Product Manager

The Judge Group; Waterloo (IA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Job summary

The Judge Group seeks a seasoned Product/Program Manager to oversee governance and optimization of enterprise software tools in a large, matrixed organization. You will lead compliance, budget, and vendor management while aligning tool strategy with business priorities.

You will collaborate across engineering, architecture, finance, procurement, and leadership to drive platform migrations, cost controls, and process improvements that enhance service delivery and governance.

Qualifications

• Strong product management or technical program management experience in enterprise software, engineering tools, or IT-enabled business capabilities.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously across operations, compliance, budget, vendor management, and strategic projects.
• Experience with application governance, risk assessments, compliance processes, and audit-ready documentation.
• Strong financial acumen, including budget management, forecasting, renewal planning, and cost optimization.
• Experience managing software licensing, vendor relationships, contract coordination, and enterprise tool usage.
• Ability to work effectively with cross-functional stakeholders, including engineering, architecture, software delivery, finance, procurement, legal, and leadership teams.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to present recommendations, facilitate alignment, and document decisions clearly.
• Experience leading tool migrations, platform implementations, systems integrations, or process improvement initiatives.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills with attention to detail and follow-through.
• Ability to operate independently in a fast-paced environment with changing priorities and incomplete information.
• Working knowledge of Agile delivery practices and software development lifecycle concepts.
• Experience supporting electrical engineering tool ecosystems and software application lifecycle management solutions.
• Experience with cloud platforms and cost monitoring, including Azure and AWS environments.
• Background in supplier risk management, third-party assessments, and software contract negotiations.
• Knowledge of embedded software and controller technology.
• Experience identifying automation opportunities to reduce manual operational workload.
• Exposure to mergers, acquisitions, affiliate support models, or multi-organization software governance.
• Experience working in large, matrixed enterprise environments with diverse stakeholder groups and distributed teams.

Responsibilities

• Oversee operation of electrical engineering, software development, and testing applications.
• Lead compliance activities, including annual assessments and risk reviews.
• Coordinate budget planning, renewals, and cost controls for a subset of apps.
• Manage software licensing, license denials, and license usage across enterprise tools.
• Partner with internal teams to resolve availability and productivity issues.
• Participate in governance meetings and drive platform strategy alignment.
• Maintain stakeholder relationships across engineering, finance, procurement, and leadership.
• Coordinate with affiliates and partners on usage, agreements, and transitions.
• Drive strategic initiatives such as platform migrations, reporting modernization, tool consolidation, and cloud transitions.
• Translate business needs into actionable plans for engineering tools.

Skills

Product management

Project prioritization

Compliance & governance

Budgeting

Vendor/licensing

Cross-functional collaboration

Communication

Tool migrations

Analytical skills

Adaptability

Agile/SDLC

Electrical engineering tools

Cloud platforms

Supplier risk

Embedded software

Automation

M&A exposure

Matrix environment

Job description

• Manage the ongoing operation of a subset of electrical engineering, software development and testing applications.
• Lead recurring compliance and governance activities, including annual application assessments, AI component reviews, third-party supplier risk assessments, and related documentation updates.
• Coordinate budget planning, annual renewals, usage validation, growth requests, cost controls, and financial monitoring across a subset of E&E applications.
• Monitor and manage software licensing, license denials, server outages, build server requests, approval workflows, and license usage tracking across multiple enterprise tools.
• Partner with internal support teams to resolve operational issues impacting application availability, infrastructure stability, and user productivity.
• Lead and participate in governance councils, architecture reviews, operational meetings, compliance training, and staff forums to align product and tool strategy with business needs.
• Maintain strong stakeholder relationships across engineering, software delivery, test, architecture, digital, platform, and business leadership teams.
• Serve as a primary point of contact for software suppliers and partners, including contract discussions, usage alignment, issue escalation, roadmap conversations, and renewal planning.
• Coordinate with affiliates, acquisitions, and external partner organizations on software usage, integrations, supplier agreements, and transition planning.
• Drive strategic initiatives such as platform migrations, reporting modernization, tool consolidation, cloud transitions, systems integration, governance improvements, and process standardization.
• Translate business needs into actionable plans for engineering tools.
• Identify process gaps, cost reduction opportunities, and automation improvements that improve service quality, governance, and operational efficiency.
• Support change management, user adoption, and cross-functional alignment for new tools, new processes, and enterprise transformation efforts.

Skills Required

• Strong product management or technical program management experience in enterprise software, engineering tools, or IT-enabled business capabilities.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously across operations, compliance, budget, vendor management, and strategic projects.
• Experience with application governance, risk assessments, compliance processes, and audit-ready documentation.
• Strong financial acumen, including budget management, forecasting, renewal planning, and cost optimization.
• Experience managing software licensing, vendor relationships, contract coordination, and enterprise tool usage.
• Ability to work effectively with cross-functional stakeholders, including engineering, architecture, software delivery, finance, procurement, legal, and leadership teams.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to present recommendations, facilitate alignment, and document decisions clearly.
• Experience leading tool migrations, platform implementations, systems integrations, or process improvement initiatives.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills with attention to detail and follow-through.
• Ability to operate independently in a fast-paced environment with changing priorities and incomplete information.
• Working knowledge of Agile delivery practices and software development lifecycle concepts.
• Experience supporting electrical engineering tool ecosystems and software application lifecycle management solutions.
• Experience with cloud platforms and cost monitoring, including Azure and AWS environments.
• Background in supplier risk management, third-party assessments, and software contract negotiations.
• Knowledge of embedded software and controller technology.
• Experience identifying automation opportunities to reduce manual operational workload.
• Exposure to mergers, acquisitions, affiliate support models, or multi-organization software governance.
• Experience working in large, matrixed enterprise environments with diverse stakeholder groups and distributed teams.

Past Work Experience Needed

• 5+ years of experience in product management, technical program management, IT business management, software asset management, or a closely related role.
• Proven experience managing enterprise applications or software products through both operational support and strategic transformation efforts.
• Experience owning or influencing budgets, renewals, vendor engagements, and license management processes.
• Experience leading cross-functional initiatives involving technology, process, governance, and stakeholder alignment.
• Experience working with enterprise software suppliers, internal business customers, and technical support teams to resolve issues and improve service delivery.
• Experience with compliance-driven processes such as assessments, controls, audits, legal requests, or risk reviews.
• Experience delivering outcomes in environments with multiple concurrent projects, competing priorities, and significant coordination requirements.

Medical, dental, and vision insurance are available to qualified candidates who meet eligibility requirements.