Product Manager, CourseGateway
* REMOTE: within the United States
The Opportunity:
EDUCAUSE is seeking an experienced
Product Manager to join its data analytics team. EDUCAUSE is an international nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education through technology innovation–equipping its community with the knowledge, resources, and community-building opportunities needed to help shape strategic technology decisions at every level in higher education. This position is remote and reports to the Director, Decision Support.
You are an excellent candidate for this role if you have used your understanding of market needs to manage the evolution of a web application or digital product through each phase of the product life cycle - introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. You should have experience in digital product ideation, business requirement definition, business analysis, project management, and working with cross-functional teams including marketing, end user support, and business development. You have an aptitude for identifying end-user needs, building consensus, and defining business objectives.
We encourage you to apply if you have experience that is transferable, even if it’s not a perfect match. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit, and business need. We encourage applications from members of underrepresented groups, including but not limited to women, members of the LGBTQ+ community, people of color, people with disabilities, and veterans.
Position Summary:
The Product Manager will oversee the development and continuous improvement of the CourseGateway.org platform that includes the CourseGateway.org website, product and courseware evaluation tools, and courseware evaluation content. Coursegateway.org is an initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and this grant-funded web application enables faculty and stakeholders at higher education institutions to discover and select courseware solutions for introductory college-level courses designed to improve learning outcomes for Black, Latinx, Indigenous students, and poverty-affected students.
The Product Manager will evolve and translate CourseGateway’s multi-year strategic roadmap into a tactical product roadmap and feature-requirements that ensure the platform will be universally recognized as a leading independent source for awareness, discovery, and selection of high-quality, equity-oriented college-level courseware and related services and resources. In this role, you will be managing platform development priorities and product release milestones along with organizing, and integrating feedback and sentiment data from key user groups including faculty, instructional designers, administrators, and courseware suppliers to inform the platform’s user experience and design.
Essential Responsibilities:
Product Design and Enhancement
- Develop and deliver on product roadmaps in close partnership with the director, internal stakeholders, and matrixed technical product team.
- Lead cross-functional engagements with internal staff and higher education subject matter experts to define user personas, identify user needs, frame user requirements, and deliver decision-support products.
- Identify, define, and coordinate the collection of relevant data elements needed to develop decision-support products.
- Facilitate product design processes, including data visualization design, gathering community input, and UX validation.
- Scan competing and complementary products and conduct competitive market analyses to identify new risks and opportunities.
Service Operations
- Coordinate the work of internal staff and third-party contractors to successfully produce decision-support products, including the coordination and facilitation of regular product meetings and communications.
- Generate internal reports and stakeholder communications summarizing the results of product evaluations and the status of KPIs, outlining recommendations for product improvements.
- Collaborate with the EDUCAUSE technical team to establish and maintain development backlogs and plan work sprints.
- Train support staff on new and existing products; provide second-level end-user support as needed.
Product Engagement
- Assess KPIs, user inquiries, community discussion, and product evaluation information to develop and implement strategies for reaching engagement targets.
- With the EDUCAUSE marketing team, establish and execute marketing, promotion, and communication strategies, including leading ongoing improvements to our public-facing web presence.
- Train end-users on how to use EDUCAUSE decision-support tools using a variety of channels including recorded video tutorials, webinars, virtual community meetings, and other outreach mechanisms.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
EDUCAUSE recognizes that the unique backgrounds, talents, skills, and contributions of every individual improve and enhance the quality of the organization. We believe creating an environment where everyone can belong, and thrive, is our collective responsibility.
Qualifications:
Education and Experience
- A Bachelors’ degree in product management, business, or related field and 5 years of working experience as a product manager, product owner, service owner, or business analyst ; or any combination of education, training, and experience that demonstrates the ability to perform the duties of the position.
- Digital product management experience preferred.
- At least 3 years of work experience in higher education IT or online education technology preferred
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
- Demonstrated ability to establish, prioritize, and communicate business requirements.
- Experience with continual improvement methodology, product management, and agile project management.
- Demonstrated initiative with the ability to manage multiple short-range and long-term projects simultaneously
- Experience with developing interactive data visualizations based on user requirements using QlikSense, Tableau or other similar data visualization platforms, preferred
- Familiarity with survey platforms such as Alchemer, preferred
- Travel may be required to support EDUCAUSE conferences/events, research team operations, and external events relevant to the position.
The anticipated salary range for this position is $80,000 – $95,000 earned annually. This is a grant funded position through December 2023 with the possibility of funding renewal beyond that date. The pay range provided is EDUCAUSE's reasonable estimate of the base compensation for this position. The actual salary will be based on non-discriminatory factors such as depth and extent of relevant experience, education, training/certifications for preferred skills, and abilities. We ask for minimum salary requirements in our application to ensure we can meet candidate salary expectations; we do not base salaries on a candidate’s current compensation.
EDUCAUSE’s compensation package also includes medical and dental insurance, employer-paid life and disability insurance, 3 weeks paid vacation annually to start plus 6 days of personal time, paid holidays, professional development opportunities, and a retirement plan with generous employer matching.
About EDUCAUSE:
EDUCAUSE is a higher education technology association and the largest community of IT leaders and professionals committed to advancing higher education. We support those who lead, manage, deploy, and use information technology, helping them to anticipate and adapt to change, and advancing strategic IT decision making at every level within higher education. We bring together technology professionals and leaders across campus and the industry to solve today’s challenges.
EDUCAUSE is committed to “uncommon thinking for the common good.” Being part of EDUCAUSE means being part of a community that accomplishes more together than they ever could on their own.
Get to Know EDUCAUSE - this video was filmed in 2018 at our former office in Louisville, Colorado before we became a 100% virtual organization.
EDUCAUSE recognizes that the diverse backgrounds, talents, skills, and contributions of every individual improve and enhance the quality of the organization. Therefore, we are committed to building a culture that attracts and sustains a diverse mix of people who are passionate about the work they do. We work to recruit, develop, and retain talented staff from a broad and diverse candidate pool.
EDUCAUSE requires a background check for all potential employees.
An Equal Opportunity Employer:
We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, or any other status protected by law or regulation. It is our intention that all qualified applicants be given equal opportunity and that selection decisions be based on job-related factors.
