Product Manager (LA Receivables)

At Ford Motor Company, we believe freedom of movement drives human progress. We also believe in providing you with the freedom to define and realise your dreams. With our incredible plans for the future of mobility, we have a wide variety of opportunities for you to accelerate your career potential as you help us define tomorrow’s transportation. As the financial engine of Ford, Ford Credit is at the heart of the Ford customer experience. By transforming how we enable customers to own and finance vehicles, we are ultimately transforming the way people access and interact with transportation on a global scale.

Ford Credit is experiencing a significant business transformation. While we build the future, we must ensure our core engines remain robust, compliant, and efficient. We are looking for a Product Manager for our LA Receivables Platform—the critical backbone that underpins loan processing and receivables for our UK and German markets. This is a high-visibility role where you will manage the delicate balance between maintaining a business-critical legacy system and paving the way for our digital future.

Are you a pragmatic problem-solver who thrives on understanding the "how" behind complex, large-scale systems? Do you have the negotiation skills to align diverse stakeholders and the discipline to prioritize value in a resource-constrained environment?

We are seeking a Product Manager for LA Receivables to lead the strategic direction of our legacy mainframe platform. This platform is at the core of our receivables operations in the UK and Germany. You won't just be maintaining a system; you will be the guardian of its integrity, the architect of its backlog, and a key player in the eventual migration to a modernized infrastructure. This is a rare opportunity to manage a high-impact product that touches many aspects of the Ford Credit lifecycle.

As the Product Manager for LA Receivables, you will own the product backlog and delivery strategy for our UK and German markets. You will collaborate with engineering teams, legal experts, and business leaders to:

• Own the Backlog: Lead the prioritization of the LA platform backlog, ensuring every development hour is spent on initiatives that deliver maximum business value and operational stability. 
• Stakeholder Alignment: Act as the central point of contact for stakeholders across the UK and Germany, navigating competing priorities and building consensus on the product roadmap. 
• Capacity Management: Make disciplined, data-driven decisions on how to allocate limited engineering capacity, balancing "must-have" compliance/legal items against business enhancements. 
• Technical Deep-Dives: Roll up your sleeves to understand the intricacies of an aging but vital mainframe system, translating complex business requirements into technical priorities for the engineering team. 
• Scrutinise & Validate: Critically evaluate all incoming requests—including mandatory legal and compliance items—to validate their impact, necessity, and value before commitment. 
• Drive Pragmatic Innovation: Identify opportunities to optimize current processes within technical constraints, focusing on outcomes and efficiency over mere activity. 
• Modernization Roadmap: Play a pivotal role in the long-term strategy to decommission the legacy platform, supporting data migration and the transition of services to modernized systems. 
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with other product teams to ensure the LA platform integrates seamlessly with newer front-end and middle-tier services.

Essential Criteria

• Legacy Platform Experience: Proven experience managing complex software products, ideally within a legacy or mainframe environment (back-end systems). 
• Masterful Negotiation: Exceptional influencing and negotiation skills, with the confidence to challenge stakeholders constructively and say "no" when necessary to protect platform integrity. 
• Financial Services Knowledge: A deep understanding of receivables, loan processing, or financial operations is highly desirable. 
• Pragmatic Problem Solving: A value-driven mindset with the ability to work within technical constraints and make trade-offs that favor long-term stability and ROI. 
• Matrixed Leadership: Experience collaborating effectively with engineering teams (onshore and offshore) and navigating a complex, matrixed global organization. 
• Data-Driven Decision Making: Ability to utilize metrics and impact analysis to inform prioritization and demonstrate the value of platform work. 
• Educational Background: Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of experience and education.

Desirable Criteria - You are:

• Detail-Oriented & Curious: You aren't afraid of "black box" systems; you have a desire to get into the weeds of how things work to better advocate for the product. 
• Migration-Ready: Experience with large-scale data migrations or the decommissioning of legacy systems is a significant plus. 
• Resilient & Adaptable: You thrive in high-visibility roles and remain calm under the pressure of managing business-critical systems. 
• Outcome-Focused: You prioritize "getting the job done" and delivering tangible business benefits over following a rigid process.

As the Product Manager for LA Receivables, you will own the product backlog and delivery strategy for our UK and German markets. You will collaborate with engineering teams, legal experts, and business leaders to:

• Own the Backlog: Lead the prioritization of the LA platform backlog, ensuring every development hour is spent on initiatives that deliver maximum business value and operational stability. 
• Stakeholder Alignment: Act as the central point of contact for stakeholders across the UK and Germany, navigating competing priorities and building consensus on the product roadmap. 
• Capacity Management: Make disciplined, data-driven decisions on how to allocate limited engineering capacity, balancing "must-have" compliance/legal items against business enhancements. 
• Technical Deep-Dives: Roll up your sleeves to understand the intricacies of an aging but vital mainframe system, translating complex business requirements into technical priorities for the engineering team. 
• Scrutinise & Validate: Critically evaluate all incoming requests—including mandatory legal and compliance items—to validate their impact, necessity, and value before commitment. 
• Drive Pragmatic Innovation: Identify opportunities to optimize current processes within technical constraints, focusing on outcomes and efficiency over mere activity. 
• Modernization Roadmap: Play a pivotal role in the long-term strategy to decommission the legacy platform, supporting data migration and the transition of services to modernized systems. 
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with other product teams to ensure the LA platform integrates seamlessly with newer front-end and middle-tier services.

Essential Criteria

• Legacy Platform Experience: Proven experience managing complex software products, ideally within a legacy or mainframe environment (back-end systems). 
• Masterful Negotiation: Exceptional influencing and negotiation skills, with the confidence to challenge stakeholders constructively and say "no" when necessary to protect platform integrity. 
• Financial Services Knowledge: A deep understanding of receivables, loan processing, or financial operations is highly desirable. 
• Pragmatic Problem Solving: A value-driven mindset with the ability to work within technical constraints and make trade-offs that favor long-term stability and ROI. 
• Matrixed Leadership: Experience collaborating effectively with engineering teams (onshore and offshore) and navigating a complex, matrixed global organization. 
• Data-Driven Decision Making: Ability to utilize metrics and impact analysis to inform prioritization and demonstrate the value of platform work. 
• Educational Background: Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of experience and education.

Desirable Criteria - You are:

• Detail-Oriented & Curious: You aren't afraid of "black box" systems; you have a desire to get into the weeds of how things work to better advocate for the product. 
• Migration-Ready: Experience with large-scale data migrations or the decommissioning of legacy systems is a significant plus. 
• Resilient & Adaptable: You thrive in high-visibility roles and remain calm under the pressure of managing business-critical systems. 
• Outcome-Focused: You prioritize "getting the job done" and delivering tangible business benefits over following a rigid process.

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