Nelnet Campus Commerce (NCC) is preparing to launch a new, category-defining payment and financial wellness platform, and we are opening a rare opportunity to join one of the most innovative teams in the industry while helping us set the stage for the next decade of higher education financial services. The Senior Product Manager for Horizon will engage with key product stakeholders to drive the strategy, roadmap, and execution for this critical new initiative serving NCC’s 1,000+ colleges and 8+ million students nationwide. Reporting into the NCC product organization, this role partners closely with engineering, design, client success, and higher education institutions to translate evolving market needs into next-generation, AI-enabled payment experiences. The position is pivotal to advancing our company's competitive position in the higher education payments space and will have high visibility among company leadership. JOB RESPONSIBILITIES • Own the end-to-end product strategy and roadmap for a core workstream within Horizon, aligning stakeholders across engineering, design, operations, and executive leadership. • Translate insights from colleges, universities, students, and payers into prioritized product requirements that balance institutional needs with scalable platform architecture. • Lead discovery efforts including client interviews, advisory councils, and student feedback loops to validate problems and pressure-test proposed solutions before build. • Lead the charge to define strategic and novel applications of AI in our product • Define and track success metrics (adoption, retention, payment completion rates, NPS) and use data to inform trade-offs and continuously improve outcomes post-launch. • Partner with engineering leadership to break down complex modernization initiatives into incremental, shippable releases that minimize disruption to existing clients. • Collaborate with compliance, security, and risk teams to ensure all releases meet PCI Level 1 standards and applicable higher education regulatory requirements. • Drive go-to-market readiness in partnership with marketing, sales, implementation, and support teams, ensuring smooth client adoption and clear value communication. • Influence cross-functional roadmap decisions across integrated products (payment plans, cashiering, refunds, storefronts) to ensure a cohesive client and student experience. • Represent the voice of the client in executive forums, providing clear recommendations supported by qualitative research and quantitative analysis. Annual compensation range for this role is $100,000 - $150,000 depending on experience. This position offers a hybrid work option. Nelnet values flexibility and understands the importance of work-life integration. Our hybrid work environment allows associates living within 30 miles of an office location to work remotely for part of the week, while also fostering collaboration and team connection through in-office presence three days per week. Please note that we are unable to provide visa sponsorship for this position. To be considered, candidates must already be authorized to work in the United States without the need for current or future sponsorship. EDUCATION Required: • Bachelor's degree in Business, Computer Science, Finance, or a related field. Preferred: • Advanced degree in a related discipline. • Product management certifications EXPERIENCE Required: • 3+ years of product management experience, including experience managing complex platform or SaaS products. • Experience delivering AI-enabled software to market. • Proven track record of shipping products in agile environments while partnering directly with engineering teams. • Experience defining and using product metrics to drive prioritization and measure success. Preferred: • Experience in higher education technology, payments, fintech, or B2B2C platforms. • Familiarity with compliance, payment processing workflows, or ERP integrations (Workday, Banner, PeopleSoft, Colleague). • Demonstrated experience leading substantial modernization, replatforming, or migration initiatives with measurable business outcomes. YOU HAVE • High agency: Taking ownership of outcomes beyond the formal scope of the role, removing blockers proactively, and driving decisions forward rather than waiting for direction. You default to action and accountability in ambiguous situations. • Design taste: Bringing a discerning eye for product quality, user experience, and craft. Pushing for elegant, intuitive solutions over feature accumulation and partnering effectively with design to elevate the standard of every release. • Strong strategic thinking: Connecting product decisions to long-term business outcomes and anticipating market shifts in higher education and payments. • Influence without authority: Building alignment across engineering, design, executive, and client-facing teams to move complex initiatives forward. • Customer obsession: Demonstrating rigorous discovery practices and translating client feedback into clearly framed problems and solutions. • Data fluency: Using quantitative analysis and qualitative research with equal confidence to make prioritization decisions and defend trade-offs. • Agility in ambiguity: Operating effectively in evolving conditions, making clear decisions with incomplete information while managing risk. Our benefits package includes medical, dental, vision, HSA and FSA, generous earned time off, 401K/student loan repayment, life insurance & AD&D insurance, employee assistance program, employee stock purchase program, tuition reimbursement, performance-based incentive pay, short- and long-term disability, and a robust wellness program. Click here to learn more about our benefits: LINK.