Principal Product Manager

Principal PM – Fulfillment & Shipping Platform Role Overview  At RPI Print/Blurb, we are transforming how products are created, produced, and delivered worldwide. Every day, our cloud-based platform powers millions of personalized, on-demand items that reach customers with speed, quality, and sustainability. We partner with leading brands, publishers, and creative platforms, including Blurb.com, our consumer-facing self-publishing brand, to bring ideas to life at global scale. By combining innovative technology with a distributed manufacturing network, RPI/Blurb is reimagining the future of personalized production.We are seeking a Principal Product Manager to lead and evolve our shipping and fulfillment platform.  This role sits at the intersection of product, engineering, operations, and finance. You will define and drive the strategy for how we estimate, quote, purchase, and reconcile shipping – establishing scalable, API-driven systems leveraging AI and automation to drive cost accuracy, margin performance, and customer experience.  This is a high-impact role with end-to-end ownership of a complex and business-critical domain. You will be responsible for translating operational and financial complexity into clear, scalable product solutions, while aligning cross-functional teams around a shared direction.  What You’ll Own  1. Shipping Platform Strategy & Ownership  You will define and lead the evolution of our shipping capabilities as a core platform function.  Establish the product strategy for shipping across estimation, quoting, label purchasing, and reconciliation   Define how shipping operates across multiple customer models, including shipping on our accounts and customer-owned accounts   Set direction for how we balance cost accuracy, margin targets, and customer experience   Identify and prioritize the highest-impact opportunities to improve system performance and scalability   2. Shipping Quote & Estimation Systems (API Ownership)  You will own and evolve our shipping quote API into a foundational platform capability.  Define and refine distinct user journeys, including:   Pre-purchase shipping estimation (customer decisioning)   Checkout-level shipping quotes (price accuracy and margin alignment)   Label purchasing inputs (rate accuracy at fulfillment)   Ensure alignment between quoted rates and actual carrier costs   Drive the transition from static rate tables to dynamic, system-driven rate calculation   Evaluate and integrate AI/ML-based rate prediction models to improve quote accuracy and reduce carrier cost variance.  Partner with engineering to define system inputs, logic, and performance expectations   3. Operational & Financial Accuracy  You will drive improvements in how shipping costs are calculated, tracked, and reconciled.  Improve the accuracy and completeness of inputs into shipping systems   Apply AI-driven anomaly detection to identify discrepancies between estimated, quoted, and actual shipping costs.  Partner with Finance and Operations to define and monitor key performance metrics   4. System Design & Knowledge Translation  You will translate complex operational expertise into scalable product logic.  Work closely with subject matter experts to extract and structure domain knowledge   Translate implicit workflows and edge cases into clear system requirements   Define scalable inputs and data models to support accurate rate calculation   Ensure solutions are understandable, maintainable, and extensible across teams   5. Platform Standardization & Scalability  You will lead the transition from manual processes to a unified, platform-driven approach.  Replace static and manually maintained rate tables with dynamic, automated systems   Define standardized inputs for shipping logic (dimensions, packaging, routing, etc.)   Ensure solutions scale across:   Internal fulfillment operations   Self-service API customers   E-commerce storefronts   6. Cross-Functional Leadership  You will drive alignment and execution across a diverse set of stakeholders.  Partner closely with Engineering, Operations, Finance, and Product teams   Lead through influence in complex, and at times ambiguous, environments   Drive clarity and progress even when requirements are incomplete or stakeholders are misaligned   Serve as the domain leader for shipping across the organization   What We’re Looking For  7+ years of Product Management experience, with significant ownership of platform, API, or infrastructure-level products   Proven ability to define and execute product strategy in complex, cross-functional environments   Deep experience in shipping, logistics, or fulfillment systems, including:   Carrier integrations   Multi-carrier rate shopping   Dimensional weight pricing   Shipping cost and pricing models   Strong systems thinking, with the ability to translate complex operational workflows into scalable product solutions   Demonstrated ability to make and communicate high-impact tradeoffs across cost, performance, and customer experience   Strong analytical skills, with experience defining and leveraging metrics such as:   Cost per shipment   Rate accuracy   Margin performance   Reconciliation variance   Experience working with data to inform product decisions; familiarity with SQL or similar tools is strongly preferred   Proven ability to influence senior stakeholders across engineering, operations, finance, and go-to-market teams without formal authority   Experience leading ambiguous problem spaces from discovery through execution and measurable business impact   Demonstrated experience applying AI/ML approaches to shipping, pricing, or logistics problems – such as dynamic rate modeling, demand forecasting, or cost anomaly detection – and integrating AI tools into product workflows and decision-making  Nice to Have  Experience working with carrier APIs (e.g., UPS, FedEx, USPS, DHL) at scale   Experience with order management systems (OMS), warehouse management systems (WMS), or fulfillment network optimization   Experience building pricing, cost optimization, or financial reconciliation systems   Experience modernizing operational processes into platform-driven solutions   What Success Looks Like  Shipping is supported by scalable, API-driven systems rather than manual processes   High alignment between estimated, quoted, and actual shipping costs   Improved visibility and consistency in shipping margin performance   Reduced operational overhead and fewer post-order adjustments   Clear, standardized shipping logic that can scale across products and customer types   Cross-functional teams are aligned and able to operate effectively within a shared system   AI-assisted tooling reduces manual intervention in rate management and financial reconciliation.  Additional Context  This role is designed to fully own the shipping domain, with the opportunity to define long-term platform direction while partnering closely with leadership on broader strategy.