Sr. Technical Product Manager

Job Purpose

As a Senior Technical Product Manager at Panera, you are responsible for owning the strategy, roadmap, and delivery of critical digital platforms across the eCommerce and in-café ecosystem. This role operates with broad scope and high autonomy, leading complex, cross-functional initiatives that span multiple teams, systems, and vendor partnerships.

You serve as a bridge between product strategy and technical execution, translating business and customer needs into scalable, high-performing platform capabilities. In addition to driving delivery, you are accountable for product outcomes, platform reliability, and long-term technical evolution.

The Sr. TPdM also acts as a senior leader and mentor, elevating product management practices, influencing cross-functional decisions, and serving as a trusted advisor to Product, Engineering, and executive stakeholders.

Location: St. Louis, MO (hybrid)

Duties & Responsibilities

The primary responsibilities of this job include, but are not limited to:

• Product Strategy & Roadmap Ownership
  • Own and define the technical product strategy and roadmap for one or more critical domains (Web, Mobile, Kiosk, Shared Services)
  • Partner with Digital Product Managers to translate customer needs and business goals into scalable technical solutions
  • Drive product discovery, solution design, and prioritization decisions
  • Balance trade-offs across customer value, performance, scalability, technical debt, and speed to market
  • Identify opportunities to evolve platform capabilities and support long-term growth and extensibility
• End-to-End Product Ownership & Execution Leadership
  • Own the end-to-end lifecycle from ideation through delivery and post-launch optimization
  • Translate roadmap initiatives into execution plans, backlog structure, and measurable outcomes
  • Proactively identify cross-team dependencies, risks, and architectural constraints and drive resolution
  • Ensure high-quality, predictable delivery across multiple teams and workstreams
  • Act as a senior advisor on feasibility, sequencing, and solution trade-of
• Outcome Ownership & Product Performance
  • Own and drive measurable product and platform outcomes, including:
    • Conversion and digital revenue impact
    • System performance and latency
    • Reliability and stability (99.99% uptime target)
    • Customer and operational experience metrics
  • Use data and insights to inform prioritization and continuously optimize product performance
  • Monitor platform health and proactively identify areas for improvement and innovation

• Engineering & Architecture Partnership
  • Partner with Engineering and Architecture to define system design and technical direction
  • Influence platform architecture decisions to support scalability, resilience, and maintainability
  • Participate in and challenge technical design reviews
  • Ensure solutions align with enterprise architecture, security, and performance standards
  • Advocate for investments in technical health, modernization, and platform sustainability
• Advanced Prioritization & Backlog Leadership
  • Own a multi-team, outcome-driven backlog aligned to strategic roadmap objectives
  • Drive prioritization decisions balancing:
    • Feature delivery
    • Production stability
    • Technical debt reduction
    • Long-term platform evolution
  • Ensure consistent quality of user stories, acceptance criteria, and readiness standards
  • Mentor Product Managers/Owners on backlog strategy and prioritization best practices
• Release Ownership & Production Accountability
  • Own execution of complex, high-impact releases across multiple teams and systems
  • Ensure releases meet readiness standards including:
    • Documentation and traceability
    • Testing and certification
    • Risk and dependency alignment
  • Lead go/no-go decisions, release coordination, and issue resolution
  • Serve as the primary escalation point for production issues
  • Drive continuous improvement in release quality, predictability, and operational readiness
  • Own, document, and execute release management process and calls, ensuring the product is deployed successfully and making precise business and technical judgment calls for issues found before or during the call
• Product Health, Stability & Technical Debt Strategy
  • Own visibility and improvement of platform health metrics:
    • Stability and crash trends
    • Order and transaction performance
    • Customer and operational feedback
  • Lead strategic planning and execution of technical debt and platform modernization initiatives
  • Ensure technical investments are proactively planned and aligned to roadmap priorities
  • Partner with Engineering to maintain a healthy balance of feature delivery and platform sustainability
• Cross-Functional Leadership & Executive Communication
  • Act as a thought partner and decision-maker across Product, Engineering, and business teams
  • Influence roadmap trade-offs and investment decisions
  • Provide clear, concise communication on:
    • Roadmap progress
    • Delivery status and forecasts
    • Risks, blockers, and mitigation plans
    • Product and platform performance
  • Translate complex technical concepts into business-relevant insights for leadership

• Vendor & Partner Leadership
  • Own delivery outcomes and performance for external vendor partners
  • Lead vendor governance, execution reviews, and continuous improvement efforts
  • Ensure alignment between vendors and internal teams on standards, timelines, and quality expectations
  • Escalate and resolve vendor-related risks impacting delivery or platform health
• Mentorship & Team Leadership
  • Serve as a mentor and coach to Technical Product Managers, Product Owners, and cross-functional peers
  • Elevate standards across backlog management, delivery execution, and product thinking
  • Drive consistency and maturity in product management practices across the organization

Qualifications (Education & Experience)

• Required Experience
  • 8–10+ years of experience in Technical Product Management, Product Management, or related roles
  • Proven experience owning product strategy, roadmaps, and delivery for complex digital platforms
  • Strong background in software development lifecycle, system architecture, and scalable systems
  • Experience leading large-scale, cross-team initiatives and high-visibility product launches
  • Demonstrated ability to influence technical and business decisions at a senior level
  • Experience working in Agile / SAFe environments at scale
• Technical & Product Skills
  • Strong ability to translate business needs into technical solutions and architectural considerations
  • Deep understanding of APIs, microservices, and distributed systems
  • Experience with performance optimization, scalability, and reliability engineering principles
  • Strong analytical and data-driven decision-making skills
• Leadership & Communication
  • Executive-level communication and stakeholder management skills
  • Ability to operate as both a strategic leader and hands-on executor
  • Strong cross-functional leadership and influence without direct authority
  • Proven ability to drive alignment in complex, fast-paced environments
• Preferred Qualifications
  • Experience in eCommerce, mobile apps, kiosks, or omni-channel platforms
  • Experience with enterprise-scale, high-availability systems
  • Background in platform or backend product management
  • Experience managing third-party integrations and vendor ecosystems
• Success Profile (What Great Looks Like)
  • Owns both product strategy and execution across complex domains
  • Drives measurable business, customer, and platform outcomes
  • Partners deeply with Engineering to shape architecture and long-term technical direction
  • Balances speed of delivery with platform scalability and health
  • Acts as a trusted advisor to leadership and mentor to the broader team
  • Elevates product management discipline and execution standards across the organization
     

Working Conditions

• Required travel – 0%–10%

Physical Requirements

• While performing this job, the incumbent is regularly required to stand, sit, talk hear & use hands and fingers to operate keyboards

Direct Reports

• None

The actual pay offered will be determined by multiple factors, including but not limited to the candidate’s relevant experience, job-related knowledge, skills, and geographical location. Individual compensation decisions are dependent upon the facts and circumstances of each position and candidate.

Saint Louis Support Center