Lead Product Manager

The Lead Product Manager is responsible for the vision, strategy, and execution of the Traverse platform, ensuring it delivers exceptional user experience today while evolving to meet the needs of customers and the business for years to come. This role operates at the intersection of platform strategy, user experience, brand, business outcomes, and emerging technology while translating customer needs and market direction into a cohesive, scalable product vision.

This role frequently shifts between long-term strategic thinking and hands-on product leadership, from defining the future vision of Traverse to guiding roadmap priorities, experience improvements, and major initiatives such as the Traverse rebrand. The Lead Product Manager partners closely with Engineering, Product Design, Marketing, Sales, Customer Success, Solution Delivery, and Commercial teams to ensure Traverse is positioned, built, and delivered as a durable, differentiated platform.

As Northwoods expands AI-enabled capabilities, you will guide how AI is embedded into Traverse in ways that are practical, trustworthy, and explainable while improving workflows and outcomes, while respecting regulatory, ethical, and real-world constraints.

This is a hybrid role and will require the candidate to live in the Columbus, OH area. 

Experience

Required:

• 8+ years of experience in product management or product strategy.


• 3-5 years of experience working in Agile/Scrum environments is a plus.


• Proven ownership of complex platforms with long-term roadmaps.


• Experience leading major initiatives such as platform evolution or large-scale UX improvements.


• Strong judgment, prioritization, and executive communication skills.


• Practical experience applying AI or automation in enterprise workflows.


• Comfort operating in regulated environments.


• Relevant degree preferred – computer science, design, marketing, or business


• Must be authorized to work in the U.S.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Platform Strategy & Roadmap
  
  
  
  • Own the platform strategy, roadmap, and delivery priorities for Traverse.
  
  
  • Define and communicate a clear long-term platform vision.
  
  
  • Translate customer, market, and business insights into prioritization, sequencing, and trade-offs.
  
  
  • Lead the product experience aspects of the Traverse rebrand in partnership with Marketing and Commercial teams.
  
  


• User Experience & Platform Evolution
  
  
  
  • Own the end-to-end Traverse product experience across workflows and modules.
  
  
  • Drive consistency, clarity, and ease of use across the platform.
  
  
  • Identify opportunities to simplify, modernize, and scale the product using data and feedback.
  
  
  • Partner with Engineering and Design to ensure solutions align with platform strategy.
  
  


• Customer & Market Engagement
  
  
  
  • Serve as a customer-facing product leader with deep understanding of user workflows and pain points.
  
  
  • Lead discovery through interviews, observation, and continuous feedback loops.
  
  
  • Stay current on market trends and regulatory environments impacting enterprise platforms.
  
  


• Roadmap, Execution & Outcomes
  
  
  
  • Lead roadmap planning, prioritization, and communication for Traverse, ensuring alignment between long-term vision and near-term delivery.
  
  
  • Partner with Engineering to balance scope, quality, timelines, and technical sustainability.
  
  
  • Define success metrics and track platform performance, adoption, and customer satisfaction over time.
  
  
  • Make data-informed recommendations to evolve Traverse based on outcomes, constraints, and emerging opportunities.
  
  
  • Incorporate AI initiatives into the Traverse roadmap, balancing experimentation with delivery of production-grade capabilities.
  
  
  • Define success metrics for AI features, including adoption, efficiency gains, quality improvements, and user trust.
  
  
  • Evaluate build-versus-buy decisions and partnerships related to AI capabilities.
  
  

• Cross-Functional Leadership
  
  
  
  • Drive alignment across Product, Engineering, Design, Marketing, Sales, Customer Success, and Delivery.
  
  
  • Communicate priorities, trade-offs, and decisions clearly to executives and stakeholders.
  
  
  • Provide input on positioning, packaging, pricing, and partnerships.
  
  
  • Contribute to strong product management standards and culture.
  
  

• Team & Operating Model
  
  
  
  • Senior individual contributor role; no direct people management.
  
  
  • Primary product lead for the Traverse platform.
  
  
  • Works closely with approximately 10 engineers across one or more delivery teams.
  
  
  • Performs other job-related duties as assigned.
  
  

You may be a good fit for our team if you have the following skills…

• Visionary Leadership: Communicates a compelling purpose, sets clear milestones, ensures commitments are met, and inspires others toward shared goals.


• Strategic Problem Solving: Clarifies complex issues, consider multiple perspectives, identifies effective solutions, measures progress, and holds the team accountable for executing agreed actions.


• Comfort with Ambiguity: Makes sound decisions in uncertain situations and navigates risk with confidence and maintains ownership for outcomes.


• Strong Interpersonal Skills: Approachable, empathetic, and diplomatic, with the ability to build trust and defuse conflict.


• Effective Presenter: Delivers clear, engaging presentations to diverse audiences; translates data into meaningful narratives and responds thoughtfully to questions.


• Clear Written Communication: Crafts concise, impactful messages tailored to the audience and context.


• Collaborative Team Builder: Builds strong, teams by motivating others, recognizing strengths, encouraging input, and providing constructive feedback that supports shared ownership and high performance.


• Ability to work independently in a remote environment and travel as needed


• Decision-Making & Adaptability – comfortable with ambiguity and change


• Compliance & Integrity – maintains confidentiality and professional standards

What We Provide

• Medical (includes H.S.A. option with employer contribution), dental, and vision insurance


• Short- and long-term disability


• Company paid basic life insurance


• 401(k) with 4% company match and immediate vesting


• Free financial education and consultation


• Wellness program that helps you earn lower premiums


• Robust EAP program that includes free therapy sessions, lifestyle coaching, legal/ID theft services, and more


• 12 weeks fully paid parental leave


• Up to $5,000 adoption fee reimbursement


• $500 wellness reimbursement after 60 days of employment


• Generous PTO policy and 10 company paid holidays


• Company paid cell phone plan

Find yourself checking a lot of these boxes but doubting whether you should apply? Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every qualification. At Northwoods, we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace, so if you are excited about this role but your experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles. Northwoods is committed to diversity in its workforce and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are excited to work with talented people, period. All employment decisions are based on business needs, job requirements, and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion or belief, national or ethnic origin, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, marital or civil status, political affiliation, family or parental status, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the jurisdictions in which we operate.

Who is Northwoods?

Northwoods makes software solutions that improve the quality of the life of case managers and social workers in the Health and Human Services (HHS) field. Recognized as one of Columbus’ top places to work , working at Northwoods means being part of a team that’s passionate about making an impact on the lives of HHS professionals and the families they serve.

We believe in creating a culture of inclusivity and accountability seeking to hire professional, passionate and driven individuals that believe in the values that we believe in:

1. Curiosity – Willing to test assumptions, courage to ask questions, and active listening.


2. Community – Helping and mentoring each other, celebrating diversity and acknowledging our team members’ contributions.


3. Resourcefulness – Willing to try and fail. Asking for help and trusting the expertise of our team.


4. Stewardship – Safeguarding Northwoods’ values, culture, mission, and resources.

We believe that our team members are all accountable adults, not only to themselves but to each other, and we treat them that way. Our team works incredibly hard and is proven through dedication to their craft and our mission.

Our Solutions

Our products are designed for state and county social care program areas, including child welfare, childcare, child support, economic assistance and adult & aging agencies. These solutions leverage technology to allow case workers and social workers to easily collect, store, manage, and share case content and data more efficiently. By simplifying processes, our customers can spend more time engaging with the families they serve, make better informed decisions and achieve better outcomes.

Traverse – A SaaS solution that allows for easy, on-the-go access to case files, case work and interview forms and intelligent insights on case content and materials, which lead to better engagement and better outcomes.

Compass – Compass solution is some of our longer standing software that supports multiple markets for both state and county customers. Our focus on reducing time wasted on paperwork and administrative burdens allows case workers to better serve families in need.

Case Aide Services - Our trusted team of experienced child welfare professionals becomes an extension of agency staff supporting them with administrative tasks such as referral and records requests, compiling documents for court, and document organization. Workers can focus on fostering healthier families without sacrificing their own well-being.