Forward-Deployed Technical Product Manager

Summary

Impruve is a boutique forward-deployed engineering firm that helps wealth management firms achieve business results with AI. The Forward-Deployed Technical Product Manager will embed with clients, translate ambiguous needs into production systems, manage stakeholders and requirements, prototype AI solutions, and guide engineering delivery across multiple engagements. The role will also help automate Impruve’s internal operations and shape the firm’s growing delivery practice.

Responsibilities

• Own the Client Relationship: You’re the person a $5B RIA calls when they want to automate their compliance review process but can’t articulate what that means yet. You embed with their team, earn trust across the org chart, and stay candid about what’s realistic, including the hard conversations about what we won’t build
• Turn Fuzzy Goals Into Shipped Systems: Clients come to us with “we want AI in our workflow.” Your job is to figure out which workflow, why it matters, and what “done” looks like, then write the requirements that engineers can actually build against. You own the outcome through delivery, not just the spec
• Prototype Before We Commit: Before we put an engineer on something for two weeks, you’ve already built a rough version with Claude and put it in front of the client’s ops team to see if it actually solves the problem. You test assumptions with real users, not slide decks
• Be the Person Who Speaks Both Languages: You can sit in a client’s quarterly planning meeting and hear what they’re actually asking for underneath the buzzwords, then turn around and have a real conversation with engineers about whether that’s a RAG pipeline or a rules engine, and why it matters
• Juggle Multiple Clients Without Dropping Anything: You’ll run two or three engagements at once. That means knowing which client needs a check-in call and which one needs you to leave the engineers alone for a week. You make good calls with incomplete information and flag early when something’s off
• Run Our Own House on AI: We tell clients to rebuild their operations around AI, so ours have to be better. You’ll build agents that automate how we manage projects, track engagements, and surface risks. If a process at Impruve is manual and repetitive, you’re the person who makes it not
• Shape the Firm: You’d have a real hand in how we run engagements and how Impruve scales. We’re building a practice, not just executing projects

Skills

• 2+ Years in a Hybrid Product / Technical Role: Product management, technical project management, solutions engineering, or an engineering role where you were the person talking to stakeholders. Consulting and services backgrounds count
• Technical Fluency: You don't need to be a full-time engineer, but you can read code, understand system architecture, and have an informed opinion about build-vs-buy and technical tradeoffs. Engineers trust your judgment
• Comfortable in the Room: You hold your own in front of clients. You can explain technical concepts without oversimplifying or hiding behind jargon, including the hard conversations about scope and tradeoffs
• AI-Native, Not AI-Curious: You don't just use AI tools. You build with them. You've prototyped with Claude or similar, you've automated parts of your own workflow, and you have opinions about what works and what doesn't. We're an AI firm. If you're still in the “experimenting” phase, this role will move too fast
• Bias for Outcomes: You judge your own work by what changed for the client, not by what you produced
• Scrappy and Curious: You'd rather try something and see what happens than wait until you're certain. You don't need prior experience in wealth management or financial services; we'll teach you the domain
• Requires US work authorization; we can't sponsor visas
• We work on a hybrid in-person / remote schedule from our Chicago office, but we're open to fully remote for candidates outside Chicago

Qualifications

Must Haves

• 2+ Years in a Hybrid Product / Technical Role: Product management, technical project management, solutions engineering, or an engineering role where you were the person talking to stakeholders. Consulting and services backgrounds count
• Technical Fluency: You don't need to be a full-time engineer, but you can read code, understand system architecture, and have an informed opinion about build-vs-buy and technical tradeoffs. Engineers trust your judgment
• Comfortable in the Room: You hold your own in front of clients. You can explain technical concepts without oversimplifying or hiding behind jargon, including the hard conversations about scope and tradeoffs
• AI-Native, Not AI-Curious: You don't just use AI tools. You build with them. You've prototyped with Claude or similar, you've automated parts of your own workflow, and you have opinions about what works and what doesn't. We're an AI firm. If you're still in the “experimenting” phase, this role will move too fast
• Bias for Outcomes: You judge your own work by what changed for the client, not by what you produced
• Scrappy and Curious: You'd rather try something and see what happens than wait until you're certain. You don't need prior experience in wealth management or financial services; we'll teach you the domain
• Requires US work authorization; we can't sponsor visas
• We work on a hybrid in-person / remote schedule from our Chicago office, but we're open to fully remote for candidates outside Chicago

Benefits

• Hybrid in-person / remote schedule from the Chicago office
• Fully remote work for candidates outside Chicago