UX Program Manager (8687)

Project Overview:

• Our client mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. Our Devices & Services team combines the best of AI, Software, and Hardware to create radically helpful experiences for users. Fitbit’s diverse line of innovative products of smartwatches, trackers and smart scales help people live healthier lives by empowering them with data, inspiration, and guidance to reach their health and fitness goals. Our products deliver personalized experiences, insights and guidance through leading software and interactive tools to empower our users’ health and wellness.
• The UX Program Manager for the Fitbit Design System team partners with interaction designers, visual designers, motion designers and UX writers to define and build a unified design system in collaboration with cross-functional partners while cultivating a thriving design community. We are looking for a talented UX TPgM to apply ninja design ops skills to help the team fulfill their potential. In this role, you’ll combine expert project management mastery with a passion for driving user experience to help your team design how millions of users interact with our products.
• You’ll work cross-functionally and collaborate with executives, managers, designers, and engineering teams to plan projects, define milestones, assign resources, assess risks, and help projects meet deadlines to develop a design system for the Fitbit ecosystem and develop a home for the accompanying tools, guidelines, components, and patterns.  You will also manage all project-related communications to team members, leaders, and other stakeholders. This job requires you to be an expert juggler, a master planner and a flexible project manager who can balance multiple projects that span continents.  This role will require operational expertise, driving transparency and communication across functions, and tracking success in a measurable way.

Overall Responsibilities:

• Define a process to optimize workflow for draft and publish design system guidance on the spec site and ensure top priority guidelines are published by EOY.
• Collaboration with XFN leads to draft and deliver a roadmap for product to reach accessibility requirements including tracking progress of accessibility workstreams.
• Act as a bridge between UX, Engineering, and Product Management (PM) teams, connecting all three groups and making sure interdependencies are understood and planned for and all are aligned and focused on the critical path to success.
• Represent the team in critical meetings to track actions, milestones, and deliverables.
• Identify team and project needs with regards to process, tools, documentation, asset management, etc., and implement or drive required changes to ensure team members are working at optimum efficiency.
• Proactively develop and improve process, tools, documentation, and asset management, to ensure designers are at optimum efficiency.
• Proactively identify risks, prioritize them, and create plans to resolve in a timely manner.

Top 3 Daily Responsibilities:

• Partner with UX team leads in key program decision-making, including scoping, resource planning, and coordination of teams and reviews leading to Fall ‘23 product launch.
• Identify, track, and ensure on time delivery of design system dependencies to all partner teams for fall launch including writing deliverables, imagery assets, and outstanding motion or design system components.
• Track and ensure efficient workflow of imagery and marketing asset production for product launch.

Skill/Experience/ Education

Mandatory:

• BA/BS degree or equivalent practical experience. 
• Experience working with design groups in software development. 
• 5 years of experience in program management with familiarity with design, user research, and user-centered design development and experience working with design, research, and engineering professionals. 
• Experience defining and tracking programs and allocating team members against shifting priorities.
• Ability to effectively influence and communicate cross-functionally and build strong, strategic stakeholder relationships.

Communications Management (PgM/TPgM)

Ability to listen effectively to stakeholders, to communicate program goals, progress, and health to them in a manner tailored to their interests and concerns at all levels, and to drive understanding and inform decisions. Typical artifacts include communications plans, metrics and status reports, decision logs, newsletters, and websites.

Execution and Governance (PgM/TPgM)

Ability to organize and manage the activities that lead to the outcomes of a project: what, who, when, and how. Adjust ???levers??? (e.g., schedule, staffing, features) to deliver results on time. Effectively monitor and communicate progress, risks, and mitigations. Typical artifacts include governance plans, project trackers, status reports, OKRs, retrospectives, and escalation reports.

Planning (PgM/TPgM)

Ability to identify stakeholders and work with them to strategize, plan, and prioritize objectives, estimate task durations, and ensure schedules and dependencies are aligned and support those objectives. Leverage a variety of methodologies (e.g., Agile, Waterfall) to make teams most effective. Typical artifacts include proposals, program charters, project plans, OKRs, roadmaps, and risk registers.

Stakeholder Management (PgM/TPgM)

Ability to forge and maintain effective program teams within and across an organization, understand and address their needs and health, and support them throughout the lifecycle of their undertaking. Typical artifacts include RACI charts, stakeholder maps, OKRs, and CSAT reports.

Technical Judgment (PgM/TPgM)

Ability to assess engineering problems (see SWE Knowledge and Skills for reference), understand the interplay between program and technical issues, and contribute to shaping technical directions. Typical artifacts include technical analyzes, bugs and CLs, Eng Review presentations, and technical roadmaps and white papers.

Non-Essential Skills:

• Thorough knowledge of design systems and user-centered design processes 
• Experience managing interactive, design, or creative projects preferred. 
• Thrives in an environment of ambiguity and creates order out of it.
• BA/BS Degree preferred.

Benefits  

We offer a wide range of benefits including Medical, Dental, paid holidays, and more.

 About Our Client 

Our client is one of the largest technology companies in the world. They are looking for the best, brightest talent available and have tasked Akorbi with helping them find it.

 About Akorbi 

Akorbi is a group of companies, based in Dallas, Texas, specializing in providing enterprise solutions that empower organizations to achieve success in the global economy. Our customizable solutions include comprehensive workforce solutions, multilingual contact centres with business process outsourcing capabilities, interpretation, and localization services. 

Akorbi is the 13th fastest-growing woman-owned/led company in the world, according to the Women Presidents’ Organization. Our founders have been featured in The American Dream on the Bloomberg channel, as well as several notable publications, including Forbes, Inc. Magazine, TIME, Fortune, and Google+.