Description
Spok is looking for a self-directed and entrepreneurial Product Manager to own the strategy, roadmap, and execution for our telephony and voice product lines, and manage the strategy and implementations of related partnerships. Telephony is the foundation everything else in our platform depends on: PBX interoperability, call control, routing, and the CTI layer that ties voice infrastructure into the applications our customers use every day, including the Spok Operator Console that healthcare contact centers rely on for code calls, paging, and on-call workflows.
This role is primarily about telephony native capabilities, depth and strategy, the platforms we integrate with (including with partners), where we invest, and how we stay ahead of shifts in the market (PBX vendors, CCaaS/UCaaS platforms, cloud voice). Contact center and operator console workflows are an important downstream consumer of that strategy, and you'll partner closely with the product and development teams who own those experiences to ensure Spok's portfolio remains the leader in critical communications.
What you'll own
Telephony, voice strategy, related AI-strategy and roadmap
>Define and own the multi-year telephony and voice product strategy, PBX interoperability (Cisco, Avaya and others), call routing, voice quality/reliability, and call-control architecture. This role will also be firmly required to have a position on where we do not pursue partnerships or technology integrations based on market, customer and Spok enterprise strategy.
>Become a knowledge expert on how Spok CTI and Spok Operator Contact Centers, combined, are a differentiated experience compared to competitors; must craft engagement with marketing to evangelize and expand thought-leadership.
>Prioritize release schedule and roadmap for telephony platforms and protocols based on market demand, technical feasibility, and customer impact.
>Build the business case for telephony and voice initiatives, including market sizing, competitive positioning, pricing strategy and expected outcomes.
>Track the competitive and vendor landscape (PBX vendors, CCaaS/UCaaS platforms, cloud voice trends) and translate shifts into roadmap implications and build-vs-partner-vs-buy decisions.
>Maintain a detailed working knowledge of the broader UCaaS and CCaaS market, major players (e.g., Genesys, NICE, Five9, RingCentral, 8x8, Cisco Webex, Microsoft Teams, Talkdesk, Amazon Connect), their platform strategies, and where the market is consolidating or shifting, and use that knowledge to inform where Spok should build, integrate, or partner.
>Serve as the internal expert on telephony and voice, the person leadership, sales, and delivery teams turn to for direction and answers.
>Partner with Platform Product Managers on topics, including but not limited to, CTI/Telephony Epics, Stories and all aspects of the PDLC.
>Customer experience as it relates to existing and future products, you must be willing and able to engage with clients at a senior level as well as working team level.
>Understand and exploit AI capabilities of partners and Spok platform, as appropriate to deliver market-driven solutions.
>Define and document the roadmap and backlog priority through Confluence, Jira and related tooling; own the product roadmap for the enterprise.
CTI and integration architecture
>Own requirements for CTI and call-control integration across major telephony platforms and protocols (e.g., SIP, CSTA/TSAPI/TAPI, and vendor-specific APIs).
>Partner with technical product managers, engineering on CTI middleware, call-control interfaces, presence, and event handling, including how those events surface into downstream applications.
>Balance depth of integration against maintainability and the realities of supporting many customer telephony environments.
>Ensure telephony and CTI integrations meet the reliability and availability expectations of a mission-critical hospital environment.
Partner strategy and collaboration
>Define and own the telephony partner strategy, which PBX and cloud platform vendors we integrate with, how deeply, and in what priority; all while maintaining and expanding Spok's leading IP and market position.
>Build and maintain strategic and working relationships with partner product and engineering teams to align roadmaps, resolve integration issues, and unlock new capabilities.
>Evaluate potential UCaaS and CCaaS partnerships, assessing platform fit, competitive overlap, and integration depth, and make clear build-vs-partner recommendations to leadership.
>Represent Spok in joint technical planning, certification programs, and co-development efforts.
Contact center and operator workflow collaboration (secondary focus)
>Partner with the product team(s) owning the Operator Console and contact center workflows to make sure telephony and CTI capabilities support what operators need, screen pop, call answer/hold/transfer/conference, ANI/DNIS-based routing, directory tie-ins, and call logging.
>Provide telephony and CTI input into operator workflow design, particularly for high-volume, high-stakes scenarios (code calls, mass notification, disaster events).
Go-to-market and delivery enablement
>Partner with marketing, sales engineering, professional services, support and other enablement teams to position telephony and CTI capabilities and support the sales cycle.
>Conduct sales, services, support training as required for releases and partner with technical product management to deliver comprehensive insights on the capabilities.
>Gather and act on feedback from field deployments to continuously improve the product.
Required Education, Skills & Experience
>Bachelor degree
>3-5 years in product management, with material experience driving telephony, PBX, UC, or voice infrastructure products.
>Strong, hands-on understanding of telephony technology, PBX/SIP concepts, call control, routing, and CTI/call-control APIs (SIP, CSTA, TAPI/TSAPI).
>Working knowledge of the UCaaS and CCaaS market, key players, platform strategies, and competitive dynamics, and how to translate that market knowledge into product and partner strategy.
>Experience working in partnerships, ways-of-working and leading bi-lateral planning with partners and prospective partners.
>Proven understanding and technical acumen working closely with engineering on integration architecture and third-party telephony APIs.
>Demonstrated ability to define and drive a technical or middleware strategy and roadmap.
>Excellent written and verbal communication; able to move fluidly between deep technical detail and executive-level strategy.
>Hands on Jira/Confluence daily management and periodic team and executive level presentations and data.
Pay and Benefits: There are a host of factors that can influence final salary for a position at Spok, including, but not limited to, geographic location, relevant prior work experience, specific skills and competencies, education, and certifications. Our employees value the flexibility at Spok that allows them to balance quality work and their personal lives. We offer competitive compensation, benefits and learning and development opportunities. Our broad and competitive mix of benefits options is designed to support and protect employees and their families. At Spok, you will receive comprehensive benefits such as; three robust health, pharmacy, vision and dental care plans including a health savings account option, wellness, financial wellness, retirement, family support, continuing education, and time off benefits.
Spok is a trademark of Spok Holdings, Inc. Spok Mobile and Spok Care Connect are trademarks of Spok, Inc.
