Contractors’ Warehouse —
Pathway to Product Apprenticeship

Position Purpose:

The primary responsibility of the Product Management Apprentice is to develop product management skills through THD’s 6-month immersive training program (business hours Monday-Friday). Through this program, Apprentices who are interested in growing into a product management role will learn how to find the fastest way to deliver business value to drive sales, improve efficiency, and improve customer experience through the production of quality products. Within their designated enterprise product line, Product Management Apprentices work closely with teams of technology engineers and user experience designers. 
Upon successful completion of the training program, Apprentices who have demonstrated the skills necessary for an entry-level product management role, will have the opportunity to be considered for THD’s open product management positions. 

This program is open to any Home Depot Field Associates in good performance standing with at least one (1) continuous year of employment with the Company at time of application. Time in Position requirements apply. 

Location: Apprentices will be expected to work in-person at the Atlanta Corporate Office (Store Support Center) during the 6 month program.

Key Responsibilities:

• 20% – Delivery and Execution – Formulates, tests and refines assumptions and hypotheses through user research and testing. Creates, prioritizes, and accepts user stories; incorporates them into release planning. Makes product decisions that drive value on a daily basis. Identifies and considers pros, cons, issues, obstacles, dependencies, and value associated with features and enhancements. Participates in standups, iteration planning sessions, product demos, and retrospectives. Condenses complex technical concepts into non-technical language for stakeholders.
• 60% – Learning- Participate in learning activities around product management core practices. Work under the direction and guidance of program instructors to build a well-rounded product management skillset. Proactively view articles, tutorials, and videos to learn about product management best practices. Increase business acumen by learning about other parts of the business.
• 10% – People – Fosters collaboration with team members (Software Engineers, User Experience Designers, etc.) to drive value and identify and resolve impediments. Advocates for the end user and stakeholder by becoming a domain expert, empathizing with and understanding user needs. Works with the product team to continuously assess progress, disseminate lessons learned, and understand next steps.
• 10% -Strategy & Planning – Listens to and knows the customers of the product; gains understanding of customer needs to help determine minimum viable product (MVP) as well as future needs. Identifies goals, metrics, and analytics to determine product value; continually make recommendations and refinements to the product backlog based on learnings. Manages and grooms the product backlog; makes future decisions based on the value that will be delivered. Monitors research as well as the competitive landscape to recommend the best solutions and ensure that products remain or become best in class.

Direct Manager/Direct Reports:

• This position reports to Product Management Manager or Senior Manager.
• This position has no direct reports.

Travel Requirements:

• Typically requires overnight travel less than 5% of the time.

Physical Requirements:

• Most of the time is spent sitting in a comfortable position and there is frequent opportunity to move about. On rare occasions, there may be a need to move or lift light articles.

Working Conditions:

• Located in a comfortable indoor area. Any unpleasant conditions would be infrequent and not objectionable.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Must be eighteen years of age or older.
• Must be legally permitted to work in the United States.
• Ability to commit to a 6-month full-time course (Monday through Friday during business hours)
• A minimum tenure of 1 continuous year with The Home Depot

Preferred Qualifications:

• 0-1 years of relevant work experience
• Exposure to modern software development product management practices and agile methodologies 
• Experience working in a fast paced, fluid environment where priorities shift on a regular basis
• Experience communicating with and influencing functional and technical team members at all levels in the organization
• Interest in working as part of a collaborative, cross-functional, modern software design and development team
• Exposure to creating, prioritizing, and accepting user stories
• Experience conducting user research and testing to understand needs
• Exposure to identifying goals, metrics, and analytics to measure product value
• Demonstrates a natural curiosity and experience using technology to solve problems
• Experience leading a team to achieve an objective
• Experience influencing others outside your direct management to achieve a shared outcome

Minimum Education:

• The knowledge, skills and abilities typically acquired through the completion of a high school diploma and/or GED.

Preferred Education:

• The knowledge, skills and abilities typically acquired through the completion of a bachelor's degree program or equivalent degree in a field of study related to the job.

Minimum Years of Work Experience:

• 0

Preferred Years of Work Experience:

• No additional years of experience

Minimum Leadership Experience:

• None

Preferred Leadership Experience:

• None

Certifications:

• None

Competencies:

• Business Insight
• Nimble Learning
• Self-Development
• Collaborates
• Cultivates Innovation
• Communicates Effectively
• Customer Focus
• Drives Results
• Interpersonal Savvy
• Organizational Savvy