Product Ontology Program Manager - Pittsburgh  

This position is based in Pittsburgh, PA.

The area: Commerce and Local

There's always more information out there, and often, the information that matters most is what's nearest to you. The Commerce and Local team is made up of our geography and e-commerce experts. When we're not mapping the Amazon rainforest, we're helping you buy a bike, recommending the best slice of pizza within pedaling distance, providing directions on how to get there, and letting you pay for it via your phone. From Google Maps and Google Places to Google Offers and Google Wallet, the Commerce and Local team helps our users navigate the world around them.

The role: Product Ontology Program Manager

Google's projects, like our users, span the globe and require managers to keep the big picture in focus. As a Program Manager at Google, you lead complex, multi-disciplinary projects. You plan requirements with internal customers and usher projects through the entire project lifecycle. This includes managing project schedules, identifying risks and clearly communicating goals to project stakeholders. Your projects often span offices, time zones and hemispheres, and it's your job to keep all the players coordinated on the project's progress and deadlines.

In this role you will work in a fast-paced environment, partner closely with our Product and Engineering teams, and use your entrepreneurial drive to contribute to the long-term growth of Google Shopping. As a Program Manager for the product ontology for Google Shopping, you will continually enhance the online shopping experience on Google Shopping through managing a robust product ontology. You will drive efficiency and quality improvements, socialize the ontology with merchants, and collaborate across groups to drive the continual evolution of world-class classification technology.

Responsibilities:

• Quickly learn and build expertise in new processes and technical applications using data and understanding of processes to manage and drive tool and workflow efficiency improvements and changes of varying complexity through collaboration with Engineering.
• Maintain diverse product knowledge on thousands of products through research and analysis of data from multiple channels, and use this knowledge to establish product-specific definitions and grow Google’s product taxonomy; with emphasis on understanding and determining product boundaries and the boundaries between products and features.
• Prioritize and manage projects and deliverables effectively, quickly adapting projects to changing processes and requirements.
• Manage the online publication and communication related to Google’s product taxonomy, and evaluate and take action on merchant feedback.

Minimum Qualifications:

• BA/BS (in lieu of degree, 4 years relevant work experience).
• 2 years of related industry experience in project management coupled with a background in information management, online shopping, programming, machine learning, or automated knowledge systems.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience identifying and driving process efficiency improvements.
• Knowledge of Library Science.
• Masterful use of written and verbal communication skills.
• Action-oriented with excellent organizational and project management skills, and a proven ability to manage multiple assignments simultaneously, work independently and drive projects to completion with minimum guidance and high attention to detail. -Independent problem solver with natural intellectual curiosity, research, fact-finding, and analytical skills.
• Adaptable, flexible, and capable of working independently with both local and distributed teams.