Head of Product W/M | Full Time

Located on the traditional, ancestral and unceded lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam Indian Band), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation), Vancouver has a commitment to becoming a City of Reconciliation. Named among Canada's Top 100 Employers, BC's Top Employers, and Canada's Greenest Employers, the City of Vancouver seeks colleagues who can help shape and embody our core commitments to sustainability, reconciliation, equity and outstanding quality of life for all residents.
Working at the City of Vancouver and within the public service can be a rewarding career where you play a key role in ensuring impartial and equitable access to services, upholding ethical governance, and addressing the needs of citizens with integrity and dedication.

The Product Manager plays a critical role in the modernization and delivery of municipal products and services that prioritize customer satisfaction, operational efficiency, and digital innovation. including leading end-to-end development, delivery and optimizations of products, services and capabilities that align with the City’s strategic objectives while addressing the evolving needs of the customer, employees, and the business.

The role operates in a fast-paced and multifaceted environment, ensuring the design and delivery of services and products that prioritize customer experience and align with organization’s strategy and goals. By applying service design and reusable products principles, the Product Manager fosters cross-functional collaboration and supports data driven decision-making. The position ensures the city’s services are impactful, accessible, and adaptable to evolving needs of the community. The Product Manager aligns strategic goals with customer needs and advocates for the advancement of modern, integrated digital products and capabilities within the digital ecosystem for the city.

In addition, the Product Manager contributes valuable insights to both departmental and enterprise-level planning, guiding changes to methods, procedures, and operations, impacting areas such as staffing, financial performance and overall efficiency.

The position reports to the Senior Manager, Digital Experience within the Digital Service Delivery division. This role will lead a diverse range of product and project teams, including unionized and non-unionized staff, all focused on driving digital business initiatives. The incumbent will provide coaching and guidance to a diverse group of professionals; including service designers, customer experience analysts, user experience designers, content writers, developers and other key roles involved in delivering these initiatives.

The incumbent will collaborate closely with teams across the Digital Services Delivery division; as well as broader Technology Services and business teams to guide strategic direction and ensure alignment across the business and technology units. The position will also engage with senior leadership, directors, managers, and staff to ensure alignment between technology strategies and business objectives. Additionally, the role will establish strong relationships with external vendors, contractors, consultants, partners and engage with the public as needed to support digital initiatives.

Takes ownership of the ongoing development and success of a product throughout its lifecycle. Leads the product development continuous lifecycle from ideation and discovery through implementation of product with minimum viable features, subsequent iterations to retirement.
Facilitates Agile methodologies, including sprint planning, backlog prioritization, and retrospectives to ensure efficient product delivery.
Prioritizes product features and enhancements based on business needs, user feedback and technical feasibility.
Coordinates closely with cross-functional teams, including user research and user testing, development, data, UX/UI design, and quality assurance to ensure seamless integration and execution of product plans.
Identifies and mitigates risks and blockers to maintain committed timelines and ensure high quality outcomes.
Ensures effective and efficient implementation of digital services and products that deliver value to the users and align with business objectives.

Integrates service design practices into the product development to enhance end-to-end experiences.
Collaborates with design teams to map customer journeys, identify pain points and develop digital products that improve overall service delivery.
Ensures the digital services align with accessibility, inclusivity and sustainability standards.
Utilizes research and insights to inform service design strategies ensuring alignment with municipal objectives and the needs of the customer, employees and the organization.
Collaborates with Technology Services teams to create and maintain digital products and services that support business services and improve service delivery.
Support the development of a cohesive service design strategy that integrates seamlessly with the City’s broader digital transformation goals.

Serves as the primary contact for both internal and external stakeholders, advocating for and driving the strategy of digital business services.
Partners with Service Designers and UX Strategists to facilitate workshops, interviews and co-creation sessions with stakeholders, and users to gather insights and validate requirements.
Acts as the Voice of the Customer, ensuring that user feedback is consistently integrated into product development.
Collaborates with departments across the City to ensure alignment between digital business services and their respective goals, fostering cross-functional partnerships.

Data-Driven Decision Making:
Identifies opportunities for digital innovation by leveraging data insights and emerging technologies to enhance service delivery.
Stays up to date with the latest trends and developments in data analytics, AI and digital transformation to inform decision-making and product strategies.
Defines and tracks key performance indicators (KPIs) that measure the success and impact of digital products and services.
Utilizes analytics tools to gather and analyze both qualitative and quantitative data, ensuring decisions are based on reliable, real-time information.
Collaborates with stakeholders to ensure data collection practices are aligned with business goals and needs.
Continuously assess product and service performance, iterating and adjusting based on data-driven insights to optimize outcomes.

Defines and implements cost models for digital products and services, ensuring alignment with organizational priorities and long-term sustainability.
Sets financial targets and performance metrics to track cost efficiency, revenue generation and value delivery.
Collaborates with the departments to identify policy, process and technology improvements that can reduce costs and enhance revenue streams.
Evaluates and recommends investment opportunities in technology or processes that deliver measurable financial benefits to the City and its customers.

Oversees development of naming and branding standards for services and supporting components.
Develops strategies to effectively market new digital services and encourages user adoption.
Compliance and Quality Assurance:
Ensures all digital products and services comply with accessibility standards (e.g. WCAG), legal requirements and organizational policies.
Oversees the implementation of quality assurance (QA) processes, including testing, validation and issue resolution.
Collaborates with legal and compliance teams to ensure adherence to relevant laws and policies.

Bachelor’s degree in business administration, computer science, design or a related discipline.
Minimum of 5 years of experience in product management, digital transformation or service delivery, with experience in managing end-to-end delivery of digital products and services.
Experience working in the public sector, municipal government or a similar large complex organization environment, with a strong understanding of public service objectives and governance.
Experience in managing teams using Agile methodologies, fostering collaboration across disciplines such as development, design and analytics.
Success in leading iterative product development cycles, managing product backlogs and establishing clear prioritization frameworks.
Hands-on experience in service design or applying user-centered design principles to improve digital services in government, public sector or large organizations.
Certification in Agile practices such as Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), SAFe Product Owner/Product Manager or similar is highly preferred.
Certification or training in product management frameworks (e.g. Pragmatic Institute, AIPMM) is an asset.
Familiarity with ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) principles or certifications is an asset.
Familiarity with Azure DevOps is an asset.

Technical Expertise:
Proficiency in managing the end-to-end lifecycle of digital products.
Expertise in product management frameworks (Agile, Scrum, Kanban).
Strong knowledge of UX, service design principles and human-centered design.
Experience with analytics tools, data visualization and performance metrics.
WCAG) and digital compliance requirements.
Ability to align products with organizational priorities and long-term goals.
Compliance and Quality Assurance:
Experience in quality assurance practices.
Skilled in identifying risks and maintaining alignment with legal and accessibility requirements.

Business Unit/Department : IT, Digital Strategy & 311 (1070)
Employment Type: Regular Full Time
At the City of Vancouver, we are committed to recruiting a diverse workforce that represents the community we so proudly serve . Indigenous peoples, people of colour, 2SLGBTQ+ persons including all genders and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply. Learn more about our commitment to diversity and inclusion .