Sr. Technical Product Manager

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% Physi