Lead Product Manager

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Lead Product Manager is both a strategic and hands-on product leader responsible for defining, prioritizing, and delivering digital products and enterprise technology solutions that support the Institute's mission, operations, and audience engagement throughout the year. This position does not currently have direct supervisory responsibilities but may assume people leadership responsibilities as the organization and team evolve.

This role owns a portfolio of products and initiatives spanning Enterprise Applications, year-round business operations, and Festival digital experiences, including Web, Mobile, OTT, CRM tools, and other operational platforms as assigned. Working closely with Technology, Operations, Finance, Marketing, Advancement, Programming, and external partners, the Product Manager drives product strategy, tool selection, roadmap development, and cross-functional execution to deliver measurable business value.

As a member of the Product team, reporting to the Director, Digital Product Management, this role serves as a trusted partner to balancing long-term strategic planning with hands-on delivery and operational excellence across a complex and evolving technology ecosystem.

This full-time position is based within a commutable distance to Boulder, CO, Los Angeles, CA, New York City, NY, or Salt Lake City, UT in order to work onsite as needed, in a hybrid capacity. The role requires flexibility, including extended hours, evenings, and weekends during peak periods, as well as travel to Institute locations, events, and meetings as needed.

Sundance Institute is a unionized workforce and this position is in the bargaining unit.

Top priorities include but are not limited to

• Developing and maintaining multi-year product roadmaps aligned with organizational goals, operational priorities, and constituent needs.

• Leading the lifecycle of assigned products and initiatives from discovery and business case development through implementation, adoption, optimization, and retirement.

• Partnering with stakeholders across the Institute to identify opportunities for process improvement, operational efficiency, and enhanced constituent experiences through technology.

• Driving prioritization decisions across multiple workstreams, balancing strategic initiatives, operational needs, technical debt, and available resources.

• Defining product requirements, success metrics, and business outcomes while ensuring alignment among business, operational, and technical stakeholders.

• Managing complex cross-functional initiatives involving internal teams, consultants, and third-party technology vendors.

• Serving as the product owner and subject matter expert for assigned platforms, ensuring systems are scalable, reliable, and effectively support organizational objectives.

• Leading user acceptance testing, release readiness, training and quality assurance activities to maintain a high standard of product quality and operational stability.

• Establishing governance, documentation, and operational processes that improve consistency, transparency, and long-term sustainability across product areas.

• Monitoring product performance, user feedback, and organizational needs to continuously improve products and tools to maximize business value.

You have the following direct or transferable qualifications and skills:

• 5+ years of experience in Product Management, Digital Operations, Project Management, or a similar role focused on the delivery of digital systems or complex data workflows.

• Familiarity with enterprise platforms, data management, and web products.

• Exceptional organizational skills and attention to detail.

• Excellent communication skills, including the ability to translate technical requirements for non-technical stakeholders and vice versa.

• Adaptability to successfully pivot from long-term planning to rapid-fire problem-solving during peak periods.

• Legal authorization to work in the United States.

You will be successful in this role if you...

• Bridge the gap between high-level strategy and technical execution, ensuring systems are fit for purpose and support business processes.

• Maintain a high bar for product/tool acceptance through organized user acceptance and thorough data validation.

• Act as the subject matter expert who brings structure to complex operations, providing clarity to stakeholders on all technology workflows.

In addition to an annual salary of $105,000.00 to $130,000.00*, this position is eligible for our comprehensive benefits package, highlights include:

• Health, vision, and dental insurance

• 25 paid Institute holidays plus accrued vacation time

• Paid sick, family, and medical leave

• Employee Wellness initiatives

• 401(k) with automatic 3% employer contribution after one year of employment

• Sundance Film Festival passes and benefits (varies each year)

• Final rate of pay is determined based on the applicant's geographic location, relevant experience and skills, and internal equity among similar positions within our organization.

Applications open 7/28/2026 and will be accepted for at least one week