Senior Product Manager

Responsibilities

Product Ownership

• Own the product roadmap, feature prioritization, and release planning for our products and systems.
• Define and maintain product requirements, user stories, and acceptance criteria, with an initial focus on backend and data platform deliverables.
• Collaborate with engineering to ensure technical architecture decisions align with product vision and user needs.
• Monitor users and stakeholder needs to drive continuous improvement.

Product Development and Delivery

• Work within agile development frameworks to deliver features that meet institutional needs and timeline commitments.
• Partner with Design and Engineering teams to create intuitive user experiences for data management and system configuration.
• Lead sprint planning, backlog grooming, and feature specification processes.
• Ensure seamless integration capabilities with existing institutional systems and third-party tools.

Performance Measurement and Analytics

• Define and track key performance indicators for adoption, usage, and impact on student outcomes.
• Analyze system performance data, user behavior, and institutional feedback to identify optimization opportunities.
• Create reporting frameworks that demonstrate value delivered to educational partners and internal stakeholders.
• Support grant reporting and impact measurement initiatives related to implementation.

Cross-functional Collaboration and Internal Alignment

• Partner closely with Implementation Managers and other stakeholders to understand institutional needs and implementation challenges.
• Collaborate with Engineering teams on technical architecture decisions and development prioritization.
• Work with Data Science teams to ensure capabilities align with AI/ML application requirements.
• Support the Director, Product Management on strategic portfolio decisions and cross-product initiatives.
• Coordinate with Program Officers when product decisions impact institutional partnerships.

Cross-functional Collaboration

• Work closely with the Director, Product Management on strategic initiatives and portfolio-level decisions.
• Support go-to-market activities including documentation, training materials, and partner onboarding processes.
• Participate in donor and partner presentations to communicate product progress and impact.

Skillset

• Alignment and enthusiasm for DataKind’s mission and values, particularly in education equity and data-driven social impact.
• 4+ years of product management experience, with demonstrated success launching and scaling enterprise software products.
• 2+ years of experience with data infrastructure, backend systems, or B2B SaaS platforms.
• Strong understanding of data engineering concepts including data ingestion, ETL processes, cloud storage, and API design.
• Experience with SQL.
• Experience working with technical stakeholders including data engineers, data scientists, and system administrators.
• Familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and modern data stack technologies.
• Proven ability to gather requirements from complex stakeholder environments and translate them into clear product specifications.
• Experience with agile methodologies, including user story writing, sprint planning, and cross-functional team collaboration.
• Excellent communication skills with ability to present technical concepts to non-technical audiences.
• Experience with performance measurement, analytics, and data-driven decision making.
• Demonstrated enthusiasm for learning and adapting to new technologies and systems.