Major League Baseball is on a multi-year mission to reimagine the fan journey and bring innovation to the baseball experience. The MLB Ballpark app and ticketing products are the primary touch points for converging the physical and digital worlds for fans, providing deeper interactions when planning or attending live games at the ballpark and creating lifelong memories. 

The Senior Product Operations Manager role within the MLB Ballpark Experience and Ticketing Product organization will be responsible for operationally delivering “phygital” experiences (i.e., those combining physical and digital elements) that will enhance the fan’s experience getting into the ballpark, while at the game, and leaving the stadium. This role will be a key member of the MLB Product team to activate key elements of the fan’s ballpark experience related to attending games. You will be responsible for operationalizing the “Phygital Experiences” roadmap, working with Product Owners and Product Designers, Software Engineers, as well as cross-functional internal MLB and Club stakeholders, to see initiatives through from ideation and development, to pilot, to scaled deployment across MLB ballparks and related locations.   

By way of example, you will be involved with the activation of several innovative technologies, including the league-wide rollout and evolution of MLB Go-Ahead Entry, the new stadium ingress solution that combines free-flow security screening with facial authentication-based access control, resulting in a fast, hands-free, eyes-up entry into the ballpark for fans. With a focus on venue activations, the Senior Product Operations Manager will participate in the creation of and lead the coordination and execution of tasks in the go-to-market (“GTM”) strategy, often with hands-on involvement at the stadium. The ability to travel is required to be an in-person subject matter expert to both identify and execute deployments to ensure success. You will be required to handle all aspects of logistics for individual GTM strategies in partnership with Clubs in their respective MLB markets. You will also be a key stakeholder for future Phygital Experiences (e.g., biometrics-based payments for concessions and in-venue merchandise at MLB ballparks). 

Additionally, the Senior Product Operations Manager will be responsible for communication regarding progress to both internal and external stakeholders, prioritizing process and project management of all tasks and exploring continuous measurement opportunities for experience success.  This role will actively work with program leads to decisively propose and activate adjustments for any GTM and fan education strategy based on hands-on experience and previous results and feedback, ensuring solutions deliver value to baseball fans.

The ideal Senior Product Operations Manager has operationally delivered consumer-facing products and features and is obsessed with delighting fans. They will be forward-thinking in how to identify problems and associated risk mitigation tactics, suggest and implement improvements, and effectively iterate on processes to create a streamlined and efficient activation plan to move ideas into action. The ideal candidate is highly organized, detail-oriented, creative, pragmatic, and able to corral many different requirements to craft an inspiring yet feasible product launch plan. The successful candidate will operate effectively in a cross-functional partnership with the MLB User Experience Design, Product, Marketing, Engineering, Stadium Operations, and Security teams to bring business decisions to life.  

CANDIDATE PROFILE

Education and Experience

• 8+ years in a technology-related field delivering projects of the highest quality and with measurable impact to end users and the business.

• 7+ years in product and operations management. Strong portfolio of operational logistics involving consumer-facing products & services. 

• Possess a strong ownership mindset and maintain excellent project management skills in driving complex and multifaceted initiatives to the finish line.  

• Detail-oriented and a solution-based thinker with demonstrated success in managing large-scale, multi-vendor projects with complex approval and quality assurance processes.

• Strong written, verbal, and presentation skills.  

• Must be able to work independently and have strong working relationships with relevant stakeholders.  

• Ability to understand new technologies quickly.

• A passion and experience with using metrics/analytics to deliver on business objectives.

• Previous Access Control/Ticketing/Stadium Operations experience within Theme Park or Sports Industries is a plus.

• Previous experience with hardware & physical rollouts is a plus.

• Ability to make quick strategic decisions, prioritizing and executing on goals.

• Travel estimated at 30%-40%  

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS 

• Partner with Digital Product and Technology teams to operationalize the “Phygital Experiences” roadmap, managing operational projects and explorations from initial concepts through GTM, carrying initial conceptual work through to a shipped product that scales across multiple venues.

• Provide hands-on support for operational tasks in-market to support seamless and effective product launches.    

• Manage all project management tasks associated with operational logistics for a program launch in-market.

• Advocate direction and business needs cross-functional team members for successful fan-centric execution based on hands-on experience.   

• Develop relationships with other departments to ensure cross-functional alignment on features, design, development, testing, and deployments to orchestrate phygital product activations and GTM effectiveness. Includes both internal and external tech partners (e.g., Software Engineering, UX, Customer Support, Marketing, Security, Infrastructure, Operations, etc.) and business stakeholders (e.g., Clubs, vendors) on feature scope, delivery, and execution.

• Participate in the evaluation and exploration of innovative products and partnerships that will keep baseball on the leading edge of the technology experience for decades to come.

You May Be a Good Fit If You:

• Are a baseball fan, love professional sports, or are an avid event-goer (e.g., concerts, etc.).

• Are self-directed, detail-oriented, and a proactive problem solver who is able to work both independently as well as effectively lead or perform a key role as a member of a team.

• Are fan-obsessed. Your approach to delivering new products and features is motivated by the chance to improve the fan experience for all. 

• Have an outcome-focused approach that ensures your operational processes are executable and steadfast to positively impact the fan experience. 

• Have an iterative mindset, obsessed with continuous process and operational  improvement. 

• Have the ability to execute with purpose. You bring clarity and decisiveness in the face of a wide variety of inputs, often conflicting (e.g., data, strategies, opinions, insights, competing agendas). 

• Have worked closely with marketing, design, and data science teams to make recommendations for a coherent and inspiring GTM plan that is scalable.

• Have demonstrated experience working with insights derived from quantitative and qualitative research to improve processes.   

• Have the ability to dive deep into the details and keep the holistic fan experience as the guiding light. 

• Have experience with consumer-facing media, customer experience platforms. or interactive products. 

• Are a forward-thinking embracer of technology who is adept at synthesizing a variety of technologies and capabilities.

• Have a strong understanding of technology architecture and system integrations.

• Have a proven track record of delivering world-class experiences to customers in a fast-paced, dynamic business environment.  

• Have a knowledge and passion for consumer-related metrics, customer acquisition and retention, and GTM strategies for technology products and services.

Why MLB?

Major League Baseball (MLB) is the most historic of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. Employees love working at MLB because of the culture of growth, teamwork, and professionalism. Employees who are most successful at MLB take initiative, know how to identify problems and provide solutions, and always put the Team first. For those ready to step up to the plate and join the Major Leagues, MLB takes the same approach as teams do with their players: empowering our “workforce athletes” to be at their best by engineering experiences that put employees in the best position to succeed. Major League Baseball is looking for candidates who are passionate about growing America’s pastime to best serve its fans for decades to come.

MLB’s vision is to be the global sport of choice for youth to play, fans of all backgrounds to enjoy and a desired destination for employment. With a belief that the journey to growth and greatness is ongoing, MLB gives employees the opportunity to continue learning and honing their skills with programs such as: tuition reimbursement; mentorship programs; lunch and learns; online course subscriptions; paid industry certifications; business resource groups; and more.

MLB provides its employees with exceptional medical, dental, and vision coverage. Premiums are 100% employer covered to help employees focus on being their best!

Major League Baseball is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.  We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know. 

Are you ready to Step Up to the Plate? Apply below!

Per the NYC pay transparency law, the hiring range for this position is $130,000 - $165,000.

If you are interested in joining our team and require a reasonable accommodation to assist with any part of the application and/or interview process, please contact us by email at: [email protected]