Every year, millions of people interact with the City of Boston to do everything from finding information on City services to paying a parking ticket or starting a business. At Boston Digital Service, we believe these experiences should be easy to find, understand, and navigate – even delightful.

Boston Digital Service sits within the Innovation and Technology Cabinet and partners with City departments on improving the programs, services, products, and initiatives that make the City of Boston a great place to live. We’re a cross-functional team with a mission to transform the user experience of existing services, better engage and communicate with our residents, and build new systems to improve how the City delivers services.

As a Director of Strategic Products, you will lead the product management function and play a critical role in defining how the City of Boston builds and improves digital services. You’ll work across teams and departments to align digital initiatives with City-wide priorities and community needs. You will guide product strategy, delivery practices, and team development—ensuring that our technology solutions are impactful, secure, accessible, and designed for long-term success. This is a leadership role overseeing a growing team of product managers, technologies, and engineers. You’ll be responsible for continuously delivering value, promoting user-centered design, and supporting a thriving community of practice for product management within the Cabinet and City. 

• Define and execute product strategy for the City's portfolio of digital services.
• Align product priorities and roadmaps with City-wide goals, community needs, and service delivery improvements.
• Build and maintain a comprehensive roadmap across custom-built, low-code, and no-code platforms to meet service delivery goals. 
• Guide the development and evolution of digital products using modern software development practices and agile methodologies. 
• Champion user-centered and trauma-informed design principles in all aspects of service and product development. 
• Ensure continuous delivery of value by managing product lifecycles, evaluating tradeoffs, and driving iterative improvements. 

Technology and Architecture Leadership

• Evaluate and select appropriate technology approaches (custom builds, low-code/no-code) based on service needs, user feedback, and sustainability. 
• Guide architecture decisions to ensure technical solutions are scalable, secure, maintainable, and accessible. 
• Drive continuous improvement in development practices, workflows, and cross-functional collaboration. 
• Ensure compliance with standards for accessibility, security, privacy, and data governance. 

Data-Informed Decision Making

• Establish success metrics and track the performance of digital initiatives across platforms and services. 
• Use qualitative research, quantitative data, and operational input to guide roadmap decisions and product evolution. 
• Measure and communicate the outcomes and impact of digital investments. 

Stakeholder and Community Collaboration

• Partner with internal teams, departmental leadership, and constituents to understand diverse user needs and ensure inclusive service delivery. 
• Act as an advocate for all constituents– especially underrepresented and underserved communities– through product choices and prioritization.
• Communicate vision, strategy, and progress to senior leaders, City Council, residents, and external stakeholders. 

Team Leadership and Practice Building 

• Lead and mentor a diverse team of product managers, technologists, and engineers.
• Set clear goals, provide regular feedback, and create professional development opportunities for team members. 
• Foster an inclusive team culture that encourages innovation, experimentation, and growth. 
• Build the product management community of practice along with product leaders across the Cabinet to establish shared tools, processes, and knowledge.
• Perform related work as required. 

• Bachelor’s Degree preferred in product management, public administration, public policy, economics, information technology, data science, computer science, finance, sociology, political science, urban studies, design, or a closely related field, or equivalent professional experience. 
• Five plus (5+) years of experience in product management, software development, digital service delivery, user experience (UX), service design, or equivalent.
• Four plus (4+) years of experience in people management, with a proven track record of leading high-performing teams in fast-paced environments.
• Strong combined expertise in product management practices, agile methodologies, continuous delivery, product lifecycles, data analysis, and evidence-based decision-making.  
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and project management skills across technical and non-technical audiences. 
• Ability to work with ambiguity and drive initiatives forward with limited information.
• Strong bias towards action; ability to step up into team gaps and ambiguous situations to structure the team’s action plan.
• Organizational skills sufficient to manage a dynamic portfolio of work that spans teams, customers, cultures, and technologies.
• Expertise in translating policy goals and user needs into clear product strategies and actionable roadmaps.
• Preferred experience working within or for public-sector organizations, with familiarity with government processes and procurement.
• Preferred experience working with low-code/no-code platforms. 
• Familiarity with inclusive design and accessibility standards (WCAG 2.1+).
• Familiarity with procurement processes and vendor management is a plus.

BOSTON RESIDENCY REQUIRED - You must live within Boston city limits at the start of your employment.

Terms:

Union/Salary Plan/Grade: Non-Union/MM2-11

Hours per week: 35