Senior Product Manager, Learning

About the position

As a senior member of Uncommon’s Product Management Team, the Product Manager will be deployed to ensure that the Team achieves its most important goals and objectives. We are looking for a candidate with 5+ years of IT experience and 3+ years of experience in education, specifically working with assessments, SIS, and EdTech. Beyond technical knowledge, the Product Manager must have strong change management, planning, and communication skills in order to manage technology and processes at Uncommon’s scale and high standard.

Responsibilities

• Independent and Expert Administration of Multiple Products
• Set a vision for the technical management of all EdTech to best support Instructional partner goals (Clever, mClass, Illuminate etc)
• Deeply understand Instructional goals and use cases for the platforms (i.e. replace teacher instruction versus practice based on live instruction)
• Develop and manage the implementation of all processes for day-to-day platform use (i.e. Student & teacher access, reporting)
• Build policy resources, including user management policy around roles, access level, and responsibilities for stakeholders and the Data & IT team
• Troubleshoot & manage vendor to resolve Tier 3 issues
• Manage system upgrades, backups, testing, connectivity with other enterprise applications
• Attend training/webinars offered by vendors to build expertise
• Use robust product knowledge to improve systems and process
• Identify new areas/ways the product can be used (either internally or externally)
• Support the implementation and roll-out of new applications
• Guide and review team member work product (e.g. product roadmaps, product documentation, product backlogs)
• Support the team members' individual growth within Uncommon and the K-12 Data space
• Facilitate Agile ceremonies, including backlog refinement, sprint planning, retrospectives, etc.
• Leader planning for 8 to 12 weeks of work for the Value Stream Team via the Planning Increment ceremonies
• Create and foster a cross-functional community by allowing space and opportunities for team members to deeply engage and collaborate with each other
• Facilitate cascading communication through cohorts to breakdown functional team silos and ensure that we are functioning as a fast agile team
• Own creation and management of all internal and school-facing Knowledge Base articles on support, troubleshooting, and best practices for all platforms to be used by all teachers and Ops leaders
• Develop and facilitate training for school leaders, which they will turnkey to their staff
• Help define and coordinate vendor-offered training sessions at the right level for those managing the Service Desk and Relationship Managers
• Work with School Leaders to document existing processes related to supported applications (e.g. documentation of methods and procedures of PowerSchool)
• Manage renewal and payment of yearly contract
• Build relationships with vendors, act as liaison between vendor and Uncommon on any projects, and own school-level escalations & difficult conversations
• Manage vendor escalations to deliver best-in-class performance to Uncommon stakeholders
• Work closely with Regional Superintendents, school-based Directors of Operations, Curriculum Directors, Chiefs of Staff, and members of the Data and IT Team.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree required
• 7-9 years of directly related experience
• 5+ years working in K-12 environment
• 3+ years managing or building EdTech software
• 3+ years managing or supporting student-facing technology/student information system or assessment platform: PowerSchool, Illuminate
• Experience with SQL or other programming languages and how to use data dictionaries to understand data structures
• Advanced skills in Excel and Google Sheets/Forms
• Previous management of 3 to 5 direct reports who own significant workstreams
• Experience managing policies and procedures to set best practices and deliver high-quality support
• Working knowledge of help desk ticketing software (e.g. Zendesk)

Benefits

• 19 days of paid time off
• 3 weeks of paid Winter and Summer org-wide holidays
• Comprehensive Health, Dental, and Vision insurance plans
• 403(b) retirement savings program + employer match
• Paid leave of absence options (parental, medical, disability, etc.)
• Mental health and counseling support + wellness benefits
• Pre-tax flexible spending, dependent care, and health saving accounts