Senior Technical Product Manager - R&D Platforms

About Xebia

• With over 20 years of experience, our global network of passionate technologists and pioneering craftsmen
• deliver cutting-edge technology and game-changing consulting to companies on the brink of transformation.
• Since 2001, we have grown from a Java company into a full-service digital consulting company with 5,500+
• professionals working on a worldwide ambition.
• We are organized in complementary service lines – teams with tremendous knowledge and experience within
• particular fields, such as Agile, DevOps, Data and AI, Cloud, Software Technology, Functional Programming,
• Intelligent Automation, and Microsoft.
• We help the world's top 250+ companies and category leaders overcome digital challenges, embrace innovation,
• adopt new technology, and implement new business models. In addition to high-quality consulting, we also
• provide offshoring and nearshoring services.
• For more details, please visit
• Position Overview -Sr Product Manager, R&D
• Location: Remote, UK/CAN/Central Europe/Poland preferred
• Time Zone Availability: Must be available for UK time zone

Experience: 8+ Years of Product Management Experience

• We are seeking a Senior Technical Product Manager to join our life sciences R&D product team supporting a
• leading pharmaceutical company's digital transformation initiatives. This role requires deep technical expertise
• combined with strategic product thinking to manage complex platform products that serve researchers,
• scientists, and data engineers across chemistry, biology, and computational science domains.
• As a Senior Technical Product Manager, you will own large strategic products OR manage portfolios of 5-10
• established applications, driving continuous discovery, innovation, and business value delivery. You'll work in a
• hybrid delivery model aligned to the client's Product Development Lifecycle (PDLC), combining waterfall-style
• governance with agile execution.
• This is a partnership-driven role requiring close collaboration with client Program Managers, engineering
• teams, business stakeholders, and multi-vendor partners to deliver R&D acceleration—not just sustainment.

What You'll Do

Strategic Product Leadership

• Own end-to-end product strategy, roadmap definition, and business value validation for assigned R&D

platform products

• Drive continuous discovery and innovation focused on new product development and R&D acceleration
• Lead product through all four PDLC governance checkpoints: Strategy Alignment → Requirements Validation → Architecture/Design Review → Launch
• Manage large strategic initiatives OR portfolios of 5-10 established applications (including modernization, rationalization, or sunsetting)
• Conduct continuous validation of business value through metrics, user feedback, and experimentation

Product Requirements & Delivery

• Translate complex, ambiguous scientific and technical requirements into clear Product Development Plans (PDPs)
• Create comprehensive user stories with clear acceptance criteria and robust requirements traceability
• Manage backlog prioritization using Jira, Confluence, and Jira Product Discovery
• Partner with Project Managers on scope trade-offs, resource allocation, and dependency management
• Drive UAT, release decisions, and launch readiness across technical and business stakeholders

Stakeholder Management & Discovery

• Serve as primary point of contact for business stakeholders and R&D end-users
• Map stakeholder landscapes (influence, needs, communication frequency) and develop tailored engagement strategies
• Conduct user interviews, discovery sessions, and continuous feedback loops with researchers and scientists
• Facilitate requirements validation workshops and design reviews
• Present executive-ready materials to business leadership and governance forums

Technical Platform Expertise

• Deep understanding of APIs, data flows, cloud platforms (GCP required), and R&D systems architecture
• Work closely with engineering, infrastructure, and data platform teams on technical feasibility and design
• Monitor support channels, triage technical requests, and align them with product strategy
• Understand GCP services (BigQuery, Workflows, Vertex AI, Cloud Run, GCS) and integration patterns
• Navigate complex data ecosystems, authentication systems (SSO, LDAP), and compliance requirements

AI-Native Product Management

• Leverage Gemini Pro and Atlassian AI for intelligent prioritization, velocity forecasting, and automated insights
• Apply NLP-based sentiment analysis and predictive analytics to inform backlog prioritization
• Co-develop AI use cases with client teams (target: 2-3 production AI use cases per quarter)
• Drive GenAI-powered documentation generation and requirements automation

Governance & Reporting

• Participate actively in bi-weekly sprint planning, retrospectives, and delivery reviews
• Attend monthly Product Strategy Reviews with business stakeholders and Product Owners
• Contribute to quarterly 360° performance reviews and monthly portfolio health reporting
• Maintain comprehensive Confluence documentation and knowledge management practices

Requirements

Essential Qualifications

Core Product Management Skills

• 8+ years of product management experience, preferably in technical or platform products
• Strong business use case analysis and user interview capabilities
• Proven stakeholder mapping, management, and conflict resolution abilities
• Excellent requirements documentation and PRD writing skills
• Deep understanding of agile development methodologies and hybrid delivery models
• Expert user of Jira and Confluence for backlog management and documentation

Technical Expertise

• Strong technical background with hands-on software engineering or technical architecture experience
• Deep understanding of cloud platforms, with GCP experience required
• Experience building or managing developer platforms, APIs, data pipelines, and infrastructure tooling
• Ability to read technical documentation, understand data flows, and speak fluently with engineers and data scientists
• Working knowledge of modern data engineering stack and databases (SQL, NoSQL)
• Familiarity with MLOps practices and AI/ML platform requirements

Life Sciences Domain Knowledge

• Experience in pharmaceutical or regulated industry environments (GxP, 21 CFR Part 11)
• Understanding of scientific research workflows and R&D systems
• Ability to bridge the gap between scientific users (chemists, biologists, computational scientists) and engineering teams
• Familiarity with scientific computing applications and high-performance computing (HPC) environments

Recommended Qualifications

Advanced Technical Skills

• Experience with high-performance computing (HPC) environments and HPC-to-cloud migrations
• Knowledge of GCP's HPC-specific offerings and configurations
• Understanding of authentication systems (SSO, LDAP) and zero-downtime deployment strategies
• Familiarity with data movement challenges specific to large scientific datasets
• Certification in relevant cloud technologies (GCP Professional Cloud Architect, etc.)

Strategic & Innovation Skills

• Strong strategic vision for product direction and long-term roadmaps
• Experience as a product evangelist with ability to drive adoption and change management
• Track record of portfolio rationalization, modernization, and technical debt reduction
• Capability in cost optimization: license utilization, cloud spend efficiency, ROI analysis
• Background in AI/GenAI applications for scientific workflows

Industry & Domain Expertise

• Background in managing external vendor relationships and integration points
• Experience with multi-vendor coordination and dependency management
• Understanding of security and compliance requirements in enterprise pharmaceutical environments
• Knowledge of scientific data provenance, reproducibility, and regulatory requirements
• Familiarity with life sciences software vendors (Schrödinger, Benchling, etc.)

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

You will be evaluated quarterly through 360° reviews and objective business metrics

360° Review Criteria

• User/Stakeholder Management: Proactive engagement, conflict resolution, strategic alignment
• Requirements Creation & Completeness: Clear, testable user stories; robust Product Development Plans
• Understanding of Assigned Products: Deep domain knowledge; strategic roadmap ownership
• Jira Maintenance/Upkeep: Backlog hygiene, documentation quality, requirement traceability

Objective Business Metrics

• Cycle time reduction for research workflows and product delivery
• User satisfaction (NPS) and adoption rate improvements for managed applications
• Cost optimization: Portfolio rationalization savings, license utilization, cloud spend efficiency
• Innovation velocity: AI/automation use cases co-developed per quarter

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