Senior Technical Product Manager, Medicaid

forpeople; Arlington (VA); Remote; USD 110,000 - 152,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote work

Contract: 6 months

CMS project experience

Job summary

For People is a team of technologists improving government digital services. We are hiring a Product Manager to join a CMS project for a key federal platform, shaping the product vision and translating policy needs into a clear roadmap.

You will own the backlog, write user stories, and collaborate with engineers, data scientists, and government stakeholders to deliver features on a tight 6-month schedule. This is fully remote across the United States.

Qualifications

• Proven experience as a Product Manager, Business Analyst, or Product Owner on complex software/data projects.
• Experience leading requirements gathering and managing a product backlog with clear, actionable user stories.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with ability to navigate ambiguity.

Responsibilities

• Lead discovery and requirements gathering with senior government stakeholders to define product vision.
• Translate policy goals and user needs into clear user stories and an actionable backlog for the technical team.
• Own backlog prioritization and roadmap alignment to meet a tight 6-month project timeline.
• Bridge client and technical teams, explaining concepts to non-technical stakeholders as needed.
• Drive stakeholder workshops and product demonstrations to align across government groups.

Skills

Product Manager

Business Analysis

Product Owner

Backlog Management

User Stories

Stakeholder Management

Requirements Gathering

Cross-functional Teams

Communication Skills

Ambiguity Handling

Job description

For People is a team of skilled technologists improving government digital services for disadvantaged and vulnerable populations. We embed directly in government agencies to modernize software, systems, and platforms so that they better serve people.

Your Impact

You’ll join a high-impact project with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), helping to define and build a new automated system that replaces a critical manual process. As the Product Manager, you will be the voice of the user and the steward of the product vision, transforming ambiguous needs into a clear roadmap. Your work will ensure our team builds the right system, creating a valuable and sustainable tool that improves a vital government service for years to come.

Our Culture

For People is a team of humans. We place a significant amount of emphasis on positive work-life balance, setting healthy expectations, and making sure our loved ones are taken care of first. That means picking a child up from school during the day or going for a mid-day walk is okay!

This position is 100% remote. Our entire team is remote across the United States, from the West Coast to the East Coast. There will never be a return-to-office, as we have none!

This is a 6-month contract position with a competitive hourly rate of $80-110/hr.

Due to the accelerated 6-month timeline and the complexity of the project, we have a strong preference for candidates with prior experience working with federal government agencies, specifically CMS and Medicaid. This background will be crucial for ramping up quickly and making an immediate impact on this high-priority initiative.

Your Opportunities

On this project, you will:

• Lead the discovery and requirements-gathering process, working with senior government stakeholders to define the product vision.
• Translate complex policy goals and user needs into clear user stories, specifications, and an actionable product backlog for the technical team.
• Lead roadmap reviews with stakeholders. Own technical implementation scoping and prioritization for the data science team, and synthesize results into an actionable roadmap.
• Serve as the primary bridge between the client and the technical team, ensuring there is a shared understanding of the problems we are solving. Be prepared to speak about technical concepts to stakeholders, only pulling in the Data Science team when deep expertise is needed.
• Own and prioritize the product backlog to ensure the team is always working on the most valuable features to meet the project's aggressive timeline.
• Champion a user-centered approach, ensuring the final solution is intuitive and effective for the federal staff who will operate it.
• Facilitate stakeholder workshops and product demonstrations to gather feedback and drive alignment across different government groups.
• Contribute to the risk register to document decision points and tradeoffs around complexity, level of effort, and feasibility.

You Bring

• A humble and caring attitude aligning with For People’s values— how we work with passion, fun, curiosity and sustainability, humility and respect.
• Proven experience as a Product Manager, Business Analyst, or Product Owner on complex software, reporting, or data projects.
• A track record of successfully shipping products while working with cross-functional teams of engineers, data scientists, and subject matter experts.
• Demonstrated experience leading requirements-gathering processes, managing a product backlog, and writing clear, actionable user stories.
• An exceptional ability to navigate ambiguity and bring structure to undefined problem spaces.
• Excellent communication, facilitation, and stakeholder management skills.
• A strategic mindset combined with a humble, collaborative, and user-focused approach that aligns with our company values.
• Experience in government contracting, civic tech, or federal health programs (specifically Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program) is highly desirable.

Additional Details

You will be working on a United States government platform, and they have a few basic requirements for contractors like ourselves. You must perform all work physically within the United States at all times. In addition, you must be a United States citizen and be able to pass a government-performed public trust background check.

For People is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetics, and/or veteran status.