Staff Product Manager
•StackBlitz· 15h
📦 Product📝 Contract🎯 Lead / Principal🌍 Worldwide
15h ago
Apply Digital·2 days ago
The Delivery Manager is a senior, operationally hands-on role within Apply’s Managed Services practice. This is not a role about delivering a single project to a fixed deadline, it is about continuously delivering value within an ongoing, retainer-based model. You are the person clients rely on for operational confidence, the person the team looks to for direction, and the person accountable for delivery quality across your portfolio of accounts.
You will own the client relationship at an operational level, lead the delivery rhythm, manage the team’s day-to-day output, and ensure every sprint, release and incident is handled with consistency, quality and accountability.
This is a client-facing, team-leading, delivery-owning role. You will be the primary contact for client stakeholders on all matters of delivery, quality and progress, and you will be the person internally who ensures the team is unblocked, aligned and performing.
Act as the primary operational contact for assigned client accounts.
Lead client-facing ceremonies: sprint reviews, planning sessions, retrospectives, and status calls.
Produce and deliver monthly client service reports covering delivery progress, budgets, SLA performance, and roadmap.
Negotiate sprint priorities, scope changes, and delivery trade-offs directly with client stakeholders.
Manage expectations proactively, ensuring alignment between what was sold, what is scoped, and what is being delivered.
Escalate to the Head of Managed Services when commercial decisions or executive engagement is required.
Own the delivery plan for each account: sprint cadence, release schedule, capacity allocation, and backlog health.
Ensure squads are delivering consistently and to agreed quality standards.
Set delivery standards and methodology expectations; the Scrum Master executes internal ceremonies within those guardrails.
Track and report on velocity, burn-down, and delivery health across accounts.
Remove blockers and manage cross-squad dependencies.
Directly manage the Scrum Master who owns day-to-day internal ceremony facilitation.
Review health signals and intervene when standards are at risk.
Act as first point of escalation from the Scrum Master; escalate to the Head of Managed Services when required.
Oversee release planning and governance executed by the Product Owner and Technical Lead.
Ensure release content, timing, and sign-off processes are followed consistently.
Accountable for client-facing release communications: briefing, go-live confirmation, and post-release reporting.
Own the P1/P2 incident response process: triage, client communication, and resolution.
Serve as the first point of escalation for delivery issues and client concerns.
Coordinate with the Technical Lead and Scrum Master during incidents.
Conduct post-incident reviews; ensure learnings are documented and actioned, including client RCA’s and internal training.
Escalate unresolved delivery risks or people issues to the Head of Managed Services.
Directly manage Scrum Master: set expectations, coach, and conduct performance conversations.
Monitor squad capacity, workload balance, and resource allocation across accounts.
Support Product Owner development through guidance and feedback.
Advocate for sustainable workloads; raise capacity risks before they affect delivery or retention.
Foster a high-performance, positive team culture.
Coordinate cross-squad dependencies and ensure consistent delivery standards.
Lead new client onboarding into the Managed Services model: operating rhythm, tooling standards, and reporting cadence from day one.
Ensure continuity and clear expectations during transitions from project to retainer delivery.
Own squad-level P&L visibility: hours, utilisation, revenue recognition, and margin.
Track account budgets against monthly retainer; flag risks early to the Head of Managed Services.
Drive change order processes when scope evolves.
Identify and flag upsell or scope extension opportunities.
Support the Head of Managed Services with data and context for forecasting, headcount planning, and renewal conversations.
Experience
5+ years in delivery or client-facing PM within a digital agency, consultancy, or managed services environment.
Demonstrable experience managing continuous delivery / retainer-based accounts, not solely fixed-scope projects.
Experience managing Scrum Masters or other delivery practitioners; track record of making people better through your management.
Background in a consulting, agency, or client-services environment strongly preferred.
Familiarity with eCommerce platforms (BigCommerce, Shopify, Magento or similar) is a meaningful asset.
Comfortable working in agile delivery frameworks (Scrum, Kanban, or hybrid).
Delivery & Client Skills
Confident leading client-facing ceremonies and translating delivery data into clear business narratives.
Strong communicator at senior stakeholder level - written and verbal.
Data-driven: uses velocity, burn-down, and SLA metrics to inform decisions.
Proactive problem-solver; raises issues early and drives resolution without waiting to be asked.
Strong working knowledge of agile PM and product methodologies: backlog management, release governance, sprint planning.
Commercial & Operational Skills
Comfortable with budgets, SOWs, change orders, and retainer management.
Experienced in resource allocation across multiple concurrent accounts.
Organised and process-oriented; able to build lightweight tools and rituals that improve visibility and quality.
Contributes to forecasting and planning processes - brings data and perspective, even where final decisions sit with the Head of Managed Services.
People Leadership
High-empathy leader: coaches through honest feedback and genuine investment in development.
Comfortable delivering constructive feedback on sensitive performance matters.
Builds relationships across disciplines - works effectively with peers in Project Management, Client Services, and People Ops to address shared challenges.
Calm under pressure, especially during incidents and client escalations.
Desirable
Familiarity with Jira, Confluence, Slack, or similar tooling.
Understanding of QA processes and release governance in a digital product context.
Experience with AI productivity tools and willingness to champion adoption.
ITIL Foundation or equivalent service management qualification.