Title: Product Management Associate (Senior Specialist)

Reports to: HomeKeeper Director

Department: HomeKeeper

Status: Full-time, Exempt

About Us:

Grounded Solutions Network is a national nonprofit dedicated to shaping communities to be equitable, inclusive, and filled with opportunity for all. Where we live matters. It determines what opportunities we have and how our kids grow up. Everyone should be able to live in a place that offers opportunity: access to jobs, parks, public transit, quality schools and stable homes. Strong and inclusive communities provide the foundation that people and families need to thrive, both in the present and for future generations.

As a national membership organization, we support nonprofit and government practitioners, community resident leaders, advocates, elected officials, and other housing professionals with the tools and knowledge they need for success. We promote the creation and preservation of quality housing that remains affordable for generations. Our work specifically targets creating and expanding housing with lasting affordability, using a racial equity lens.

Grounded Solutions Network is committed to fostering an organizational culture rooted in critical thinking and consciousness about race and class. We seek candidates who are dedicated to achieving racial equity as both a process and outcome. We are committed to building a staff team that is as racially and culturally diverse as the communities that we serve. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.

About the Position:

Our Product Management Associate leads product development for Grounded Solutions Network’s HomeKeeper program. HomeKeeper is an app on the Salesforce AppExchange designed for organizations that manage homeownership and housing counseling programs. Launched in 2013, HomeKeeper now serves over 140 participating organizations. This position will join the HomeKeeper team and apply technical and project management skills to create positive change within our organization and in communities around the country.

The Associate will work closely with the Director of Product, HomeKeeper, to execute the Product Roadmap for HomeKeeper’s core Salesforce managed packages, HomeKeeper and HUD Connect. This role will help foster a well-trained, well informed, and active user base to ensure HomeKeeper continues to meet the needs of and drive innovation for the homeownership and housing counseling sectors. The position requires a self-starter, who can bring both technical expertise and an understanding of nonprofit program operations. Success in this role requires significant knowledge of the Salesforce.com ecosystem, product management, and project management. The position will coordinate how HomeKeeper is built, tested, and deployed, in partnership with our partner developers. It will also develop, organize, and distribute technical documentation. The ability to collaborate remotely with program teams and participating organizations, build buy-in, and facilitate adoption of technology is critical for success in this position. We’re looking for someone that is skilled in handling day-to-day operations, serves as a mentor to their colleagues, and has a knack for identifying and solving complex problems involving workflow processes and data challenges.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Coordinate core development (60%)

• Assess, evaluate, and prioritize user-driven feedback for homeownership and housing counseling feature sets.
• Ensure that product features and user services meet the needs of and drive innovation for an increasingly diverse user base.
• In collaboration with development consultants, spearhead planning, development sprints, testing and release of bug fixes, package maintenance upgrades, and new features to improve the functionality and usability of the core package(s).
• Develop and maintain internal and external documentation of product releases.

2. Support member organizations (35%)

• Coordinate the implementation of a customer success strategy with the HomeKeeper team to support and retain participating organizations.
• Respond to Tier 2 and Tier 3 help desk inquiries through our Zendesk ticketing system. As needed, coordinate with team members, cross team colleagues and/or other third-party development consultant(s).
• Building upon existing documentation, create or update technical documentation, training materials, blog posts and related documents.
• Support team members as needed to successfully recruit and onboard new users with complex implementations.
• Coordinate web-based user trainings, monthly office hours and other engagement activities, including the quarterly distribution of Social Impact Reports.

3. Be a Good Grounded Solutions Team Member (5%)

• Participate in team meetings, strategic planning initiatives, and related projects to effectively collaborate with other departments.

Qualifications for Entry into this Position:

Grounded Solutions believes that our team should reflect, respect, and understand the diversity of backgrounds, identities, and experiences of the communities that we serve. We strongly encourage people of color, people of all gender identities, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ candidates to apply. Not sure if you meet all of the qualifications below? That is okay; if you are truly excited by this position, we encourage you to apply anyway! Studies have shown that men apply for jobs when they only meet 60% of the qualifications, but women only apply if they meet 100% of them.

Candidates should have a genuine interest in helping people, solving problems, and learning and applying new technologies. The ability to collaborate remotely with colleagues, customers and third-party developers is also critical for success in this position.

Knowledge, skills and abilities

• Extensive Salesforce experience and some knowledge or an interest in affordable housing or housing counseling
• At least 5 years of experience developing, testing, and scaling technology solutions for a growing user base
• Experience managing third party consultants and/or Salesforce Developers
• Experience with the development release cycle, Agile Development experience preferred.
• Ability to effectively prioritize sets of problems and user requests to guide decision making onproduct enhancements as part of the development roadmap
• Demonstrated experience with data migrations and data transformations with complexrequirements, including knowledge of XML, SQL, HTTP/HTTPS, and EAI processes
• Strong ability to understand participating organization business needs, with understanding ofhomeownership and housing counseling sectors preferred.
• Ability to shift between strategic thinking and day-to-day project execution
• Ability to work well independently and manage multiple projects with minimal supervisioncreatively and systematically
• Excellent communication, organizational and time management skills
• Experience presenting, teaching and training for a variety of audiences.
• Experience in providing user support, including troubleshooting, promoting best practices, anddeveloping detailed user documentation and trainings.
• Experience or willingness to learn the tools and third-party platforms we rely on, such as AgileAccelerator, Cumulus CI, GitHub, Form Assembly, Conga Composer, Tableau, Zendesk, Screensteps,Amazon Web Services, Asana
• Proficiency in MS Office suite of applications.

Starting Salary Range

$70k to 84k annually, commensurate with experience.

Travel required

Approximately 1-4 trips per year of out-of-state travel as needed to attend conferences and company meetings.

COVID-19 Requirements

Grounded Solutions Network is requiring all staff to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by January 1, 2022. All candidates must be fully vaccinated or plan to be fully vaccinated by their start date or by January 1, 2022, whichever comes later. ‘Fully vaccinated’ means that two weeks have passed since a second dose of the 2-dose series for the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or a single dose of the Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine. Offers of employment will be contingent on compliance with Grounded Solutions Network’s COVID-19 vaccination policy. A current employee or applicant (i) who is disabled or who has a qualifying medical condition that contraindicates a COVID-19 vaccination, or (ii) who objects to being vaccinated on the basis of a sincerely held religious belief, observance or practice may request an exemption from this vaccination policy.

Location

Remote, flexible. Grounded Solutions Network has two primary office locations in Oakland, CA and Washington, DC, with additional staff working from home throughout the contiguous 48 states. Candidates must have direct local access to a major airport. All staff are expected to demonstrate the ability to work remotely while maintaining high levels of efficiency and productivity and communicating effectively with their direct supervisor and colleagues.

Join our team and build your career with us! We offer:

• Supportive, stimulating and collaborative environment with passionate colleagues dedicated to building community, equity and justice
• Opportunities for professional growth and development
• Competitive, comprehensive benefits package including health, dental, matching 401K and paidtime off.

How to Apply

Please submit, as 1 document (PDF or word), a cover letter and resume below. Interviews will be conducted on a rolling basis.