Advanced IT Portfolio/Project Manager

Metropolitan Transportation Authority; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is seeking an IT Product Manager to shape the features and roadmap of complex IT products, coordinating with operations, cyber teams, developers, and designers. You will gather requirements, perform market research, and lead business cases, delivering customer‑centric solutions that support the agency’s strategic goals.

You will drive planning, define KPIs, and manage roadmaps from conception through implementation, acting as a right‑hand to product

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree with 8+ years of relevant experience required.
• At least one certification in a current platform/domain/technical skill (e.g., PMI-ACP, PMP, SAFe Agilist, etc.).
• Advanced experience with Jira/Confluence and enterprise product management tools.
• Familiarity with data analysis or programming languages (e.g., Python or R).

Responsibilities

• Orchestrate overall planning for high‑impact IT products and services.
• Define KPIs and deliver measurable impact monthly.
• Lead development of business cases with cost/benefit analysis and risks.
• Collaborate with product managers, developers, and designers to implement enhancements.
• Participate in agile ceremonies and communicate findings to stakeholders.

Skills

Advanced communication

Stakeholder management

Strategic thinking

Agile working

Problem solving

Leadership

Education

BA/BS in Arts/Sciences

Tools

Jira

Confluence

Python

R

Job description

9:00 am - 5:30 pm (7.5 hours/day) or as required

This position is eligible for teleworking, which is currently one day per week. New hires are eligible to apply 30 days after their effective date of hire.

Company Overview

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is North America's largest transportation network, serving a population of 15.3 million people across a 5,000-square-mile travel area surrounding New York City, Long Island, southeastern New York State, and Connecticut. The MTA network comprises the nation’s largest bus fleet and more subway and commuter rail cars than all other U.S. transit systems combined. MTA strives to provide a safe and reliable commute, excellent customer service, and rewarding opportunities.

Job Summary

This role works closely with operations, technical leads, cyber team, developers, designers, and testers to shape the product's features and roadmap. It conducts market and customer research, gathers business and technical requirements, and monitors product performance, directly contributing to delivering a customer‑centric product that drives business growth. For product‑related projects, this role may serve as a right‑hand to a product manager and act as a liaison for the relationship between the product department and other business agencies. For high‑impact and complex IT products and/or services, this role orchestrates the overall planning process, leading the definition of business justification, requirements, minimum viable product, and proposed delivery sequence for new functionality. This role is responsible for leading business cases for large projects and determining KPIs. This role also defines and manages IT product and service implementation roadmaps with full traceability, value realization reporting, and views for all stakeholders, governing the flow of transition activities to deliver value early and often, within available resources and dependencies.

Responsibilities

• Orchestrate overall planning process for initial development and phased lifecycle transitions for high‑impact/complex IT products and/or services.
• Determine KPIs and deliver measurable impact every month.
• Lead the development of business cases for large projects, including tangible costs, benefits, and performance measures. Demonstrate ability to lead by influence among cross‑functional teams in a matrix organization.
• Understand customer and business unit needs and identify market opportunities to help define the platform’s vision and strategy.
• Produce metrics that reflect the capacity and constraints of resources, funding, and the ability to change to help inform the demands from both customers and the department.
• Create and lead high‑level business cases for presentation and review. Understand the business impact of different solutions and assess and communicate risks and benefits.
• Facilitate the prioritization and scoping of requirements.
• For IT projects of high impact/complexity, lead project development from conception through implementation using an agreed project framework, methodology, and tools.
• Serve as project leader for large‑sized IT products/projects.
• Serve as a right‑hand to a product manager for product‑related projects.
• Support product manager with developing a comprehensive understanding of the company‑wide strategic goals with a focus on how technology can improve the company’s strategic position.
• Interact regularly with key business unit users and demonstrate IT value to the business community to promote and advance the business goals of the MTA and ensure users make full use of system capabilities.
• Analyze business operations to identify process improvement opportunities and model current and desired scenarios for stakeholder review, consideration, and approval.
• Monitor development of service/product descriptions and maintenance of service/product catalogs.
• Lead execution of resourcing activities in collaboration with delivery team managers.
• Analyze market trends and customer behavior to drive feature development and product improvements.
• Co‑create development of customer journey maps and product innovation roadmaps with Product Managers.
• Collaborate closely with product managers, developers, and designers to implement product enhancements based on business requirements.
• Actively participate in agile ceremonies.
• Develop effective reports and documents to communicate findings and analysis to the product team and business stakeholders.
• Work closely and directly with design and engineering teams to deliver solutions that have demonstrable and measurable impact and determine the best technical implementation methods to achieve customer and business objectives.
• Serve as an advocate for product management best practices that maximize the value of existing technology and methodologies, enabling the product team and the organization to operate more effectively as the organization scales.
• Partner with engineering, design, data, lifecycle, and member support teams to build software collaboratively and inclusively.
• Adhere to MTA attendance expectations and requirements by attending regularly and reliably.
• Provide technical advice to project teams and mentor less experienced staff to foster talent development.
• Perform other duties as assigned.
• Comply with all policies and standards.
• May be required to work outside regular hours, as applicable.
• Observe work performed by contractors, as applicable.
• Review invoices and approve them if the work meets contractual standards, as applicable.
• Address performance issues with the contractor when possible, as applicable.
• Escalate issues to other parties when needed, as applicable.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Arts/Sciences (BA/BS) and minimum of 8 years of relevant experience required. An equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
• Requires at least one certification in the current platform/domain/technical skill. Possible certifications could be, but are not limited to:
• Certified Product Manager
• PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI‑ACP)
• Certified Agile Project Manager (IAPM)
• ICAgile Certified Professional - Agile Project Management (ICP‑APM)
• SAFe 5 Agilist (SA)
• SAFe Product Owner/Product Manager
• Project Management Professional (PMP)
• Certified Change Management Professional (CCMP)
• Business Relationship Management Professional (BRMP)
• Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP)

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Advanced experience with common developer productivity tools like Jira, Confluence, etc.
• Advanced understanding of technical concepts.
• Advanced process‑focused execution, having successfully driven technical programs for enterprise.
• Adept at working with enterprise customers and/or business unit users.
• Advanced in working with project management tools and workflows.
• Advanced customer journey management.
• Adept with product delivery.
• Familiarity with tools for data analysis and programming languages (e.g., Python or R) for data handling and analysis.
• Familiarity with business analysis or project management.
• Familiarity with product lifecycle management concepts.
• Familiarity with current and emerging technologies.
• Familiarity with agile methodology.
• Familiarity with product management.
• Familiarity with MTA/Agency policies and procedures.
• Working knowledge of IT service development concepts.
• Advanced active listening, attention to detail, customer service, prioritization, and problem‑solving skills.
• Advanced independent and strategic working.
• Adept at identifying and analyzing risks and developing effective mitigation strategies.
• Advanced technical knowledge and diverse skill set to understand various technologies, systems, and potential risks.
• Adept critical thinking, problem‑solving, and decision‑making skills.
• Expert in interpersonal and verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to effectively collaborate with both technical and non‑technical peers.
• Advanced experience with managing multiple projects simultaneously and prioritizing tasks based on urgency and impact.
• Advanced hands‑on experience with related tools.
• Advanced experience working under pressure and meeting deadlines individually and collaboratively. Thinks logically, assesses problems, and is results‑oriented.
• Advanced in identifying complex business and technology risks and associated vulnerabilities.
• Advanced in communicating effectively, both orally and in writing, to interact with team members, customers, management, and support personnel (technical and non‑technical).
• Advanced in establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with employees at all levels within the organization, and with both internal and external customers.

Core Competencies

Building partnerships and working collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives

Creating new and better ways for the organization to be successful

Customer Focus: Building strong customer relationships and delivering customer‑centric solutions

Communicates Effectively: Developing and delivering multi‑mode communications that convey a clear understanding of the unique needs of different audiences

Tech Savvy: Anticipating and adopting innovations in business‑building digital and technology applications

Technical Skills: Specialized knowledge and expertise on tools, programs, domains, platforms, and products used for specific tasks

Values Diversity: Recognizing the value that different perspectives and cultures bring to an organization

Other Information

Pursuant to the New York State Public Officers Law & the MTA Code of Ethics, all employees who hold a policymaking position must file an Annual Statement of Financial Disclosure (FDS) with the NYS Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government (the “Commission”).

MTA and its subsidiary and affiliated agencies are Equal Opportunity Employers, including with respect to veteran status and individuals with disabilities.

The MTA encourages qualified applicants from diverse backgrounds, experiences, and abilities, including military service members, to apply.