Software Product Manager

If you’re passionate about building a better future for individuals, communities, and our country—and you’re committed to working hard to play your part in building that future—consider WGU as the next step in your career.

Driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs, WGU is also committed to being a great place to work for a diverse workforce of student-focused professionals. The university has pioneered a new way to learn in the 21st century, one that has received praise from academic, industry, government, and media leaders. Whatever your role, working for WGU gives you a part to play in helping students graduate, creating a better tomorrow for themselves and their families.

The Software Product Manager position at WGU is the mid-level technical product position in the Product Management organization. You will have an understanding of how to deliver tactically on the defined strategy for your product(s).The expectation is not that you have mastered the product management experience, but that you have the raw materials to become a great product manager. You will work closely with a senior-level product manager to learn how to conduct research and extract the right insights from the data. You will learn about the strategy of the product and the goals of the business. Such collaborative work will help prepare you to contribute to the team's roadmap, gain alignment across the organization, and become well-versed in the product vision and strategy.

We value the experience being proactive and innovative in past projects – as well as a knack for leadership, design, and strategic problem solving. We look for entrepreneurial individuals with strong technical understanding, product sense, analytical ability, clear communication skills and who are results oriented.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities:

Location: Applicant will need to reside in Salt Lake City or Phoenix

• Participate in Product Discovery efforts to understand and analyze user needs
• Synthesize market trends, competitive research, user research, stakeholder feedback and product data into business case
• Write user-centered stories to clearly define user needs and detailed product requirements
• Collaborate with UX/UI designers to create and validate solutions to meet customer needs
• Evangelize product vision and clearly communicate business case with problem to be solved and definition of success
• Effectively communicate project status to stakeholders
• Closely monitor Product Health metrics using appropriate analytics tools
• Coordinate and plan product launches with peers and the business
• Lead post-launch data collection and analysis, make adjustments based on quantitative and qualitative feedback
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

Knowledge, Skill and Abilities:

• Strong analytical-reasoning, problem-solving, organizational and interpersonal skills
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively with people from various disciplines across the organization
• Ability to identify the right segmentation or cohorts for research studies
• Understanding of web technologies and SDLC
• Capable of leading a cross-functional team in the prioritization of tasks
• Leads with humility: Okay with being wrong, eager to learn from mistakes
• Team player: Ability to develop strong relationships with their team: failing and succeed together
• Capable of empathy with stakeholders, and users

Competencies:

Organizational or Student Impact:

• Works on a variety of technical projects of moderate scope with some instruction.
• Uses discretion to prioritize work and evaluate problem-solving approaches.
• Limit errors to prevent impact to client operations, costs, or schedules.

Problem Solving & Decision Making:

• This position requires general supervision on all work.
• May help lead/coordinate small-medium scope projects.
• Guidance is required around project scopes and methodology.
• Work generally reviewed for accuracy.

Communication & Influence:

• Communicates with contacts both within the department and function on matters that may require some explanation or interpretation.
• May work to influence parties within the department at an operational level regarding policies and best practices.

Leadership & Talent Management:

• May provide guidance and assistance to more junior technical professionals.

Job Qualifications:

Minimum Qualifications:

• Minimum 3 years of software Product Management experience desired
• Bachelor’s degree
• Excellent presentation, written and verbal communication skills
• Strong passion for exploring and understanding customer needs
• Natural leadership instincts, with a positive team building approach
• Data driven decision making experience
• Experience working or interning in a professional environment

Preferred Qualifications:

• Previous experience as a Business Analyst, Product Owner, Program Manager, Software Engineer, UX/UI Designer, Customer Success Agent or Quality Assurance Technician
• Previous experience working in Education
• Previous experience working for a Technology Company

Physical Requirements:

• Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
• Must be able to lift up to 15 pounds at times.

The salary range for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs.

At WGU, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their position, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is:

Pay Range: $105,600.00 - $158,400.00WGU will accept applications for this position until 12:00 AM ET, 10/14/2024

How to apply: apply online

Full-time Regular Positions (FT classification, standard working hours = 40)

This is a full-time, regular position that is eligible for bonuses; medical, dental, vision, telehealth and mental healthcare; health savings account and flexible spending account; basic and voluntary life insurance; disability coverage; accident, critical illness and hospital indemnity supplemental coverages; legal and identity theft coverage; retirement savings plan; wellbeing program; discounted WGU tuition; and flexible paid time off for rest and relaxation with no need for accrual, flexible paid sick time with no need for accrual, 11 paid holidays, and other paid leaves, including up to 12 weeks of parental leave.

The University is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status.