Technical Product Manager in Sault Ste. Marie

About Villager and SPACES

Villager is a purpose-built content management system designed for hyper-local news media. It powers 27 owned and operated community news sites across Ontario, Canada, and is licensed by media partners around the world. Built for efficiency, scalability, and local relevance, Villager enables publishers and journalists to focus on what matters most - serving their communities with timely, trustworthy, and engaging stories. Complementing Villager is SPACES, our hyper-local social media platform that connects residents, businesses, and local organizations in real time. Together, Villager and SPACES form a growing digital ecosystem for community engagement - enabling journalism and conversation to thrive at the neighbourhood level.

Role Overview

We are seeking a Technical Project & Product Manager to oversee the development, evolution, and operational success of the Villager CMS platform and SPACES. This role blends technical project management (coordination, delivery, QA, and stakeholder communication) with product management (strategy, roadmap, and innovation). You’ll be the bridge between editorial teams, developers, and business leadership - ensuring that Villager and SPACES continue to scale, innovate, and deliver exceptional value to both internal sites and global licensing partners.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Strategic Leadership
  • Define and own the product vision, roadmap, and strategy in collaboration with executive and editorial stakeholders.
  • Prioritize feature development based on user feedback, analytics, and market trends in digital publishing.
  • Manage the product lifecycle from concept to launch to post-release analysis.
  • Develop business cases for new features, integrations, and partner opportunities.
  • Monitor competitive platforms and emerging technologies to inform product direction.
  • Collaborate with licensing partners to identify global product needs and localization opportunities.
• Delivery & Operations
  • Manage project timelines, sprint planning, and deliverables with the development team.
  • Serve as primary liaison between editorial users, technical teams, and external partners.
  • Translate business requirements into clear technical specifications and ensure successful implementation.
  • Oversee QA processes for new features and updates.
  • Maintain documentation for product features, API integrations, and technical standards.
  • Ensure uptime, scalability, and performance targets are consistently met.
• Stakeholder & Partner Collaboration
  • Act as product ambassador for internal teams and external licensees.
  • Coordinate training, onboarding, and support for partner news organizations.
  • Gather feedback from editors, developers, and management to continuously improve platform usability and functionality.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required:

• 5+ years of experience in technical product management for web platforms, ideally in digital media, SaaS, or CMS environments.
• Strong understanding of web technologies (CMS frameworks; APIs; cloud hosting).
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to convey technical information to non-technical stakeholders, and to communicate with engineering.
• Demonstrated experience defining and delivering product roadmaps aligned with organizational goals.
• Experience writing Product Requirements Documents.

Preferred:

• Experience in news media, publishing, or content management systems.
• Familiarity with SEO, analytics, ad ops, and audience engagement tools.
• Working knowledge of UX/UI principles and design collaboration, including user-centred design.
• Experience managing global partners or licensees.

The Kind of People We're Looking For

Village Media is beyond a traditional media company. We're a community impact organization. Our purpose is to help communities become stronger by keeping people informed, connected, and engaged. That means we look for people who genuinely care about the places they serve. We need teammates who are curious, collaborative, adaptable, and energized by solving problems. You’ll fit right in if you take initiative, embrace change, and are always willing to step outside your job description to help the team or the community succeed.

We're building something ambitious in the digital media space, so we value:

• Humility over ego
• Optimism over cynicism
• Ownership over “that’s not my job”

We move quickly, support one another, and believe meaningful work comes from people who care deeply about both their colleagues and their neighbours. If you're excited by the opportunity to make a real difference where people live, you'll thrive here. At Village Media, aptitude matters. Attitude matters more.

Ideally, we’d like this role to work out of our Sault Ste. Marie office. We’re open to remote candidates in Ontario.

Salary Range: $100,000 - $125,000

Village Media only posts job listings on our careers portal at villagemedia.easyapply.co, on Indeed and on LinkedIn. If you have found this listing anywhere else, it was scraped without our authorization or knowledge, and thus may be expired or inaccurate. We do not use artificial intelligence (AI) to screen, assess or select applicants. This job posting is not for an existing vacancy.

About Village Media

Village Media is a leading digital media company dedicated to strengthening local communities through trusted journalism, technology, and civic engagement. Headquartered in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Village Media operates a growing network of local news publications and community platforms across Canada and the United States. Village Media is committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion among our staff, volunteers, programs, and partners. We encourage applicants of diverse abilities, backgrounds, and life experiences to apply. If you require accommodations during the selection process, please contact hr@villagemedia.ca.