Job: Product Manager @ Austin Transportation Data & Technology Services

3 min readAug 14, 2019

In a nutshell

We’re hiring a product manager to join the Austin Transportation Data & Technology Services Team. We’re looking for a curious and hard-working person who is excited about bringing modern digital products to government.

This is a full-time contract position, funded for one year. Hourly pay is $35-$50/hour, commensurate with experience.

About Data & Technology Services

Data & Technology Services is a division of the City of Austin Transportation Department that embraces progressive civic tech values including open source technology, agile development, and user-centered design to build impactful products with Austin’s mobility planners, engineers, technicians and staff.

We use a wide range of modern tools and technologies to deliver solutions to our stakeholders. We build enterprise business systems using Knack, a no-code workflow management service, and we also have a team of developers who build custom software when out-of-the-box doesn’t cut it. We embrace mature frameworks, with an eye towards maintainability and long-term stability. We love web mapping, and we champion open-source and open data across the City of Austin.

What is it like to work on the Data & Technology Services team?

You’ll be working alongside people who care deeply about what they do, driven to tackle the hard problems that city government and Austinites face every day. We’re a small, growing team, and you’ll have a chance to make an immediate impact. We’re going to trust your opinion and expect you to help us make the right decisions. You’ll be empowered to dive into our processes, test new tools, and give your thoughts on how we can do better.

We are only a small part of Austin Transportation. You’ll have a chance to work with brilliant colleagues, many of them renowned experts in their fields. You’ll learn firsthand how the City of Austin runs.

We work from the ATD office at 8700 Cameron Road — a quick (by Austin standards) reverse-commute from Central Austin. Many of us bike commute, and everyone has the option to work remotely one day a week.

What products will you be working on?

From field technicians who install traffic signals to planners designing Austin’s bike lanes, you’ll be supporting a range of users by digitizing paper processes, optimizing operational workflows, and improving data quality.

Near-term projects will include:

What will you do?

Lead technology project teams in agile processes to deliver high-quality work
Own our enterprise product vision, roadmap, and backlog management
Actively monitor project risks and scope creep to identify potential problems and identify solutions
Communicate project status and strategic recommendations to stakeholders, team members, and the public
Establish processes for managing resource allocations for the Data & Technology Services team across multiple projects and initiatives

What we’re looking for…

Three years of professional experience managing projects for large-scale digital experiences, interfaces, or applications
Demonstrated ability to work with and support cross-functional project teams
Ability to contribute to engineering, business, and design decision-making
Ability to quickly become familiar with emerging technologies
Excellent verbal, written, presentation, and interpersonal skills

Benefits

Contract City employees begin accruing paid sick leave immediately, then receive vacation and healthcare benefits after their first year of employment.

All City employees are eligible for free annual Capital Metro passes and Austin B-cycle membership. We also have access to a plethora of PE classes including yoga at our office, disc golf in Zilker Park, and bootcamps all over town. Did we mention free entrance to Deep Eddy and Barton Springs?*

Ready to apply?

Send a resume and cover letter to transportation.data@austintexas.gov by Wednesday, August 28.

*No wonder the City of Austin made number nine on Forbes list of America’s Best Employers. ✨🌳💦 😎