Product Manager II, Discovery (Term-Limited) at American… · New York

ABOUT THE JOB

The ACLU seeks applicants for the full-time position of Product Manager II in the Technology Department of the ACLU’s National office in New York, NY. This is a hybrid role that has in-office requirements of two (2) days per week or eight (8) days per month. This is a three-year term-limited position. 

The ACLU Technology Department is a broad umbrella covering both the ACLU’s Analytics and its Product & Engineering teams, two robust and innovative divisions that power the work of the ACLU. The department provides trusted, dependable, and impactful analytics, engineering, as well as product management and product design expertise for the ACLU. In partnership with experts across the ACLU, the technology team delivers best-in-class solutions, services, and innovation that advance the ACLU mission and organizational priorities. The tech team strives to ensure the ACLU leads by example in the ethical use of technology by ensuring privacy and security standards are maintained, directional insights are used to inform programming and business strategy, best-in-class products are designed to get the ACLU message out into the world and grow the ACLU supporter base, as well as to help steward high standards for algorithmic fairness, accountability, and transparency.  

The Product & Engineering division includes engineers, product managers, product designers, and project operations experts who build and maintain engaging digital products and secure technical systems that accelerate the ACLU’s mission as our nationwide guardian of rights and liberties. 

This position is part of a collective bargaining unit. It is represented by ACLU Staff United (ASU).

WHAT YOU'LL DO 

Reporting to the Head of Product, the Product Manager will lead discovery, early validation and evaluation efforts to identify, assess, and guide adoption of emerging and existing technologies needed for high-impact, mission-critical initiatives. 

This role is designed for an experienced product professional who thrives in ambiguous problem spaces, excels at facilitating alignment across non-technical stakeholders, and can translate complex organizational needs into clear, validated problem statements and opportunity briefs. Unlike traditional product management roles, this position does not lead software delivery with a dedicated engineering or design. Instead, the Product Manager will focus on early-stage discovery, working closely with leadership from various departments – such as tech , privacy, information security and counsel, to translate emergent business needs across legal, advocacy, fundraising, and operational teams within the ACLU into actionable workplans, governance frameworks. The Product manager will assess needs, explore solution options, and inform what comes next — whether that is to define a vendor procurement process, scope an internal build, define success criteria, and support strategic decision-making on when not to pursue a technology solution. The role will also provide tight coordination and documentation support for the organization's Gen AI Governance Steering Committee and will be critical in ensuring traceability of decisions and communications emanating from the committee.   

YOUR DAY TO DAY

• Lead Deep Product Discovery for Priority Workstreams 
  • Partner with Tech Leadership and Directors across Privacy, InfoSec, Counsel, Legal Operations, Operations/HR, and high-touch Fundraising to explore complex problem spaces  
  • Conduct structured discovery through interviews, listening tours, workshops, and stakeholder sessions 
  • Clarify underlying needs, constraints, risks, and success criteria 
  • Lead a small number of deeper, longer discovery tracks rather than many lightweight efforts 
• Facilitate Alignment Without Formal Authority 
  • Design and lead collaborative workshops to align stakeholders on problem definitions, priorities, and options 
  • Navigate competing perspectives and organizational constraints with diplomacy and clarity 
  • Build shared understanding across technical and non-technical teams 
  • Support decision-making through evidence, facilitation, and structured framing 
  • Staff and provide coordination support for the organization's Gen AI governance steering committee documenting decisions made in committee, as well as tracking of action items to ensure team alignment   
• Produce Clear, Actionable Discovery Outputs 
  • Assess and prioritize build vs buy solution adoption opportunities by balancing innovation with privacy, security and legal compliance constraints. 
  • Develop validated problem statements, opportunity briefs, and solution assessments 
  • Document findings in ways that are accessible to both technical and non-technical audiences 
  • Provide recommendations for next steps, such as initiating a vendor RFP, handing off scoped opportunities to internal product teams, or managing solution pilots.  
• Support Strategic Experimentation & AI Prototyping 
  • Occasionally propose or support low-risk experiments or pilots 
  • Help explore and shape internal AI tooling concepts for operational, legal, or fundraising use cases 
• Contribute to Tech Team Planning and Learning 
  • Influence the broader Tech Team strategy by sharing insights from discovery work to inform Tech Team roadmaps and prioritization 
  • Contribute to building a stronger, more intentional discovery practice within Tech 
  • Develop business cases, strategies for pilots, monitoring and evaluation frameworks for new tech tools 

FUTURE ACLU'ERS WILL 

• Be committed to advancing the mission of the ACLU
• Center and embed the principles of equity, inclusion and belonging in their work by demonstrating commitment to diversity with an approach that respects and values multiple perspectives
• Be committed to work collaboratively and respectfully toward resolving obstacles and conflicts

WHAT YOU'LL BRING

• Product Management experience and familiarity with working with software development teams and vendors 
• Strong initiative and comfort working in ambiguity and shaping problems before solutions are defined 
• Strong track record of leading early-stage discovery in complex, stakeholder-rich environments and translating use cases and requirements into technical capabilities  
• Familiarity with emerging tech including Gen AI 
• Experience working with non-technical partners to explore complex challenges 
• Experience in stakeholder engagement and communication, including but not limited to running structured product discovery meetings, capturing decisions from them and driving follow ups offline across multiple stakeholder teams 
• Exceptional facilitation, listening, and synthesis skills 
• Ability to drive clarity and alignment without direct authority 
• Experience producing structured discovery outputs such as problem statements, opportunity briefs, solution assessments, and other alignment materials  
• Able to distill technical and non-technical inputs into clear documentation, including governance artifacts, memos, exec summaries 
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills 

COMPENSATION

WHY THE ACLU

For over 100 years, the ACLU has worked to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States. Whether it’s ending mass incarceration, achieving full equality for the LGBTQ+ community, establishing new privacy protections for our digital age, or preserving the right to vote or the right to have an abortion, the ACLU takes up the toughest civil liberties cases and issues to defend all people.

We know that great people make a great organization. We value our people and know that what we offer is essential not just their work, but to their overall well-being. 

At the ACLU, we offer a broad range of benefits, which include:

• Time away to focus on the things that matter with a generous paid time-off policy
• Focus on your well-being with comprehensive healthcare benefits (including medical, dental and vision coverage, parental leave, gender affirming care & fertility treatment)
• Plan for your retirement with 401k plan and employer match
• We support employee growth and development through annual professional development funds, internal professional development programs and workshops

OUR COMMITMENT TO ACCESSIBILITY, EQUITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

Accessibility, equity, diversity and inclusion are core values of the ACLU and central to our work to advance liberty, equality, and justice for all. For us diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion are not just check-the-box activities, but a chance for us to make long-term meaningful change.  We are a community committed to learning and growth, humility and grace, transparency and accountability. We believe in a collective responsibility to create a culture of belonging for all people within our organization – one that respects and embraces difference; treats everyone equitably; and empowers our colleagues to do the best work possible. We are as committed to anti-oppression, anti-ableism, and anti-racism internally as we are externally. Because whether we’re in the courts or in the office, we believe ‘We the People’ means all of us.

With this commitment in mind, we strongly encourage applications from all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, veteran status and record of arrest or conviction, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.    

The ACLU is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If you are a qualified individual with a disability and need assistance applying online, please email benefits.hrdept@aclu.org. If you are selected for an interview, you will receive additional information regarding how to request an accommodation for the interview process.

The Department of Education has determined that employment in this position at the ACLU does not qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.