Hiring: Director of Product Management

Species360 is a unique blend of a software company, a non-profit organization, and a global wildlife and plant care and conservation leader. We are the predominant non-profit organization serving zoos, aquariums, and botanical gardens with animal and plant management needs through our Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS) and Hortis software.

Our members include diverse institutions worldwide that use our software to record data on wildlife and plants. This critical data enables them to provide world-class care for their animals and enables Species360 to develop software and scientific research that supports global conservation.

This role requires a genuine passion for species conservation, animal care, and the health of the natural world. The ideal candidate will channel their enthusiasm for these critical issues into developing products that align with the Species360 mission and inspire engagement across the global conservation community.

We seek an experienced executive leader to be our Director of Product Management. This position reports to the CEO and leads an international team of seven high-performing product professionals. As a leadership team member, the Director will develop organizational strategies, goals, and product roadmaps, lead cross-functional initiatives, proactively collaborate with and support the CEO and leadership team, and serve as an international ambassador of Species360.

Species360, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, embraces a fully remote workforce strategy. The Director can be based virtually anywhere in the mainland United States.

OUR OPPORTUNITY

As Director of Product Management, you’ll oversee a team of Product Managers, Product Analysts, and UI/UX Design. Product Management at Species360 is responsible for guiding customer value in our platform, ensuring what we build in our product has the greatest positive impact for our members and customers. Your role is to lead the product team in identifying the most valuable opportunities for Species360 products.

At Species360, the Director of Product Management is expected to bring their considerable product management experience and innovation to:

  • Lead the Product Management team through the ideation, technical development, and launch of innovative products
  • Define our Product strategy with and as part of the Species360 Leadership team
  • Develop, champion, and oversee a strategic product roadmap with the product team
  • Lead our Product practice and operation, and with engineering leaders, drive improvement in product development practice
  • Communicate and advocate for Species360’s Product strategy and roadmap to internal and external stakeholders
  • Develop financial estimates and plans to support the Species360 product roadmaps
  • Promote active collaboration and partnership in product management decisions
  • Build and lead a world-class Product team, including managing staff and resource planning, hiring, performance management, team engagement, and career development
  • Lead Product team career development and coaching
  • You’ll have an incredible opportunity to advance our conservation mission through the Species360’s products

QUALIFICATIONS

  • Experience leading software product development with agile teams, including 5+ years as an individual contributor product manager and 3 to 7+ years of leadership experience
  • Proven track record in product planning, defining and launching successful products, unifying product portfolios, and working with SaaS product lines
  • Experience building a product, product strategy, and roadmap, balancing organizational priorities and customer feedback. For example, strategically expanding a product to serve a new customer type while organizing high-value improvements for existing core customers
  • Experience collecting customer feedback and input and factoring multiple/conflicting customer requests when building roadmaps. International relationship experience is highly desired
  • Experience with Agile software development processes. Formal experience with one or more recognized Agile methodologies (Scrum, XP, Kanban, etc.) preferred
  • Professional written, spoken, and presentation communication skills
  • Excellent relationship-building skills and ability to represent Species360 throughout the conservation community
  • A track record of influencing leadership teams and/or collaborating with large customers or other stakeholders
  • Proven ability to lead, manage, coach, motivate, and direct a team, delivering consistent, quality performance and results
  • Experience working within or alongside the zoological/aquatics/conservation community, a plus
  • Excited to travel domestically and internationally for conferences and to build international relationships multiple times per year (10-15%)

HOW YOU WORK

You have a unique combination of skills, talents, and mindset:

  • You are passionate about honing your professional skills and defining a lightweight process to ensure products and product teams thrive
  • You have deep experience working with product teams, software developers, and UX designers and enjoy the collaborative process required to create a great solution
  • You have significant experience working in a small-team environment and are committed to adapting, innovating, and learning
  • You work well with others, resolve conflict effectively and efficiently, and have a strong desire to solve problems
  • You work hard towards the simplest solution to accomplish the goal

MORE ABOUT SPECIES360

As the predominant non-profit serving zoo, aquarium, and botanical garden animal and plant management needs for over 50 years, Species360 is a globally unique organization. Our Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS) is accepted and preferred by international regulatory bodies worldwide, such as CITES; recommended by the World Zoo and Aquarium Association; required by the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

ZIMS is the world’s most comprehensive database, managing more than 22,000 species, 10,000,000 animals, and 38,000 users. ZIMS is instrumental in identifying sustainability strategies for many species assessed as vulnerable, endangered, and extinct in the wild. We serve over 1,300 zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens, and conservation facilities in over 100 countries, helping our members address today’s most urgent wildlife issues. For more information about us and our conservation partners and members, please see Species360.org.

OUR WORK CULTURE: ALL ARE WELCOME HERE

Species360 is an equal opportunity employer. We serve a diverse, global population of members and welcome and value diversity in our team. We strive to be an organization that is a diverse blend of talented people doing their best work to make a difference in this world.

COMPENSATION

The compensation range for this exempt position is $135,000 – $157,000 based on experience.

OUR US BENEFITS

We offer generous time off benefits, combining holidays and vacation into one Paid Time Off benefit for maximum employee flexibility. You start accruing PTO at 5 weeks per year. In addition, we provide 10 paid sick days per calendar year plus 8 weeks of paid parenting leave.

We offer medical, dental, vision, life, short-term, and long-term disability insurance and an HSA plan with employer contributions. You can contribute to our 401(k) plan immediately at hire, which includes a generous employer contribution to all employees. We provide a one-time office set-up stipend for home office equipment and supplies, a $50 monthly technology stipend, and required technology and computers.

OUR TEAM

The most important benefit of working at Species360 is our team. We offer a casual, personable, respectful, and fun work environment. Our employees are committed to an open communication culture in which we value partnering to achieve the greatest results for our members. We are transparent in our operations, hold monthly all-team meetings and an annual team retreat, and encourage peer recognition and celebration.

HOW TO APPLY

If this sounds like the position and work culture you have been seeking, please apply to careers@Species360.org.

EOE – LGBTQIA

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Global information
serving conservation.

Species360 facilitates international collaboration in the collection and sharing of data to serve global plant and animal management and conservation goals.