Purpose of this Position: The Associate Product Manager supports the product team improve their products by advocating for product success. The initial focus will be the web product line with an opportunity to expand the scope of products managed in the future. The Associate Product Manager works closely the Senior Director of Strategic Development and Product Owners to support product management activities with customers. The Associate Product Manager partners with the internal McLeod teams implementing next generation, web products to gather insights such as usage patterns and product adoption. The Associate Product Manager manages the feedback loop from Sales, Marketing, and Operations on web products to the Product Owners and Directors. Analyzing this data can support proactive development of strategies to improve the overall customer experience.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities include the following. Other duties may be assigned. 

• Identifies goals, metrics, and analytics to determine product value and adoption
• Continually makes recommendations on refinements to product backlog based on learnings
• Determine and track web product adoption metrics across versions
• Gather and manage feedback from Sales on product presentations
• Conduct meetings with implemented customers on web products to gather feedback
• Assist with communication, coordination, and sandbox management with user groups of web products
• Build trusted customer relationships with various customer user groups by coupling deep product expertise with constructive customer engagement
• Work with cross-functional teams for successful product launches
• Study and collaborate with cross functional teams on customer journey to recommend improvements when implementing web products
• Act as the voice of our customers conveying needs and issues internally across departments
• Aids in market research to understand customer needs and business requirements
• Competitive Analysis to understand similar products in the industry, identify key differences that can be used for product strategy
• Gather product suggestions – through surveys and interviews
• Engage and collaborate closely with development teams on escalated technical issues
• Hierarchical Support implementation teams and customer for next generation
• Assists in testing as needed to help the product meet quality standards
• Support the creation of documentation for web products
• Travel to customer sites occasionally, expected onsite visits 30-40 workdays or 15-20% of the year

Competencies:

• Creative and Strategic thinker
• Management of stakeholders and their expectations
• Ability to work with cross-functional teams to deliver on a common goal 
• Interpersonal skills and developing relationships with team members and customers 
• Outstanding communication, presentation and leadership skills 
• Organizational and time management skills
• Analytical and problem-solving skills 
• Project Management skills
• Active listening 
• Champion customer feedback within cross functional teams 
• Perform quality work within deadlines without direct supervision
• Understanding of technologies used in the product is an advantage 

Qualifications:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education/Experience:

Bachelor's degree (B. A.) from four-year college or university; or three to five years related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience.

• Excellent detailed written and verbal communication skills, possibly including some user interface documentation skills.
• Demonstrate ability to be (become) a subject matter expert in their aligned product or market and how to develop solutions for this market. Subject matter expertise should include specific industry or technical knowledge.
• Excellent teamwork skills especially with people less skilled in communication.
• Proven ability to influence cross-functional teams without formal authority. The ability to influence and work collaboratively with development teams is especially important.

Language Ability:

Ability to read, analyze, and interpret trade publications, technical documentation, reports, and other documents. Ability to respond to common inquiries from customers, peers, or members of the business community. Ability to write communications and documentations grammatically correct for routine business correspondence.

Reasoning Ability:

Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions. Ability to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions with abstract and concrete variables.

Computer Skills:

To perform this job successfully, an individual should have knowledge of Word Processing software; Spreadsheet software and McLeod’s LoadMaster.

Certificates and Licenses:

None.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

This job has no supervisory responsibilities.

Work Environment:

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

The noise level in the work environment is usually quiet.

The Associate Product Manager will be expected to work on-site at McLeod Software Headquarters, located in Birmingham, AL, ten days out of each month, minimum. Days spent on-site at a customer will be recognized as an expected ten on-site working days.

About Us

Since 1985, McLeod Software has provided powerful transportation management and trucking software solutions to the trucking industry. These solutions, developed entirely by our company, are comprehensive and support integration with a broad array of complimentary logistics products.

We are the leader when it comes to software for trucking dispatch operations management, freight brokerage management, fleet management, document imaging, workflow, EDI, and business process automation solutions for trucking, freight brokerage, third party logistics, and shipper companies in the United States.

With an established base of more than 1,200 active customers throughout North America, McLeod Software is dedicated solely to the transportation industry. This focus means we have a deep understanding of the needs and intricate details involved in carrier, broker, and freight management businesses of all types. 

Participation in the trucking and brokerage industry is extremely important to McLeod Software. We have always believed that we benefit beyond our investment from our active participation in the industry's most important organizations. In addition to national organizations like the ATA, TCA, TIA, AFTC, NTTC, and NPTC we belong to and participate in over 20 state and regional organizations.