Product Manager

Aquent, a leading talent solutions partner, is excited to connect top talent with a premier entertainment and technology company that shapes experiences for a global audience. This organization is at the forefront of innovation, constantly evolving its enterprise systems to ensure seamless operations and an unparalleled experience for its dedicated employees. As a partner in their success, Aquent is thrilled to foster talent that will directly contribute to critical operational technology initiatives and drive technological excellence.

About the Opportunity

We are seeking a highly motivated and hands-on professional to join a dynamic team as a Product Manager. This is an exceptional 18-month assignment where you will make a tangible impact by driving the successful execution of active technology initiatives. You'll be at the heart of transforming complex project requirements into actionable plans, ensuring vital alignment between engineering ingenuity and core business objectives. If you're passionate about delivering impactful solutions, thrive in a fast-paced environment, and possess the sharp product judgment needed to navigate projects mid-stream with clarity and momentum, this is your chance to shine and significantly influence the efficiency and effectiveness of systems that support a global workforce.

What You'll Do

• Own and meticulously maintain delivery-ready backlogs for assigned initiatives, enhancements, and project work.
• Strategically prioritize work with stakeholders, balancing business value, operational impact, delivery timing, and project objectives.
• Forge strong partnerships with engineering teams to precisely refine user stories, acceptance criteria, dependencies, and delivery expectations.
• Lead critical aspects of the product lifecycle, including backlog refinement, sprint planning inputs, product readiness, release planning, and implementation support.
• Drive timely product decisions, expertly manage scope tradeoffs, and proactively escalate risks or blockers when necessary.
• Provide comprehensive support for testing, user validation, deployment readiness, clear stakeholder communications, and post-launch stabilization.
• Leverage cutting-edge AI tools where appropriate to elevate story quality, enhance documentation, streamline meeting follow-ups, bolster testing support, and increase overall delivery efficiency.

What You'll Bring

Must-Have Qualifications:

• 3+ years of robust Product Management experience, specifically supporting enterprise technology or operational business systems.
• Proven, hands-on experience managing Agile backlogs and collaborating directly with software engineering teams.
• Demonstrated success in delivering project-based work, operational improvements, system integrations, workflow capabilities, or platform enhancements.
• An execution-oriented mindset, thriving in environments where you can join projects mid-stream and rapidly establish clarity and direction.
• Exceptional product judgment, with a keen ability to prioritize tasks based on business value, critical operational needs, realistic delivery timelines, and interconnected dependencies.
• Confident and effective facilitation skills, enabling you to align diverse stakeholders, expertly resolve ambiguity, and maintain project momentum.

Nice-to-Have Qualifications:

• Familiarity with complex operational environments, particularly in areas like workforce management, HR, labor, or scheduling.
• Practical experience leveraging AI-enabled tools such as Microsoft Copilot, Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT, or similar platforms to enhance backlog refinement, user story creation, acceptance criteria development, documentation, testing support, and stakeholder communications.
• Proficiency with delivery and workflow management tools like Azure DevOps, Jira, Flowable, or similar industry-standard platforms.

Your Impact and Measures of Success

Your contributions will be directly visible through the smooth and efficient progression of key initiatives. Success in this role means:

• Maintaining backlogs that are consistently clear, well-prioritized, and ready for immediate engineering execution.
• Ensuring product decisions are made swiftly and effectively, always in direct alignment with overarching delivery objectives.
• Cultivating stakeholder understanding, ensuring they are consistently informed about scope, priorities, potential risks, and implementation readiness.
• Driving project and expense work seamlessly through development, testing, deployment, and stabilization phases, significantly reducing ambiguity and fostering efficiency.