inclusive

Work Environment

• Hybrid work environment; 3 days in office; some days remote work

Physical Duties

• Some light lifting may be required

Pre-Placement Physical Required?

No

Union/Non Union

Non-Union

FLSA Status

Exempt

Schedule

• Monday - Friday 9am-5pm, 35 hrs per week

• This is a hybrid role; 3 days in office in NYC; 2 days remote

This job description represents the types and levels of responsibilities that will be required of the position and shall not be construed as a declaration of all of the specific duties and responsibilities for the role. Job duties may change if Library priorities change. Employees may be directed to perform job-related tasks other than those specifically presented in this description as needed.

The New York Public Library Salary Statement

At the Library, we believe that pay transparency and pay equity are important to ensuring we source the best candidates and keep the best employees. When making a determination as to the appropriate salary for a candidate, we consider a variety of factors such, including, but not limited to, the position requirements, the skills, prior experience, and educational background required or preferred for the job, the scope and impact of the role within the organization, internal peer equity, and the candidate's specific training, experience, education level, and skills. No single factor is conclusive; the Library reserves the right to consider any and all relevant factors and make a decision consistent with its policies.

Union Salaries are determined by collective bargaining agreement(s).