BigFuture is a mission-driven team of 85+ people delivering career and college planning products to over 7 million high school students, and recruitment and enrollment solutions enabling over 1500 Higher Education institutions to look across the 25,000 high schools to fill their classes and to reach a broad student population. We also support K12 schools, districts, and state customers.
Our portfolio includes recruitment and enrollment solutions like Search, Connections, and College Profiles; BigFuture.org, a leading resource for college, scholarship, and career exploration; and BigFuture School, a mobile app connecting learning to post-secondary opportunities. Our products demystify the college-going process, helping students explore careers and pathways aligned with their skills and interests.
The BigFuture team collaborates with divisions like Technology, UX Design, Strategic Higher Education, State & District Partnerships, Legal, Marketing, and Finance. Our team has deep knowledge of the Higher Education space, students, educators, and the K-12 market landscape.
About the Opportunity
As the Senior Director, Higher Education Product Management, you will serve as the overall product lead and portfolio manager for our Higher Education Recruitment and Enrollment solutions, including Search, Connections, College Profiles, and future Higher Education solutions. You will manage the strategic direction of BigFuture's Higher Education products, including product roadmaps, enhancements, day-to-day management, issue resolution, financial management, and collaboration with various stakeholders.
Leveraging your deep experience in product management and your passion for creating value for Higher Ed, Students and K12, you will drive best practices and strategies across your teams andidentify opportunities for partnership acrossCollege Boardto better serve our users and influence outcomes. Reporting to the VP, BigFuture Product, you will lead a team of four Product Owners, and will collaborate with cross-functional partners, including Engineering, UX Design, Strategy, Recruitment and Enrollment Solutions, Strategic Higher Education, Legal, Marketing, Finance, and other teams serving Higher Education, Students, and K12 users.
In this role, you will:
Product Management (60%)
Lead a Higher Education product team to define and execute on overall vision/roadmaps, ensuring user experience, business and delivery goals are met
Define and manage the Higher Education product portfolio roadmap, identifying short, medium, and long-term product changes and enhancements that will improve the user experience, grow participation, and enhance operational and financial sustainability
Formulate product plans that are driven and informed by regular user and market research, internal partner feedback, outreach and interaction with Higher Education institutions, educators, and students, as well as competitive, analytics and cost/benefit analyses
Be accountable for the successful delivery/launch of any product changes or enhancements implemented and desired outcomes
Confidently make complex tradeoffs, actively resolve blockers and risks, and lead teams to validate assumptions and communicate decisions, while educating stakeholders throughout the process
Understand technical concepts and be able to communicate them to non-technical audiences
Higher Education Product Strategy Management and Leadership (20%)
Act as a product evangelist, both internally and externally, by promoting and educating stakeholders about the benefits and features of our Higher Education products and services, and the benefits of these products and services to College Board's overall offering
Be accountable for and manage day-to-day business to meet or exceed P&L targets including proactively addressing costs while ensuring that actions are taken to deliver all financial commitments while maintaining customer experience and engagement goals
Leverage your strong leadership skills to effectively influence, persuade, and negotiate with multiple levels including executive leadership
Collaborate closely with our senior leaders in partner divisions and teams to identify needed enhancements and additions, coordinate releases and launches impacting same end users, measure and monitor product analytics and user feedback, and ensure compliance and risk management.
Team Leadership & Management (20%)
Effectively manage four direct reports to ensure they are engaged and working effectively toward accomplishing goals
Design and implement an onboarding and training process to orient new staff and provide continuous training for existing staff
Provide the leadership necessary to deliver results across the team
Drive the overall performance management plan within the unit to impact team engagement
About You
You have:
8+ years' experience in product management, product strategy, and/or product consulting roles, including building, growing, and supporting a product team running a portfolio of products
Strong working knowledge of B2B products, with a background in EdTech and Higher Education markets, ideally Higher Education Recruitment and Enrollment solutions
Experience managing multiple Product teams across a portfolio and working with matrixed cross-functional partner teams
Technical fluency and experience managing products from inception through design to implementation and launch
Experience working in an Agile product development work environment
Excellent verbal and written communication skills
Ability to complete complex tasks on short deadlines and in a fast-paced environment
Excellent prioritization skills
Experience distilling data to inform key decisions
Experience designing and communicating Objectives and Key Results (OKRs)
Experience creating business cases and receiving buy-in from senior leadership
Experience presenting in high stakes internal and external settings, seeking to drive understanding and alignment
Bachelor's degree or equivalent required
Authorization to work in the U.S.
About Our Process
Application review will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled
While the hiring process may vary, it generally includes: resume and application submission, recruiter phone screen, hiring manager interview, performance exercise and/or panel interview, and reference checks. This is an approximately 8-week process.
About Our Benefits and Compensation
College Board offers a competitive benefits and compensation program that attracts top talent looking to make a difference in education. As a self-sustaining non-profit, we believe in compensating employees equitably in relation to each other, their qualifications, their impact, and the relevant market.
The hiring range for a new employee in this position is $132,000 to $200,000.
College Board differentiates salaries by location so where you live will narrow the portion of this range in which you can expect a salary. Your salary will be carefully determined based on your location, relevant experience, the external labor market, and the pay of College Board employees in similar roles. College Board strives to provide our best offer up front based on this criteria.
Your salary is only one part of all that College Board offers, including but not limited to:
A comprehensive package designed to support the well-being of employees and their families and promote education. Our robust benefits package includes health, dental, and vision insurance, generous paid time off, paid parental leave, fertility benefits, pet insurance, tuition assistance, retirement benefits, and more
Recognition of exceptional performance through annual bonuses, salary growth over time through market increases, and opportunities for merit raises and promotions based on increased scope of responsibility
A job that matters, a team that cares, and a place to learn, innovate and thrive
You can expect to have transparent conversations about benefits and compensation with our recruiters throughout your application process.
About Our Culture
Our community matters, and we strive to practice and improve our culture daily. Here are some headlines:
We prioritize building a diverse and inclusive team where every employee can thrive, and every voice is heard. See more here: Diversity and Inclusion | College Board Careers
We know that our impact is strongest together. Our College Board Cares program offers all staff up to $1,000 annual match against partner non-profit organizations.
For more on our culture, visit: Our Culture | College Board Careers
