Product Manager, Discovery & Use-Case Portfolio

Clayco; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 130,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Discretionary bonus

Medical, dental, vision plans

401k + PTO

Job summary

Clayco, a full-service real estate development and construction firm in the Chicago area, seeks a proactive Product Manager to own the AI use-case portfolio. You will identify, size, and prioritize opportunities, working with analytics, product, and automation teams.

You will define evaluation criteria, write clear requirements, and push back when an idea cannot be delivered. Travel will be required as projects span the nation, and the role sits at executive sponsorship to shape two years of

Qualifications

• Experience in preconstruction, operations, or project controls.
• Ability to size and price use cases honestly.
• Write measurable, testable requirements.

Responsibilities

• Run discovery with operating groups and functions to find and qualify use cases.
• Size value and effort consistently so ranking means something.
• Own the use-case portfolio and forum for review and re-ranking.
• Write requirements for analytics, AI product, and automation teams.
• Track value after delivery and feed back for next sizing.
• Say no with a justifiable, sponsor-acceptable reason.

Skills

Construction fluency

Sizing AI/data

Requirements writing

Stakeholder management

Value ranking

Tools

Procore

Project systems

Job description

About Us

Clayco is a full-service, turnkey real estate development, master planning, architecture, engineering, and construction firm that safely delivers clients across North America the highest quality solutions on time, on budget, and above and beyond expectations. With $8.1 billion in revenue for 2025, Clayco specializes in the "art and science of building," providing fast track, efficient solutions for mission critical, industrial, life sciences, power & energy, aviation, commercial, institutional, residential and sports & entertainment related building projects.

The Role We Want You For

Everyone at Clayco has an idea about what AI should do. Some of those ideas are worth millions and some are worth nothing, and right now there is no reliable way to tell them apart. Requests arrive through hallway conversations and forwarded emails, and the loudest one tends to win. This role is the front door. You will go find the use cases rather than wait for them, size them honestly, rank them, and write the requirements our engineering teams build against. You will also tell people no, which is most of what makes a portfolio worth having.

The portfolio does not exist yet. You will define how Clayco decides what to build rather than inherit someone else's process. The function is funded, sponsored at the executive level, and early enough that your first ranking shapes two years of work.

Specific Responsibilities

• Run discovery with operating groups and functions — find and qualify use cases rather than waiting for requests.
• Size value and effort consistently enough that the ranking actually means something.
• Own the use-case portfolio and the forum where it gets reviewed and re-ranked.
• Write the requirements our analytics, AI product, and automation teams build against.
• Track what value showed up after delivery and feed it back into how the next case gets sized.
• Say no, with a reason the sponsor can accept.

Job Requirements and Competencies

• Construction fluency. You can sit with a project executive and understand the problem in their language. Preconstruction, operations, project controls, or the back office — you have worked in at least one of them.
• You know what is buildable. The common failure in this seat is a product manager who promises what engineering cannot deliver. You should understand enough about how data and AI systems work to size things honestly.
• You write requirements engineers respect. Specific, testable, and honest about what is still unresolved.
• You can hold a line. Ranking means telling an executive their idea sits below the line this quarter, and making it stick.
• Nice to have: internal or enterprise product experience, Procore or similar project systems, experience running a value measurement process

Some Things You Should Know

• Our clients and projects are nationwide – Travel will be required.
• No other builder can offer the collaborative design-build approach that Clayco does.
• We work on creative, complex, award-winning, high-profile jobs.
• The pace is fast!
• This position is classified as a safety-sensitive role in accordance with applicable state and federal laws. Candidates selected for this position will be subject to a comprehensive background check, which includes mandatory drug testing.

Why Clayco?

• 2025 Best Places to Work – St. Louis Business Journal, Los Angeles Business Journal, and Phoenix Business Journal.
• 2025 ENR Top 400 – Top Data Center Contractor (Top 3).
• 2025 ENR Top 100 Design-Build Firms – Design-Build Contractor (Top 5).
• 2025 ENR Top 100 Green Contractors – Green Contractor (Top 3).

Benefits

• Discretionary Annual Bonus: Subject to company and individual performance.
• Comprehensive Benefits Package Including: Medical, dental and vision plans, 401k, generous PTO and paid company holidays, employee assistance program, flexible spending accounts, life insurance, disability coverage, learning & development programs and more!

Compensation

• The salary range for this position considers a wide range of factors in making compensation decisions including but not limited to: Education, qualifications, skills, training, experience, certifications, internal equity, and location. It is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for the role and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. The Clayco Nationwide salary range for this position is approximately $130,000 - $160,000 +/- annually (not adjusted for location).