Higher education today is broken. States are pulling back in terms of funding even as tuition skyrockets to prohibitive levels and post-graduation job prospects look sketchy. Schools are trying to solve the problem of students not being able to learn effectively, but in constrained circumstances, there’s only so much they can do. That’s where you and this ed-tech company come in: Building direct-to-consumer applications to help them bridge the gap, achieve their aspirations, and keep from dropping out. Besides the satisfaction of that noble mission, it promises to be exciting work given this outfit’s insistence on pushing the envelope (think blockchain, machine learning, NLP). Sounds pretty great, doesn’t it?

Nitty Gritty

You’d recognize this large company’s name from other claims to fame; the ed-tech piece is a small venture within it, and it has a scrappy, startup-y vibe going for it. On that team, you’ll be thinking like both a businessperson and a techie to create a suite of products and services that improve students’ performance as learners. This is an iterate/build/launch role, and a highly visible one at that. You’ll be looked to as a product strategist, and you’ll fill that role by closely examining students’ needs and pain points through research and market data, then transforming those insights into requirements and user stories. You’ll find a product/market fit, and develop user-centric solutions (MVP, layer-on, scaffold) and go-to-market strategies. Working hand-in-hand with an Agile team, you’ll introduce new features (always, always serving as the voice of the user), conduct beta testing, demonstrate MVPs for senior management and just generally own the crap out of your products. Everything you do will have as its main goal the maximal adoption and usage of your products. Of course you’ll be collaborating with all kinds of folks, including but not limited to sales, marketing, finance, design, and engineering.

Hired Gun Profile

You likely have a degree in computer science or product design and maybe even are the proud bearer of an MBA. You’ve been crushing it in product management roles — specifically delivering direct-to-consumer web applications (SaaS would be great) — for at least half a decade now, and are perfectly comfortable in an Agile (Scrum) environment as well as with using the typical tools of the trade: Google Analytics, AB/testing, Jira, SEO. You have significant experience with building products from scratch and experiencing the entire life cycle rather than being handed an app and told to manage it. UX figures prominently in your history, as does the experience of creating platforms that create user communities.

As might be expected of someone with your background, you’ve got an unusually strong analytical mind, with a knack for sifting through complex sets of data and coming away with clear, actionable insights. Unlike many with a similar background, however, you’re also armed with a strong business sense and feel most at home at the intersection of technology and business.

Inside Skinny

Part of this team will be offshore, which will require two things of you: Flexibility in terms of collaborating with people in different time zones, and cultural sensitivity. Those are musts.

Net Net

It’s the first organic launch by this group, so this is a huge opportunity to get on board a major business at the ground level — especially taken alongside a generous compensation package and the privilege of working with people who are as passionate and driven as you are.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, creed, age, sexual orientation, veteran status, marital status, disability, or any other status protected by applicable law.