Product Manager (Accounting SME)

About Nava

Nava is a consultancy and public benefit corporation working to make government services simple and effective. Since 2015, federal, state, and local agencies have trusted Nava to help solve highly scrutinized technology modernization challenges.

As a client services company, we guide agencies constrained by legacy systems to a future with sharp user experiences built on secure, reliable, fault-tolerant cloud infrastructure. We bill for our time, offering our expertise and problem-solving approach to help our government partners enhance their digital products and services. People are at the heart of our work, from members of the public who rely on benefit programs to government agency staff.

Through human-centered design and modern engineering best practices, we help our government partners understand user needs and deliver on their missions more effectively. This focus gives everyone at Nava the opportunity to do work that is meaningful, impactful, and deeply connected to public good.

Please note: the level of the role will be determined by Nava leadership based on experience and skillset.

Position summary

The Product Manager (Accounting SME and Tech Solutions Advisor) role’s purpose is to rapidly validate product strategies and user needs in alignment with contract requirements with the ability to bridge the gap between state government accounting practices and technology solutions, ensuring seamless integration and improved efficiency. The incumbent works closely with stakeholders, design, and engineering teams to plan and scope work.

What you'll do

• Provide expert knowledge and insights in accounting practices
• Proficiency in accounting software and technology solutions, including experience with system conversions and integrations
• Excellent organizational and leadership skills, with the ability to guide stakeholders through complex public policy implementation and business processes
• Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to explain complex financial concepts to non-financial stakeholders
• Assist in the development and review of program documentation, training content, and manuals
• Collaborate with various teams from legal, public policy, business, and operations to ensure accuracy and relevance of accounting processes and systems
• Identify potential areas for process improvement and suggest changes to enhance efficiency
• Conduct thorough research to stay updated on changes in accounting standards and regulations
• Review and approve content developed by others for accuracy and completeness
• Answer specific queries and provide guidance based on expert accounting and software development knowledge
• Lead and manage the integration of accounting software solutions to improve process efficiency and data accuracy
• Troubleshoot and resolve issues related to software implementation and integration
• Collaborate with IT teams to ensure smooth and effective audit logging, system integrations and system monitoring
• Provide training and support to team members on new software applications and tools
• Define the vision, goals, and measures of success for the products and services you manage
• Work with designers, business analysts, and technical leads to discover and synthesize market research, user needs, business requirements, and technical approaches
• Define the direction, scope, and priority of projects, from high-level initiatives to specific features, user stories, and business metrics
• Proactively socialize, iterate on, and build buy-in for product initiatives with the team, government partners, and other contractors
• Collaborate with the project management team to prioritize roadmaps and inbound units of work
• Represent Nava's outcome-centric and user-centric approach in discovery meetings with agencies and contractors
• Understand and communicate the needs of end users and population segments we serve and government partners we work with Measure product progress toward business goals or user needs and translate data insights into action
• Make tactical decisions to improve the design, define requirements, and generate stakeholder buy-in for our desired path forward
• Required skills
• At least three (3) years of experience as a Product Manager of a cross-functional team
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in accounting
• Strong understanding of financial measurement tools and accounting principles
• Experience with budgeting, financial reporting, and compliance with state government regulations
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience
• Experience running and/or shipping consumer web applications
• Ability to generate very strong product plans and build buy-in across the team, our government partners, and other contractors
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills for technical, user experience, and project management trade-offs; enthusiastic communicator
• Strong bias towards action; ability to step up into team gaps and ambiguous situations to structure the team’s action plan
• Ability to execute with incomplete information; great product instincts and an ability to create order from divergent needs
• Ability to define a product objective and logically reverse engineer the path and communications to achieve the objective
• Ability to identify market trends and shifts that will affect product direction and update plans based on future expectations
• An adaptive, empathetic, collaborative, and positive mindset