Product Manager
Sky-High Innovations: Leading Digital Product Development in the RSAF
Hello KK, nice to meet you! Could you introduce yourself?
Hi! I am KK, a product manager at RAiD for about two years now. I used to be an Air Force Engineer for about six to seven years before I had the opportunity to work in a cyber unit for a year. After that, I joined RAiD in mid-2022.
Could you tell us what is happening in the photo above?
This was taken by BESPIN (US Air Force software factory) while I was on a US software factory visit in November 2022 with Gek Peng and two other RAiDers. This was the photo where I questioned one of the product teams there on how they were managing accidental input of classified data onto unclassified apps. This was where the idea of collaborating with BESPIN on STARGAZER was seeded.
What excites you most about the product manager role here?
It is a challenging role because I need to balance managing different groups of people while overseeing the product. From collaborating with my development and cloud teams to ensuring that the product goals align with the business objectives, I also have to wear the hat of a businessman to secure stakeholder buy-in, which is vital for sustaining the product. Lastly, pioneering such a role in the RSAF under RAiD adds another layer of challenge to the job, which I look forward to.
What are some of your favourite project management tools or methodologies?
I am all for being agile. There aren't specific 'favourite' tools on my list; it really depends on what suits the team and the product I am building. As long as the tools used aid in product development and delivery, then they are my favourite for that project! This approach also allows me to be agile and exposed to different tooling and methodologies. Tools like JIRA, MIRO and GitLab are great collaboration tools, even for starters, as they are relatively intuitive to use, and there is documentation available to help newcomers.
What are some of the challenges you have faced as a product manager in RAiD?
As mentioned earlier, this job scope is relatively new to the SAF/RSAF. Therefore, the greatest challenge initially was not having someone to look up to as a mentor when facing challenging scenarios. Another key challenge is expecting the unexpected, which is inherent to the job. Product requirements and expectations are ever-changing, and for complex projects, challenges involve spending time to ensure I understand the context of the problem as well as helping the business owners to derive value and impact that the potential product can bring. It is always a challenge to help people not to fixate on solutions while formulating the problem statement. In doing so, I try to provide clarity to bridge any gaps between business owners' expectations and what my development team and User Experience (UX) designer understand before development starts.
Lastly, what is your favourite way to celebrate project success?
I gather the team for a nice meal together. More importantly, I want to celebrate big or small successes with the team. I will relay to my team the appreciation and value they helped the end users gain as and when the team has delivered major product milestones and feature releases. Additionally, I 'celebrate' the success of the product by finding more successes aka sharing it with more people, gathering potential business use cases in hopes of increasing the product's adoption rate.
Responsibilities
As the squad leader, you shall organise and lead sprints, and delegate development tasks to individual developers.
Monitor and ensure features are developed to good quality and standard within the required time frame.
Communicate directly with the product owner to flesh out user stories and requirements.
Handle all staff work and bureaucratic tasks necessary to enable unhindered software development work of the squad, including equipping, software services, and cyber security compliance