Product Manager

Steampunk; Bloomington (IL); On-site; USD 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Steampunk seeks a Product Manager to lead a cross‑functional team of designers, PMs, and engineers in a balanced team model. You will integrate Agile practices with design thinking and user‑centered outcomes to prioritize, develop, and deliver mission‑critical digital services.

You’ll manage user needs from prioritization to feature writing, working in a collaborative environment and guiding MVP delivery while removing blockers and driving continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• Experience facilitating Agile Scrum ceremonies and backlog refinement.
• Ability to translate user needs into actionable user stories and epics.
• Experience working with cross-functional teams in a design-thinking context.

Responsibilities

• Champion and facilitate Agile Scrum ceremonies to drive team alignment and delivery.
• Collaborate with client stakeholders, designers, and engineers on product goals and feasibility.
• Apply design thinking to improve problem-solving and value delivery.
• Support service design principles linking user journeys to backend processes.
• Translate user insights and business goals into iterative development cycles.
• Maintain Agile artifacts in Jira to promote transparency and delivery rhythm.
• Support backlog management ensuring well-defined stories aligned with sprint goals.
• Serve as a facilitator and coach for Agile best practices and continuous improvement.
• Partner with product owners to define priorities and MVP opportunities.

Skills

Agile Scrum

Backlog management

Stakeholder collaboration

Design thinking

Facilitation

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Computer Science, MIS or equivalent

Tools

Jira

Job description

Overview

We are seeking a Product Manager who brings more than just facilitation skills—someone who acts as a servant leader, systems thinker, and product-focused team facilitator. In this role, you will support a cross-functional team of designers, product managers, and software engineers working in a balanced team model to deliver high-impact digital services. You’ll integrate Agile delivery practices with design thinking, service design principles, and a commitment to user-centered outcomes. As a Product Manager you will lead the collection, capture, and management of mission user needs from prioritization, concept development, and feature writing to support development and deployment.

Contributions

• Champion and facilitate Agile Scrum ceremonies (daily standups, sprint planning, backlog refinement, reviews, retrospectives) to drive team alignment, iteration, and continuous delivery.
• Collaborate closely with client stakeholders, designers, and engineers to ensure a shared understanding of product goals, user needs, and technical feasibility.
• Apply design thinking practices (problem framing, hypothesis generation, rapid iteration, and feedback loops) to improve team problem-solving and value delivery.
• Support the team in service design principles, helping connect user journeys to backend processes, policies, and organizational systems.
• Act as a connector across disciplines—translating user insights and business goals into iterative development cycles while maintaining focus on outcomes.
• Maintain and optimize Agile artifacts using Jira (boards, stories, burndown charts, etc.) to promote transparency, focus, and delivery rhythm.
• Support backlog management by ensuring stories are well-defined, properly scoped, and aligned with team capacity and sprint goals.
• Serve as a facilitator and coach for Agile best practices and continuous improvement, removing blockers and enabling autonomous, empowered teams.
• Partner with product owners to define priorities, identify opportunities for MVP delivery, and refine roadmap items based on feedback and learning.
• Stay close to the product—learning its functionality, becoming a subject matter advocate, and representing both user and team perspectives.
• Help the team remain adaptable and resilient in the face of shifting priorities, evolving requirements, or emerging insights from research and testing.
• Must be comfortable with leading exercises with business partners and have critical thinking skillsets.

Qualifications

• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government security clearance
• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Computer Science, MIS or equivalent combination of education and/or experience
• 7+ years of experience with Scrum/Kanban Methodologies
• 7+ years of experience serving as a Product Owner or Scrum Master
• Must have CSM and/or SAFe certifications
• Ability to establish immediate credibility with clients, build consensus, and achieve goals through influence
• Ability to help teams write user stories/epics, identify dependencies, and design optimal solutions
• Flexibility to work with teams, individuals, and executives and willingness to help with a wide variety of work products and people
• Excellent interpersonal/communication skills
• Experience working in a studio / human centered design approach

About steampunk

Steampunk relies on several factors to determine salary, including but not limited to geographic location, contractual requirements, education, knowledge, skills, competencies, and experience. The projected compensation range for this position is $100,000 to $150,000. The estimate displayed represents a typical annual salary range for this position. Annual salary is just one aspect of Steampunk’s total compensation package for employees. Learn more about additional Steampunk benefits here.

Identity Statement

As part of the application process, you are expected to be on camera during interviews and assessments. We reserve the right to take your picture to verify your identity and prevent fraud.

Steampunk is aChange Agentin the Federal contracting industry, bringing new thinking to clients in the Homeland, Federal Civilian, Health and DoD sectors. Through ourHuman-Centered delivery methodology, we are fundamentally changing the expectations our Federal clients have for true shared accountability in solving their toughest mission challenges. If you want to learn more about our story, visithttp://www.steampunk.com.

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.Steampunk participates in the E-Verify program.