Location: Remote (US or Canada)

Company Overview

Robots & Pencils is an applied AI engineering firm building the next frontier of business architecture. We design and ship AI co-workers that integrate into enterprise operations and deliver measurable results for our clients. We're all in on AWS, combining deep UX capability with senior engineering talent to get AI into production fast and keep it there.
We’ve earned the trust of leaders across Consumer Products and Retail, Education, Energy, Financial Services, Healthcare, and Manufacturing and more, and earned a reputation as the nimble alternative to traditional global systems integrators. Founded in 2009, with delivery centers in Canada, the United States, Eastern Europe, and Latin America, we are smaller, faster, and more senior by design. Our teams average 15+ years of experience. We move fast, sweat the details, and build things that actually ship.

Position Overview

We're looking for a Product Manager to own product delivery across complex Higher Education engagements. This role is ideal for an experienced product thinker who can run a backlog, translate business needs into clear requirements, and build strong relationships with clients and delivery teams from day one.

In this role, you will work as a core member of a cross-functional delivery team, owning backlog management, requirements definition, and sprint execution end-to-end. You'll be joining real, in-flight work where quality and delivery speed matter, collaborating with experienced engineers and designers and growing the product instincts that come from shipping things that matter.

Why This Role Matters

Product Managers are how Robots and Pencils turns requirements into shipped work. On the engagements you support, you own the backlog, translate business needs into clear user stories, and keep the team's day-to-day delivery moving. We ship production-ready AI in 30 to 45 days; that pace holds only when someone treats the backlog like their own, keeps the team unblocked, and asks the right question before the team builds the wrong thing.

What You’ll Do

Craft & Delivery

Own and manage the product backlog, ensuring work is clearly defined, prioritized, and aligned to business outcomes
Translate business needs and stakeholder requests into structured requirements, user stories, and acceptance criteria
Partner with engineering and design to ensure requirements are well understood and delivered with quality
Facilitate sprint planning, backlog refinement, and day-to-day delivery execution to keep the team on track
Identify and manage dependencies, risks, and scope changes throughout the delivery lifecycle
Leverage data, user feedback, and team insights to continuously improve the product
Bring an AI-forward mindset to your daily work, using tools like Claude to accelerate documentation, research, and analysis

Collaboration & Communication

Build and maintain strong relationships with client stakeholders, serving as a trusted partner in delivery
Communicate progress, risks, and tradeoffs clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences
Facilitate working sessions, requirement discussions, and decision-making forums with clients and delivery teams

Leadership & Influence

Own the outcome of the work, not just the tickets — care about what shipped well, not just what got built
Frame requests in terms of user and business outcomes, not just features
Contribute to a positive, high-performing team environment through reliability, clarity, and good judgment

What You’ll Bring

3+ years of experience in product management or product ownership
Experience in the Higher Education space including Colleague ERP, SIS, and LMS platforms
Strong understanding of agile delivery practices and product ownership responsibilities
Experience writing requirements, user stories, and acceptance criteria for cross-functional delivery teams
Experience working directly with clients or external stakeholders
Strong communication skills across technical and non-technical audiences
Analytical approach to decision-making using data and user insight
Proficiency with product and delivery tools (e.g., Jira, Confluence, Miro)
Demonstrable usage of AI tools to accelerate documentation, research, and analysis (e.g., Claude)
Experience in a consulting or agency environment is a plus

Helpful Extras and Unique Skills

Curiosity about prototyping with AI tools (e.g., Claude, Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot) — willingness to try AI to validate product ideas, even if you haven't done it formally yet.
Experience with process-mapping or documentation tools.
Working familiarity with GenAI fundamenta

Product Manager at Robots & Pencils