Product Design Manager

Purpose & Core Values 

The primary purpose of any position is to assist Community Choice Credit Union to live out our purpose: we believe in helping our neighbors achieve the life they desire. A key component of this purpose is to provide outstanding service to both internal and external members by living our core values. 

Position Summary

The Product Design Manager will establish a product ownership function for the credit union. This role is focused on developing solutions that engage our members and excite our prospects and creating strategies to increase our share of wallet and share of market. This role will also ideate new products to take to market and advance existing products to go beyond the basics of financial services by designing Choice products and services like our member rewards program, premium checking product, and a financial wellness experience. 

Core Competencies

• Core Values: 
  1. Committed: We are committed to serving Michigan guided by the principles that underlie the credit union movement of service, integrity, and respect for every human being.
  2. Charitable: We Give Big every day to our membership, our communities, and each other. We are dedicated to supporting Michigan by giving our time and services to the communities we serve.
  3. Credible: We are our Members’ trusted financial advisors; each Team Member plays an integral role in the well-being of our Members’ financial lives and the success of Community Choice Credit Union.
  4. United: We are a Team. We unite to achieve success, celebrate success, and continually improve the service we provide to our members, our communities, and each other.

Position Competencies

1. Coaching: Develop each employee to their highest potential by identifying areas for improvement and celebrating strengths. Demonstrate enthusiastic support or corporate purpose, core values and long-term objectives and educate team members on our 'why'. Forms trust and relationships by demonstrating concern and respect for others and providing transparent communication. Ensures that team members understand their level of expectation, including what they are responsible to deliver and expected to undertake. Provides mentorship, support, feedback, and holds team member accountable for their responsibilities. Leader observes their team members performance daily. This allows the leader to catch team members doing it right, redirect, and deliver effective confrontations, if applicable. Through performance observations, identify team members willingness and ability. Train or delegate on the job training to team members to ensure they are able to complete tasks. Engages in two-way conversations throughout the year, at minimum on a monthly basis, that ensure an up-to-date understanding of performance expectations, celebration of performance, performance gaps, and actions required to close any gaps. Allows others to find their way, yet helps when needed. Uses coaching resources and data to develop specific performance actions for team members, ie. additional responsibilities/authority, project initiatives, development plans and responsibility restrictions.
2. Decision Making: Gathers enough information to allow a trustworthy assessment of risks and benefits of alternative approaches in any decision. Stays focused on objectives and considers both the short-term and longer-term impact of decisions and keeps objectives in mind throughout the process. Collaborates and communicates with key stakeholders who are necessary to involve in the overall decision making process.

1. Drive for Results/Improvement: Develops challenging objectives (stretch goals) and accepts personal responsibility or if applicable, holds others accountable for achieving them. Puts priorities on resources, inspires performance and measures outcome. Continues to manage the objectives until result is accomplished. Communicates with others and motivates to achieve results. Demonstrates a strong sense of urgency about achieving goals; high energy, passion, and speed for competitive advantage. Is diligent, sees it through, and gets it done. Gains feedback for self and others after results are accomplished to ensure continuous improvement and celebrates wins.

1. Role Mastery of Essential Duties: Able to perform essential duties as outlined in job description. Contributes productivity and value within role. Is willing to learn and improve performance.

Essential Duties

• Assess product engagement, product value, and alignment with member needs. Propose strategies to drive increases in share of wallet and share of market. 
• Execute an annual business plan with specific, measurable goals, including product growth targets and revenue growth targets. 
• Define product branding and assess new product messaging for alignment with vision.
• Develop product pricing and positioning strategies that align with our strategic drivers. 
• Champion the value of products internally, and offer recommendations and perspective to marketing, training and member facing teams on how to engage members and prospects in the product. 
• Conduct and commission research to gain a deep understanding of consumer needs. 
• Maintain ongoing knowledge of the competitive landscape and conduct competitive reviews of financial products and services. 
• Demo and evaluate partner products available to Community Choice and make recommendations to senior leadership regarding our participation or investment.
• Use market intelligence to identify new product opportunities; create quality reports, and highly visual roadmaps. 
• Develop, and ultimately maintain, standards of research, development, and documentation to ensure effectiveness and consistency as we scale the product function and our organization. 
• Design new products or new product features and develop member stories and journeys that bring a member-centric vision to technical and business requirements. 
• Partner cross-functionally with project managers, business owners, and developers to drive implementation of new products or product features. Keep teams focused on driving adoption and usage of the product. 
• Serve as a subject matter expert on new product development projects and help keep teams focused on product vision, and simplicity in product design.
• Consult on user-interface and user-experience design where technology is involved.

Job Qualifications 

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirement listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability necessary for this position. 

Remote Work Eligibility 

Position is fully eligible for a Hybrid Work Arrangement 

Reasonable Accommodations

The physical and mental demands are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of their job.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential job requirements, physical demands and do so within our work environment.

Education

Bachelor’s degree: Marketing, Business, Engineering, or related field - Required

Experience 

3-5 years of related experience

Skills & Abilities

Comfort working in white space to ideate and iterate 

Working knowledge of human-centered design and design-thinking principles

Experience developing or experimenting with customer-journeys, buyer personas, and jobs to be done

Confidence as a product manager, marketer / practitioner, thought leader and operational leader 

Highly effective communicator 

Analytical skills, including interpreting analysis and structuring analytical requests.

Demonstrated experience managing a product, program, or related projects. 

Understanding of financial services and/or related background in finance, banking helpful but not required

Experience collaborating with vendor partners, technology teams, and developers to bring products to market or optimize product features

Mental Demands

The team member must be able to read and interpret documents or instruments, understand and/or follow complex written and oral instructions, make decisions, recall multiple policies or procedures, resolve problems or unique circumstances in a timely and efficient manner, be able to express oneself clearly and/or concisely, perform mathematical functions, and handle multiple, concurrent tasks.  

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this Job, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear. The employee is frequently required to sit and use hands to finger, handle, or feel. The employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; reach with hands and arms and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.
 

General Statement

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this job. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, skills, or working conditions.