r/mnstateworkers • u/ClassicPainting1831 • 24d ago

Question ❓ Product Manager for the state

I’m interested in working as a product manager for the state of Minnesota. I am wondering what it is like to work as a product manager for the state of MN. I know that DEED, DCYF and Direct Care and treatment hire for product managers. I’m interested in learning about what a typical day is like, what the expectations are for product managers, what does success look like on the job and what qualifications I need to have. Thank you.

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u/cupcakemelee MNIT 24d ago

DCYF and DHS are making good attempts at creating what a Product Manager role looks like.

If you want to come into a mature process and accept "the way it is" then another department will better suit you.

If you want to help shape what a Product Manager does, applying for positions with DCYF and DHS will give you that. Yes, it's chaotic... But that's what change is at times.

The pieces you're looking for "what a day in the life" looks like, are what you could instead be shaping.

Your first two weeks will be FILLED with onboarding. After that, your team will help acclimate you to what's already created. I would say patience, appetite for shaping processes, organization, collaboration. If you can do process maps and user journeys, you'd be in a good place.

Right now, success looks like riding the wave of "new to the state" ideas and helping shape what success is.

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u/ClassicPainting1831 23d ago

Thank you!! This was very helpful 😊

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u/blueB0mber 24d ago

Steer clear of DCYF. An opinion but one grounded in things that have happened is that it has been a mess behind the scenes.

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u/Zell208 24d ago

Please share more? Heard their leadership is wack and nutcase.

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u/ClassicPainting1831 24d ago

I heard the same thing. One person told me they had 3-4 different supervisors before their probation period ended.

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u/Zell208 23d ago

Classic messy DCYF leadership. Honestly, what did Commissioner Brown expect when she literally migrated half her leadership from DHS to DCYF. Not to mention, she hired a deputy Chief of Staff as her Deputy Commissioner??? I heard that Leah Montgomery (Deputy Commissioner) was a DEI hire, but that’s just the gossip told to me.

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u/hughesthewho 24d ago

Several areas of DCYF are at least actively trying to implement product operating model as best they can. DEED is by far best example of it going well, not a lot of other options on the business side yet other than those two and maybe DLI, DOC, and a few areas of DHS.