Technical Product Manager & JIRA Administrator

We are seeking an experienced and highly skilled Technical Product Manager with a strong background in Jira Administration to join our dynamic team. This pivotal role bridges the gap between technical execution and business strategy, ensuring our Enterprise Platform & Engineering product teams aligns with market needs and organizational objectives. The ideal candidate will possess a deep understanding of the product lifecycle, exceptional technical acumen, and proven expertise in optimizing Jira environments to enhance team productivity and collaboration.

Product Management & Strategy:

• Define and champion the product roadmap for key technical platform & engineering solutioning, aligning them with overall company goals and market opportunities.
• Conduct user feedback analysis to identify customer needs and translate them into detailed product requirements, user stories, and technical requirements.
• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including Engineering, Architecture, and other Ford Business entities, to oversee the entire product development lifecycle from ideation to launch and post-launch optimization.
• Prioritize product features and manage the product backlog based on business value, technical feasibility, and customer impact.
• Act as a subject matter expert (SME) for your assigned product areas, providing technical guidance and insights to internal and external stakeholders of Enterprise Platform & Engineering Operations (EPEO)
• Monitor performance using data and metrics, identifying areas for improvement and driving continuous improvements.
• Communicate effectively with technical teams, stakeholders, and senior leadership, translating complex technical concepts into clear, actionable insights.
• Develop and maintain comprehensive documentation, including technical specifications, user guides, training requirements and release notes.

Jira Administration & Optimization:

• Serve as the primary expert for our Jira instances, responsible for their configuration, management, and continuous optimization to meet organizational needs.
• Configure and customize Jira projects, workflows, issue types, screens, fields, permissions, and notification schemes to support diverse team requirements (e.g., Software Development, IT, Marketing).
• Manage user accounts, groups, and permission schemes within Jira and integrated Atlassian tools, ensuring appropriate access control and data security.
• Develop and maintain custom dashboards, reports, and advanced filters to provide actionable insights into project progress, team performance, and key metrics.
• Implement and manage Jira automation rules to streamline processes and improve efficiency.
• Integrate Jira with other essential tools and systems (e.g., Confluence, service desks, development tools) to ensure seamless data flow and enhanced functionality.
• Provide training, support, and best practice guidance to Jira users across the organization, fostering effective utilization of the platform.
• Develop and enforce Jira administration policies and guidelines, and contribute to the overall Atlassian stack governance.

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field.
• Minimum of 5 years of progressive experience in technical product management, with a proven track record of successfully launching and managing complex technical products.
• Demonstrable expert-level proficiency in Jira Administration, including hands-on experience with advanced configurations, workflow customization, user management, and reporting.
• Strong understanding of software development methodologies (Agile, Scrum, Kanban) and experience working within agile frameworks.
• Exceptional analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to leverage data to inform product decisions.
• Excellent communication, interpersonal, and presentation skills, capable of effectively engaging with both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Ability to lead cross-functional teams and influence stakeholders without direct authority.
• Experience with other Atlassian products (Confluence, Bitbucket) and their integration with Jira is highly desirable.