Software Product Manager II

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 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:
 

Grade: Technical 408

Pay Range: $116,000.00 - $174,100.00

Job Description

The Software Product Manager II position at WGU is an individual contributor role for product individuals who are passionate about delighting users while delivering value to the business. You will collaborate with a cross-functional team and product peers to develop strategic product roadmaps that ensure a holistic end-to-end user experience. You will build business cases through product discovery, translate insights into solutions and develop release strategies. You will measure and report on the efficacy of your initiatives and develop action plans accordingly.

We look for candidates who can demonstrate a history of delivering outcomes through a partnership with design, engineering and the business. Someone who, as an excellent storyteller, can represent the interests of the users they serve and influence teams to generate the outcomes that resolve their most pressing problems. We look for candidates who are collaborative by nature, empathetic to users, and are most likely to garner the trust of the stakeholders they serve.

 

Job Duties Works in an agile environment fulfilling the role of Product Owner and continuously refines and prioritizes the backlog. Balances stakeholder priorities with product health needs to maximize value and minimize risk. Engages a cross-functional team of stakeholders, end-users, engineers, UX designers, and Product & Portfolio leaders to understand the problems to solve, inform the product vision, and define software product requirements. Participates in the creation of and delivers on the software product roadmap and supports the communication of the roadmap to both stakeholders and the delivery team. Collaborates with the Scrum team to translate the product roadmap into well-defined features and a deep product backlog of sprint-ready user stories with clear acceptance criteria to deliver on the roadmap. Participates and presents in planning activities and steering committees as needed. Defines and surfaces risks, assumptions, and trade-offs associated with product features to guide prioritization decisions. Maintains knowledge on assigned product(s), including the technology used, integrations, and dependencies. Understands the latest relevant technologies, vendors, innovations, and forward-thinking trends. Participates in RFI and RFP vendor selection process. Demos working software and facilitates effective spring demos to stakeholders. Ensures product quality by testing software features to ensure they satisfy the acceptance criteria and works with stakeholders and end users to coordinate user acceptance testing activities. Provides support to product release activities including documenting software release notes and coordinating change management to increase product adoption. Actively participates in the urgent resolution of any high impact production issues. Maintains and builds relationships with business owners, stakeholders, team members, and key vendors. Communicates constraints, conflicts, requirements, compatibility issues, and items which could affect project outcome, final performance level or product efficacy. Offers appropriate alternatives and contingency plans. Works to define and prioritize unknowns and assumptions. Helps their team deliver value to our customers by making critical trade-off decisions. Connects work to customer and business KPIs and develops plans for how to improve them. Understands ROI, Cost per Acquisition, and Lifetime Value and can conduct these analyses with assistance. Coordinates with other teams to create experiences that transcend technical boundaries. Creates connections between product and experiences. Provides strategic planning around Product Launch timing, communication, and training. Creates and implements post-launch data collection and analysis plans. Crafts high quality epics and stories with acceptance criteria. Develops strong relationships with stakeholders. Performs other job-related duties as assigned. KSAs Ability to identify a short term vision for their product Ability to customize communication to the audience Ability to quickly and effectively filter information Skilled at proactive communication Highly skilled in product discovery methods Understands tradeoffs in technical choices Ability to redirect conversation to problems to be solved and outcomes to be accomplished before jumping to solutions Excellent presentation, written, and verbal communication skills Strong passion for exploring and understanding customer needs Leadership instincts with a positive team building approach Minimum Qualifications Bachelor's Degree 5 years of experience as a Software Product Manager or Product Owner Professional Product Certification (e.g., Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), Pragmatic Marketing) Experience working in agile environments Equivalent relevant experience performing the essential functions of this job may substitute for education degree requirements. Generally, equivalent relevant experience is defined as 1 year of experience for 1 year of education and is the discretion of the hiring manager. Preferred Qualifications Master's Degree Experience in Education Technology Job Description Disclaimer: This position description provides the major duties/responsibilities, requirements and working conditions for the position. It is intended to be an accurate reflection of the current position, however management reserves the right to revise or change as necessary to meet organizational needs. Other responsibilities may be assigned when circumstances require. This position requires occasional travel of up to 20%, including required attendance at designated company summits (typically one to two per year). Additional travel may include conferences, visits to company locations, and other business-related events as needed. Additional travel may be assigned as needed to support business requirements.

Position & Application Details

Full-Time Regular Positions (classified as regular and working 40 standard weekly hours): This is a full-time, regular position (classified for 40 standard weekly hours) 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.

How to Apply: If interested, an application will need to be submitted online. Internal WGU employees will need to apply through the internal job board in Workday.

Additional Information

Disclaimer: The job posting highlights the most critical responsibilities and requirements of the job. It’s not all-inclusive.

Accommodations: Applicants with disabilities who require assistance or accommodation during the application or interview process should contact our Talent Acquisition team at recruiting@wgu.edu.

Equal Employment Opportunity: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any protected characteristic as required by law.