Why us, why now?

The Senior Product Management Specialist serves as the business owner for assigned CES products and applications, leading the planning, delivery, implementation, and continuous improvement of technology-enabled solutions that support learners, advisors, institutions, and residency programs. The role translates business needs into product requirements, manages product backlogs and release activities, and coordinates cross-functional teams to deliver high-quality solutions that meet user and organizational needs.

Working closely with the Group Manager, CES Product Management, IT, Operations, Analytics, Research, and external vendors, the Senior Product Management Specialist oversees the day-to-day product lifecycle for assigned products. The position is responsible for ensuring product enhancements are effectively planned, tested, implemented, and evaluated while supporting operational excellence, user satisfaction, and achievement of CES business objectives.

How will you make an impact?

Cross-Functional Execution & Delivery:

• Serves as the business owner for 6-10 internal and external products and applications, including API development and vendor-hosted applications.

• Gather, analyze, and document business requirements from stakeholders, customers, and internal teams.

• Translate business needs into user stories, acceptance criteria, process flows, and functional requirements.

• Maintain and prioritize product backlogs based on business value, customer needs, operational requirements, and strategic direction established by CES leadership.

• Partner with stakeholders to define success measures and evaluate product performance.

• Recommend enhancements that improve user experience, operational effectiveness, and business outcomes.

Product Delivery & Implementation Coordination:

• Lead planning and coordination of product enhancements, releases, integrations, and operational initiatives.

• Collaborate with IT, UX, Analytics, Operations, and vendors to ensure timely delivery of approved product initiatives.

• Coordinate implementation activities, readiness planning, communications, and deployment support.

• Track progress against delivery plans and proactively identify and escalate risks, issues, and dependencies.

• Support release management activities and post-implementation evaluations.

Testing, Quality Assurance & Release Readiness:

• Lead business testing and user acceptance testing activities for product enhancements, integrations, and releases.

• Develop and maintain test plans, test cases, and validation procedures.

• Coordinate defect identification, prioritization, resolution, and retesting activities.

• Ensure solutions meet documented business requirements and quality expectations prior to release.

• Validate operational readiness and support transition of new functionality into production environments.

User Engagement & Product Support:

• Serve as a primary business contact for assigned products and initiatives.

• Facilitate requirements discussions, feedback sessions, demonstrations, and stakeholder reviews.

• Communicate product updates, implementation timelines, and release information to stakeholders.

• Support operational teams in understanding and communicating about new functionality and business process changes.

• Gather and synthesize customer and stakeholder feedback to inform future enhancements.

Product Performance & Continuous Improvement:

• Monitor product usage, adoption, customer feedback, and operational metrics.

• Identify opportunities to improve workflows, user experience, product performance, and operational efficiency.

• Maintain product documentation, business requirements, release notes, and process materials.

• Support reporting and analysis activities that inform product decisions and prioritization.

• Contribute recommendations for future roadmap planning and enhancement opportunities.

What you will bring to the role:

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree

• 5-7 years of related work experience

Preferred Qualifications:

• 5+ years of product management experience, including ownership of delivery in a matrixed environment, experience in building new educational platforms and mission-driven non-profit settings.

• Familiarity with IT governance, enterprise architecture, or service management frameworks.

• Project Management experience, Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) and Project Management Professional (PMP) certifications, a plus

Remote Work Eligibility

This position is eligible for remote work in the contiguous US

Compensation Grade Range

$115,855.00-$136,300.00

Multiple factors are taken into consideration to arrive at the final hourly rate/annual salary to be offered to the selected candidate. Factors may include, but are not limited to, the scope and responsibilities of the role, the selected candidate's work experience, education and training, as well as internal equity, market, and business considerations.

If a bachelor's degree is required, related work experience may be substituted in some positions. One year of college course work at an accredited institution is equivalent to one year of related work experience.

Please attach a resume as part of the application process. It is important that files DO NOT include periods ( . ) within the file name.

BROWSER REQUIREMENTS: Applications must be submitted using Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, or Microsoft Edge.