Senior Product Operations Manager (Remote)

SMS, Settlement Services Inc.; United States; Remote; USD 129,000 - 172,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401k

Stock purchase plan

Paid time off

Paid sick leave

Job summary

First American is seeking a Senior Product Operations Manager to optimize product development processes in the Document Management Solutions team. You will drive pre- and post-launch workflows, manage risks, and partner across technical and business functions to scale processes, data insights, and AI-enabled capabilities.

The role emphasizes hands-on leadership in establishing scalable workflows, collaborating with Data Science, Analytics, Product and Engineering, and coaching teams on new tools

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in product operations and/or product management.
• Direct experience managing product development lifecycle processes.
• Ability to take complex, loosely defined problems, create structure, evaluate options, and independently drive toward an outcome.
• Strong systems-thinking, with the ability to understand how people, processes, data, and technology interact and identify where change will have the greatest impact.
• Hands-on experience using AI and automation to improve the quality, speed, and scalability of your work and team workflows.
• Bias toward action with comfort making progress without perfect information or a fully defined path.
• Strong experience facilitating effective communication, coordination, and alignment among key partners and stakeholders to drive successful product outcomes.
• Experience using data mining tools, customer experience management software, and direct observation to identify user behavior, design, and refine product features.

Responsibilities

• Create and implement plans for pre- and post-product launch processes.
• Proactively identify and mitigate operational risks that may impact delivery timelines, quality, and end user experience.
• Identify high-leverage opportunities across product development teams within the technology organization, turning ambiguous problems into actionable paths forward.
• Use AI, automation, and emerging capabilities to simplify work, improve decision-making, and create more effective product development lifecycle workflows.
• Experiment with new ways of working and translate what works into practical, scalable approaches that teams can adopt and sustain.
• Enable and coach teams on new tools and ways of working, driving adoption through hands-on partnership and continuous learning.
• Collaborate with Data Science, Analytics, Product, and Engineering to analyze data and produce meaningful insights to inform decision-making.
• Manage the product tool stack and establish usage standards and guidance.
• Facilitate experiments by establishing best practice guidelines and tracking and sequencing experiments.
• Liaison with Product Marketing, Customer Support and other departments to ensure product enablement success.
• Collaborate with Product Managers to publish regular reporting for internal stakeholders and leadership.

Skills

Product operations

Product management

AI and automation

Data analysis

Stakeholder collaboration

Systems thinking

Tools

Cursor

Claude

Amplitude

Segment

Jira

Confluence

MS Office

Teams

Job description

Who We Are

Join a team that puts its People First! Since 1889, First American (NYSE: FAF) has held an unwavering belief in its people. They are passionate about what they do, and we are equally passionate about fostering an environment where all feel welcome, supported, and empowered to be innovative and reach their full potential. Our inclusive, people-first culture has earned our company numerous accolades, including being named to the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For® list for eleven consecutive years. We have also earned awards as a best place to work for women, diversity and LGBTQ+ employees, and have been included on more than 50 regional best places to work lists. First American will always strive to be a great place to work, for all. For more information, please visit www.careers.firstam.com.

What We Do

Join a transformative team that is shaping the way First American builds and delivers world-class technology products that fuel the real estate industry. The Document Management Solutions team is responsible for delivering a suite of enterprise applications that streamline title form, template, content, and document management across First American.

We are looking for a strategic, hands-on operator who thrives in ambiguity, brings structure to complex problems, and proactively turns opportunities into action. As a Senior Product Operations Manager, you will work across product development teams within the technology organization to improve how teams work and scale across processes, data, tools, and emerging AI capabilities. You will continuously seek ways to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and scalability of the product development process.

What You’ll Accomplish

• Create and implement plans for pre- and post-product launch processes

• Proactively identify and mitigate operational risks that may impact delivery timelines, quality, and end user experience

• Identify high-leverage opportunities across product development teams within the technology organization, turning ambiguous problems into actionable paths forward.

• Use AI, automation, and emerging capabilities to simplify work, improve decision-making, and create more effective product development lifecycle workflows

• Experiment with new ways of working and translate what works into practical, scalable approaches that teams can adopt and sustain

• Enable and coach teams on new tools and ways of working, driving adoption through hands-on partnership and continuous learning

• Collaborate with Data Science, Analytics, Product, and Engineering to analyze data and produce meaningful insights to inform decision-making

• Manage the product tool stack and establish usage standards and guidance

• Facilitate experiments by establishing best practice guidelines and tracking and sequencing experiments

• Liaison with Product Marketing, Customer Support and other departments to ensure product enablement success

• Collaborate with Product Managers to publish regular reporting for internal stakeholders and leadership

What You’ll Bring

• 5+ years of experience in product operations and/or product management

• Direct experience managing product development life cycle processes

• Demonstrated ability to take complex, loosely defined problems, create structure, evaluate options, and independently drive toward an outcome

• Strong systems-thinking, with the ability to understand how people, processes, data, and technology interact and identify where change will have the greatest impact

• Hands-on experience using AI and automation to improve the quality, speed, and scalability of your work and team workflows

• Ability to learn and experiment with emerging technologies, identify practical applications, and help others adopt new ways of working.

• Strong judgment and a bias toward action, with comfort making progress without perfect information or a fully defined path.

• Strong experience facilitating effective communication, coordination, and alignment among key partners and stakeholders to drive successful product outcomes and influencing without authority

• Experience conducting analysis and translating into actionable steps

• Strong experience driving continuous improvement of the product development life cycle to maximize effectiveness, efficiency, scalability, and innovation

• A customer-first mindset, always keeping the customer’s interest in mind when making decisions

• Experience working across modern product development approaches and improving ways of working based on team needs, enterprise organizational context, and desired outcomes

• Experience using data mining tools, customer experience management software, and direct observation to identify user behavior, design, and refine product features

• Proficiency with standard MS productivity tools (Office and Teams), AI/automation tools (Cursor, Claude), product analytics and pathing tools (e.g., Amplitude, Segment), collaboration tools (e.g., Miro), product management tools (e.g., Jira, Confluence), with the ability to quickly learn and apply new technologies.

#ST2

Pay Range: $129,300.00 - $172,300.00 Annually

This hiring range is a reasonable estimate of the base pay range for this position at the time of posting. Pay is based on a number of factors which may include job-related knowledge, skills, experience, business requirements and geographic location.

** Note that the following statements only apply to candidates who will be working from an unincorporated area within Los Angeles County. **

First American will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with arrest or conviction records, in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable state and local laws (e.g., the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act).

First American intends to conduct a review of an applicant’s criminal history in connection with a conditional offer. First American reasonably believes that a criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship with the following material job duties for this position potentially resulting in the withdrawal of the conditional offer of employment: handling of confidential, proprietary or trade secret information belonging to First American or its customers, administrating or facilitating financial transactions, and the ability to meet customer-imposed criminal history requirements.

What We Offer

By choice, we don’t simply accept individuality – we embrace it, we support it, and we thrive on it! Our People First culture is inclusive for all employees - not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it’s the key to our success. We are proud to foster an authentic and inclusive workplace For All. You are free and encouraged to bring your entire, unique self to work. First American is an equal opportunity employer in every sense of the term.

Based on eligibility, First American offers a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, 401k, PTO/paid sick leave and other great benefits like an employee stock purchase plan.