Description
Sr Product Manager , State Solutions , Personalization and Discovery

About this role...
As a Senior Product Manager for State Solutions , you will be a member of the Product Management team and report to the Director of Product Management . You will work collaboratively across the organization to develop and manage product/service strateg ies related to planning and execution throughout the product life cycle . This includes determining market and product opportunities, business cases and pricing models, market requirements, product roadmap and release plans , market and competitive positioning, product feature design, product development priorities, release readiness , and product maintenance. In the Senior Product Manager role, you will work with colleagues in their product/service line to provide a cohesive offering that contributes to the comprehensive portfolio solution. You will work closely with Product Marketing and Sales on go-to-market strategy and execution for their products and ensure their product /service supports the organization's overall strategy and mission . This is a full-time opportunity with competitive compensation and a generous benefits package. Candidates may work remotely from any location within the United States.

Area of Emphasis : Personalization and Discovery
As a Senior Product Manager, you will be responsible for setting the vision, strategy, and roadmap for an insights and reporting service and tools that enable educators to leverage data to make instructional decisions and support student engagement and agency in learning. You will collaborate with product managers , designers , and specialized assessment, data, and engineering teams to defin e how we gather, store, discover, and utilize content, data, and information to deliver contextual learning experiences. We are looking for a strong leader who can work at the intersection of business, engineering, and user experience, with deep domain knowledge of data and personalization , particularly in an education or assessment context .

Your next challenge...

• Chart the discovery and personalization vision and strategy for State Solutions based on deep analysis and understanding of our user base
• Test hypotheses through experimentation and improve our recommendation/ML models through a close partnership with the Learning & Assessment Engineering team
• Continuously evaluate where personalization and discovery can improve learning outcomes and support instructional practice and student agency.
• Responsible for all aspects of product management for assigned products and services, including vision, strategy, positioning, planning, and execution , including but not limited to market and product/service opportunities, business and financial analysis, roadmap and release, market requirements, functional requirements validation, go-to-market information and artifacts, and sales support.
• Proactively meet with p artner s and p rospects to assess needs, identify opportuni ties , and build relationships that provide relevant market data and inform product choices .
• Coordinate planning with other product manager s , program managers , and other stakeholders to ensure comprehensive market readiness from a segment perspective , given market trending, compliance concerns , and political drivers .
• Evangelize and socialize product / service strategy and vision and value proposition with internal and external stakeholders .
• Manage products and services throughout the product life cycle from solution innovation, definition, and release to end-of-life planning .
• Assess technology trends and current and emerging competitors to inform product direction; u se and gather market and industry research and analysis to inform a long-range product roadmap .
• Identify op portunities to optimize product/service profitability through production efficiency recommendations, and competitive and market intelligence to improve partner retention rates and partner satisfaction .
• Attend key industry conferences ; capture and socialize key takeaways with the product management team and organization .
• Regularly interact with product user groups , industry leaders , and the learning community to stay abreast of industry changes and to influence policy at the state level .
• Complete additional projects and responsibilities as appropriate.
• Travel as required, up to 25% .

Traits for success...

• Understanding of the K - 12 education assessment industry (e.g. , Common Core State Standards, competitors, RFP process) and accepted practices .
• Ability to embed the organizational mission as the core driver in product strategy and planning, balancing business and market demands in the context of the organizational mission.
• Provide product leadership and demonstrate a sustained a bility to manage products in a dynamic, fast - changing environment ( essential ) .
• Ability to establish priorities and results within the cross-functional teams at NWEA.
• Capable of making timely decisions and produc ing results.
• Able to establish business case s to support product strategy and direction.
• Consistent, proactive , and healthy cross-functional communication skills that motivate cross-functional teams and all business relationships.
• Ability to quickly identify trends, threats , and opportunities.
• Demonstrated ability to drive results and to work effectively across multiple groups.
• Sound business judgment and acumen an d solid understanding of financial issues impacting product profitability ; ability to read a financial statement.
• Exceptional skills in partnering with clients and staff and in developing and maintaining long - term supportive relationships .
• Demonstrated ability to operate and contribute at both a tactical and strategic level .
• Demonstrated skill in supervising or mentoring individual contributors .

Competencies...

• Communicates effectively: Developing and delivering multi-mode communications that convey a clear understanding of the unique needs of different audiences.
• Customer focus: Building strong customer relationships and delivering customer-centric solutions.
• Drives results: Consistently achieving results, even under tough circumstances.
• Instills trust: Gaining the confidence and trust of others through honesty, integrity, and authenticity.
• Balances stakeholders: Anticipating and balancing the needs of multiple stakeholders.
• Business insight: Applying knowledge of business and the marketplace to advance the organization's goals.
• Manages complexity: M aking sense of complex, high quantity, and sometimes contradictory information to effectively solve problems.
• Strategic mindset: Seeing ahead to future possibilities and translating them into breakthrough strategies

Education and experience ...

• Bachelor ' s degree in education, technical , or business discipline; advanced degree or equivalent experience preferred . An equivalent combination of education and experience will be considered in lieu of a degree .
• Minimum seven years' experience in product management, product development, product marketing, business analysis , or related discipline, with at least one year in product management related to educational assessment and related services .
• Domain knowledge and demonstrated understanding of the area of emphasis and the educational marketplace ; experience working with local, state, and /or federal government agencies required .
• Experience with all aspects of go - to - market planning and launch .
• Demonstrated success in developing and launching complex products and product configurations .
• Solid knowledge of/experience with p roduct l ife cycle m anagement processes , such as requirements definition, business plan development, new product introduction, etc .
• Proficient with Pragmatic Institute or 280 group Product Management frameworks , a plus.
• Experience in agile software development methodology , preferred .

About us....
NWEA® is a research-based, not-for-profit organization that supports students and educators worldwide by creating assessment solutions that precisely measure growth and proficiency-and provide timely data to help tailor instruction. For more than 40 years, NWEA has developed innovative pre-K-12 assessments, including our flagship interim assessment, MAP® Growth™; our progress monitoring and skills mastery tool, MAP® Skills™; and our reading fluency and comprehension assessment, MAP® Reading Fluency™. Educators trust our professional learning offerings to accelerate student learning and our research to support assessment validity and data interpretation. More than 11 million students in 146 countries use our solutions to support their learning and growth each year.

What we can offer you....
At NWEA we not only offer a competitive base salary, we offer a 15% contribution of eligible employees' base salary to a defined contribution 403(b) retirement savings plan; career development opportunities; an awesome work culture and environment; we also offer industry leading benefits and perks that are focused on supporting our employees' holistic wellbeing. To learn more about what we can offer more, click here.

NWEA strives to make diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) practices the center of our work. Our organization's mission, Partnering to Help All Kids Learn, is the foundation for our DEIA commitment as we work to reflect, value, and support the educators, students, colleagues, and communities we serve. We seek to empower and engage all stakeholders in the research, services, solutions, and products we provide, our organizational culture, and the partnerships we establish with schools, districts, states, and countries.

NWEA endeavors to make www.nwea.org accessible to all users. If you would like to contact us regarding the accessibility of our website or need assistance completing the application process, please call us at (503) 624-1951 or e-mail us at [email protected] and let us know the nature of your request, your location and your contact information. This is for accommodation requests only and cannot be used to inquire about the status of applications.

NWEA is an equal opportunity employer. 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. For our EEO Policy Statement, please visit our website. If you'd like more information on your EEO rights under the law, please visit the EEOC website