Assistant Manager – ACES (M1)

Role Summary: The Assistant Manager – ACES (M1) is responsible for owning end-to-end product modules or workflows and translating customer and business needs into clear product direction and predictable delivery. The role demands strong ownership of prioritization, sprint planning, customer commitments, and cross-functional execution, while ensuring product stability, quality, and adherence to the defined roadmap.

Location: Calicut

Reporting to: COO

Level: M1

Function: ACES

Number of Openings: 2

Positioning in the Operating Model:

• Acts as the single Product Owner for assigned products or modules
• Converts structured inputs from Sales and Support into clear product decisions
• Works closely with Engineering to balance feasibility, effort, and business impact
• Ensures execution aligns with defined product intent and roadmap priorities

Key Responsibilities: a) Product Ownership & Roadmap

• Own assigned products and contribute to the overall product roadmap
• Translate customer, sales, and support inputs into validated product priorities
• Ensure roadmap adherence and recommend changes based on market trends and regulatory requirements
• Clearly articulate the “what” and “why” behind initiatives
• Define and communicate product-level vision
• Maintain continuous focus on customer and business value
• Support the Manager / Senior Manager with strategic inputs and planning

b) Prioritization & Sprint Planning

• Own feature prioritization aligned with the approved product roadmap
• Finalize sprint scope in collaboration with Engineering and key stakeholders
• Actively participate in sprint planning, reviews, and retrospectives
• Ensure sprint capacity allocation adheres to defined policies

c) Customer Commitment & Communication

• Own customer date commitments for assigned modules
• Ensure commitments are validated and confirmed with Engineering before communication
• Proactively identify and manage delivery risks
• Treat any scope change as a new work item with revised timelines

d) Execution & Delivery

• Ensure backlog readiness, documentation quality, and acceptance criteria before sprint initiation
• Lock sprint scope once development begins and prevent ad-hoc changes
• Track progress against committed timelines and outcomes
• Identify risks early and escalate concerns proactively
• Ensure quality, completeness, and acceptance of deliverables
• Ensure timely customer demos for major feature deliveries
• Monitor execution, manage deviations, and minimize escalations
• Ensure closure of all committed outcomes

e) Release Management

• Prepare release notes and drive internal release approvals
• Manage release communications and status updates through the internal ticketing system

f) Cross-Functional Leadership

• Act as the primary product point of contact
• Coordinate closely with Engineering, Sales, Implementation, and Support teams
• Partner with Engineering on planning, feasibility, and delivery
• Communicate priorities, decisions, and trade-offs clearly
• Proactively manage stakeholder expectations

g) People Leadership & Product Maturity

• Guide and review the work of A3/A4 Product roles
• Ensure high quality of BRDs, user stories, and discovery artifacts
• Reinforce product hygiene, documentation standards, and best practices
• Demonstrate strong ownership and accountability
• Act as a role model for execution discipline and delivery rigor

Decision-Making Authority: Can Decide Independently

• Feature prioritization within assigned products
• Scope and sequencing decisions
• Trade-offs within sprint and release cycles

Must Align / Escalate

• Roadmap changes impacting other modules or products
• Major scope, timeline, or delivery risks
• Conflicts requiring cross-team or leadership intervention

Success Metrics:

• On-time delivery and release predictability
• Feature adoption and reduction in customer escalations
• Requirement clarity and reduced rework
• Stakeholder trust and collaboration effectiveness
• Team enablement effectiveness (A3/A4 support and growth)

Skills & Competencies: Skill Area Expectation Product Fundamentals- Strong understanding of the product lifecycle Customer Thinking- Ability to understand and prioritize user pain points Execution Rigor- Structured and disciplined delivery approach Communication- Clear, concise, and actionable Data Awareness- Uses metrics to inform decisions

Behavioral Expectations

• Strong ownership mindset
• Bias for action
• Comfortable handling product-level ambiguity
• Collaborative, accountable, and dependable
• Detail-oriented without losing overall context

Summary: The Assistant Manager – ACES (M1) owns end-to-end product execution with accountability for outcomes and serves as a critical bridge between feature delivery and broader product ownership. The role ensures stability, predictability, and consistent customer value through disciplined execution and strong cross-functional collaboration.