Who we are and what we do:

Zemax enables our customers to quickly bring new optical products to life through Zemax Virtual Prototyping: a collaborative workflow in which complete optical products can be simulated before ever manufacturing a part. ZVP currently consists of the industry leading optical design software OpticStudio™ and the innovative LensMechanix™ which moves the optical design into the mechanical arena, empowering mechanical engineers to design and validate packaging for optical systems. Businesses using ZVP beat their competitors through faster times to market, decreased costs, and improved optical system performance. Zemax is the only company that offers optical, mechanical, structural and thermal engineers the ability to work together with fewer hand-offs and better workflows, which means optical products get manufactured faster without iterations of physical prototypes.

Since 1991, Zemax has been driven by people passionate about the optical design space, and that legacy continues to this day. In the last few years, Zemax has seen dramatic growth, both in sales and headcount. The recent strategic investment by EQT Partners positions the company to triple our sales in the next 3-5 years. Headquartered in Kirkland, WA, Zemax has expanded sales and service support globally with operations in London, Shanghai, Tokyo, and Taipei.

Zemax is a company where every individual makes an impact, and employees are our greatest assets. At Zemax, you get to work with a diverse group of passionate people developing tools that are changing the way optical products are designed.

Technical Product Manager Job Overview

Zemax is looking for a product manager with strong skills in organizing, tracking and maintaining product requirements, multiple product’s backlogs and managing development cycles. As a Technical Product Manager, you are responsible for creating and maintaining the product release plan for multiple release targets and active backlog by working directly with the development team to ensure timely delivery of software. Zemax is evolving towards a more Agile method of development, so Agile experience will be helpful. 

Who will love this role:

• Implementers who can execute on the plan to reach goal
• Detail-oriented individuals who can keep track of and manage multiple requirements and requests
• Project managers who can work with cross-functional teams, remove obstacles, and move the product forward in a timely manner
• Product managers who can interact with peers on the product and development teams to break down requirements into actionable user stories and are effective in prioritizing requirements that achieve product success in marketplace
• Persuasive influencers who can align differing views, motivate cross-functional teams, remove obstacles, ask questions, and seek understanding

Be sure to check out Zemax’s Glassdoor page for more about what it’s like to work at Zemax!

What you’ll do:

You will own the product plan, the product functionality targets for each release, active backlog and manage release plans for select products in the Zemax portfolio, including new products under development. The position will report to Matthew Sutton, Director of Product.

This role is primarily an inward facing role, focused on managing the software release process. You will:

• Engage with product team members to understand market opportunity, competitive value, work scope and prioritize features and user stories across multiple release candidates
• Break down requests into actionable user stories
• Engage with development to prioritize and schedule user stories and tasks
• Manage the sprint cadence with the development team
• Collaborate with peers on the product team to develop long term strategies and align these with a regular release cadence
• Collaborate with peers and drive release documentation

Success will look like:

In the first year, a high performer will have accomplished the following:

• Completed defining and implementing the Zemax product management and development processes needed to support a uniform cadence of sprints and releases, as evidenced through the successful delivery of 3 major releases of OpticStudio
• Completed defining and implementing quantitative standards for product features and user stories
• Managed 3 major releases of OpticStudio to successful reception in the marketplace
• Managed 1 major release of a new product under development

What you’ll bring:

• A four-year degree is required, with related work experience
• 3- 5 years in technical product management or project management with commercial software
• Demonstrated ability to wear many hats in a small company environment
• Exceptional communication skills
• A flexible and adaptable attitude toward responding to change
• The ability to take on extensive responsibility and excel in a small team environment