About City Bureau
City Bureau is a journalism lab reimagining local media. We equip people with skills and resources, engage in critical public conversations and produce information that directly addresses people’s needs. Drawing from our work in Chicago, we aim to equip every community with the tools it needs to eliminate information inequity to further liberation, justice and self-determination.
Location:
Hybrid in Chicago, or remote anywhere in the U.S.
About the role
City Bureau is seeking a Director of Product to oversee the strategic development and management of products across City Bureau, including the Documenters.org platform. The position will be responsible for identifying, testing, documenting, deploying, measuring, and monetizing new products and features, both in early-stage development environments and at-scale. This person will build cross-functional consensus around prioritization and scope of all products to ensure that they are aligned with City Bureau’s strategic goals. This role will initially have one direct report, and will be responsible for strategically expanding and growing the product and technology team over time.
One of the Director of Product’s first responsibilities will be shaping product strategy and coordinating development for Documenters.org, the online home for Documenters community and content. To start, we need someone who can lead strategy and technical excellence, while also managing Documenters.org feature development and sprint planning. We expect that the Director of Product will lead hiring processes for manager-level position(s) that can then take on more of the project management responsibilities for Documenters.org.
We are looking for candidates who bring a unique blend of skills including technical experience, demonstrated success in product and revenue development, and passion for the intersection of accessible technology, information, and the future of local media. The ideal candidate will be comfortable going deep in technical discussions, and have either a technical background or significant experience working closely with software engineers.
Our ideal innovative design-thinker wants to meet the information needs of our audiences and will be a confident strategist, and will also have the emotional intelligence to be flexible and resilient as circumstances change. They will be able to develop a strong vision for Documenters.org and other products, while also practicing humility and a willingness to learn and receive feedback from users, leadership, staff, designers, and developers. We need a strong technologist that can work both autonomously and in step with teams across the organization, and can balance small task management with creative big-picture product thinking.
About our Programs
The Director of Product will support product strategy and development across all of City Bureau’s programs, which model a more accessible, responsive, and democratic approach to civic education, local media, and information equity.
Documenters: City Bureau’s Documenters program creates a new form of civic infrastructure that makes local democracy real and accessible to anyone. We do this by training and paying community members to attend and take notes at local public meetings, turning the knowledge, relationships, and capacity of local residents into a powerful community information resource.
In Chicago we’ve trained more than 1,000 people to find, analyze, and share information relevant to their lives and communities. Since launching Documenters in Chicago in 2016, local news and community organizations nationwide have adopted the program through our custom Documenters.org platform and the Documenters Network. By developing shared resources, custom civic technology, and spaces for communal learning, we sustain a national infrastructure that fosters learning and engagement. City Bureau’s Documenters Network consists of 17 sites and is growing.
Editorial: City Bureau’s editorial team produces news that reflects local priorities while engaging people in the reporting process, and develops the next generation of local journalists and community leaders through supportive teams, mentorship, and community-driven reporting projects. Through our Civic Reporting Fellowship, journalists of varying experience levels develop their reporting, community engagement, and leadership skills in supportive teams and with close mentorship.
Public Newsroom: City Bureau’s Public Newsroom is a free workshop series to discuss, debate, and take action on pressing local issues, often co-presented with partner organizations making change in their neighborhoods. Public Newsroom participants gain new information, inspiration, connections, and tools for action through a consistent space for interconnected civic learning.
You Should apply if:
You understand the way collaborative work can strengthen civil society and create new pathways for participation in the production, consumption and distribution of locally relevant civic information
You are excited by the opportunity to oversee every phase of product development, including building new systems and developing teams to sustain and grow our work
You value deep listening and collaboration with a variety of stakeholders
Responsibilities
City Bureau product strategy
Define, manage, and evolve product vision and strategy to advance our mission and generate revenue to sustain it
Work with City Bureau leadership and program teams to identify opportunities for new product development that supports program strategy
Oversee the launch of new products and features, evaluate them for ongoing impact, and iterate
Work closely with the Documenters leadership, program participants and external stakeholders to set the vision and roadmap for the future of Documenters.org
Build audience and revenue through successful product development and deployment
Uncover audience needs and motivations that lead to innovative product ideas through a variety of audience research methods
Ensure technological excellence for City Bureau products
Oversee technical development of the Documenters.org platform and future products through sprint planning, prioritizing issues and planning major feature development
Understand and engage the audiences that use City Bureau products, and guide regular improvements to products in response to those users
Manage relationships with third-party technology partners and forge new technology partnerships as needed to support product strategy
Ensure technical partners maximize resources and deliver high-quality results for Documenters.org and future products
Ensure development and data accessibility by providing direction and feedback to our technical partners and collaborators, including developers, designers, and data analysts
Team management and collaboration
Share updates with City Bureau’s Documenters team and Documenters sites on progress with the platform and gather feedback to inform future development
Communicate with people who have a range of technical expertise, including staff, product users, and external partners
Contribute to organization-wide decision-making
Manage one developer who focuses on the Documenters.org platform, and grow the product and technology team as needed
Qualifications
Strong familiarity and comfort with overseeing the build, launch and assessment of new products
Product experience building consumer or enterprise-facing platforms that include developer tools (APIs, SDKs, etc). Must be able to identify and define technical requirements
Experience working with engineering teams through agile software development and release processes
Sharp assessment skills and an ability to rigorously prioritize and triage
The dexterity to manage multiple projects and tasks effectively, and to work productively in a fast paced, rapidly growing organization
Goal-oriented; demonstrated ability to work cross-functionally and push through roadblocks or inertia to figure out what solution (tool, process, resource) will achieve the goal
A great communicator — both at explaining and listening. Must be able to translate technical requirements accurately and tactfully between internal teams, external partners, and technical experts
Growth-oriented with a low ego; demonstrated ability to learn from past actions, individually and collectively, and apply insights to help our teams be successful in the future
Strong leader; you easily model integrity and high standards for yourself and others. You are passionate about developing your direct team through quality 1:1 time, resources, training, and timely feedback
Ability to work independently with little supervision
Experience with the following tools: Slack, Airtable, Google Suite (doc, slides, sheets), Asana, Github
Familiarity with designing for accessibility; conversant in WCAG best practices
Experience in technical development or product design strongly preferred
Distributed team experience is a plus
We expect that the strongest candidates will have the above skills and areas of expertise in varying degrees. If you don’t have every qualification, please consider applying, and use your application to tell us about the skills you bring that would help us build this team.
Compensation, Benefits and Support
$132,500 - $145,750 annual salary
Full time with benefits package including health care, dental, vision, life insurance
This is a remote-first role, and there is a central office in Chicago that is available for staff use
Employer sponsored 401K plans, with 100% employer match up to 4% of salary
$1,000 annual technology and work tools allowance
$1,000 professional development allowance
15 days paid vacation, not including health days
11 company holidays each year, which may be exchanged for employees who celebrate other holidays
Flexible work schedule—some night/weekend hours may be required
A 4.5 day week for most of the year. From July through September, City Bureau operates on a 4 day work week.
Some travel to Chicago and possibly partner organizations across the country will be required
A culture of intentional professional development and organizational learning
Our Anticipated Timeline
We’re projecting the following timeline for this hiring process. We will notify candidates of any shifts as we move through the process.
Application closes July 28, 2024
Within two weeks of closing applications, you will know if you’ve moved onto the interview stage
Within two weeks of your interview, you’ll know if you moved onto the case exercise stage
Within two weeks of your case exercise completion, you’ll know if you moved onto the final interview
We expect to make a final offer by the end of August
City Bureau is an equal opportunity employer committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.
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