FAIT DISTRIBUTION SUMMARY
Fait Distribution is a family-owned and operated wholesale contact lens distributor and buying group. We pride ourselves in projecting a professional image to our customers that is both confident and enthusiastic. Our commitment to exceeding customer expectations and creating long lasting relationships is driven by our dedicated Associates. Being part of a family-owned company like Fait Distribution is something special. We’re a close-knit company where Associates are valued and truly drive and make an impact on our success. There are always exciting and new opportunities for you to advance your career and grow within our company. At Fait Distribution you will find a supportive and fast-paced environment with a fun work culture. We trust you will find employment here challenging, yet highly rewarding.
The IT Product Manager is responsible for maximizing business value from assigned systems, products, processes, or operational domains by defining product vision, prioritizing work, aligning stakeholders, and guiding Agile delivery teams toward measurable business outcomes. This role serves as the primary bridge between business stakeholders and IT delivery teams, ensuring that technology investments are clearly prioritized, well-defined, and aligned with Fait’s operational goals. This is an individual contributor role focused on product direction, stakeholder alignment, backlog prioritization, and delivery value; it does not include direct people-management responsibility unless otherwise assigned.
QUALIFICATIONS/ABILITIES:
- 3+ years of experience as an IT Product Manager, Product Owner, Business Analyst, Product Analyst, or similar role supporting software delivery in a business environment.
- Experience working in an Agile/Scrum environment, including backlog refinement, sprint planning, sprint reviews, and retrospectives.
- Strong understanding of business and operational processes and how technology supports them.
- Experience making value-based prioritization decisions using customer impact, operational efficiency, risk, dependencies, and delivery capacity.
- Proven ability to work with cross-functional stakeholders, including operations, customer service, finance, sales, and IT.
- Excellent communication and facilitation skills; able to translate between business needs, technical constraints, and measurable outcomes.
- Ability to define, track, and communicate success measures such as cycle time, accuracy, adoption, error reduction, operational efficiency, and customer/associate experience.
- Working knowledge of Agile delivery and collaboration tools such as Jira, Confluence, Microsoft Teams, and SharePoint preferred.
- Experience in distribution, logistics, warehouse, ERP, WMS, e-commerce, or integration-heavy environments is preferred.
- Product Owner, Product Manager, Agile, or Scrum certification is preferred.
RESPONSIBILITIES – HOW THIS POSITION SUPPORTS THE VISION include the following, but are not limited to:
- Define and communicate the product vision, goals, and outcomes for assigned systems, processes, or operational domains.
- Align delivery priorities with business strategy, operational objectives, and the IT roadmap.
- Represent stakeholder interests while balancing short-term needs, operational stability, and long-term value.
- Clearly articulate desired outcomes and measurable success criteria, not just features or requests.
- Own and maintain the product backlog.
- Prioritize backlog items based on business value, operational impact, risk, dependencies, and delivery capacity.
- Make clear trade-off decisions when scope, timing, or resources conflict.
- Act as the final decision-maker on backlog ordering and scope trade-offs for the product/team, escalating when needed.
- Serve as the primary interface between business stakeholders and delivery teams.
- Gather input from stakeholders while maintaining a single, clear set of priorities.
- Set expectations regarding delivery sequencing, scope, and timing.
- Resolve competing demands through value-based decision-making.
- Partner with operations and SMEs to understand current workflows, pain points, and constraints; translate them into prioritized, testable improvements.
- Validate the intent and outcomes of requirements with stakeholders.
- Collaborate with Business Analysts to ensure stories have clear acceptance criteria, dependencies are understood, and items are ready for sprint planning.
- Coach Business Analysts on requirements/documentation expectations, as appropriate.
- Review completed work against acceptance criteria and support sprint/release acceptance.
- Support healthy backlog refinement and predictable delivery flow in partnership with the Scrum Master.
- Participate actively in Agile ceremonies, including backlog refinement, sprint planning, sprint reviews, and retrospectives.
- Validate released work against expected outcomes and business value.
INDICATORS OF PERFORMANCE
- Consistently demonstrates our Company Values; Relational, Reliable, Responsive, Flexible, and Sincere
- Maintains a prioritized, transparent, and continuously refined product backlog that aligns to business strategy and operational goals.
- Provides clear, testable requirements and acceptance criteria so work items meet the Definition of Ready and can be confidently delivered within sprint commitments.
- Delivers measurable business value by defining outcomes/KPIs for initiatives and validating results after release (e.g., cycle time reduction, error reduction, improved customer/associate experience).
- Demonstrates effective stakeholder alignment: gathers input broadly, resolves conflicting priorities, and communicates decisions, sequencing, and trade-offs in a timely manner.
- Reviews and accepts completed work in a timely manner during sprint reviews/release cycles; minimizes rework by ensuring delivered functionality aligns with agreed acceptance criteria and expected business outcomes.
- Supports predictable delivery by partnering with the Scrum Master and team to manage scope, dependencies, and risks; keeps leadership informed of impacts to timeline or outcomes.
- Adheres to all Fait company policies, guidelines, and processes.
- Builds trusted, constructive working relationships with co-workers, team leaders, delivery teams, and stakeholders through responsive communication, follow-through, and collaborative problem-solving.
PERSONAL IMPROVEMENT
Fait will provide resources and support, relevant to the position, for education and training as needed. It is the Associate’s responsibility to seek approval, schedule and participate in education and/or training that will prepare him/her for present and future needs. A post training recap may be required.
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Burlington, WI 53105
