Senior Product Manager

When you join Sallie Mae, you become a champion for all students.

We’re on a mission to power confidence as students begin their unique journey. To help them plan their higher education, successfully finish, and prepare for life after school.

To help them Start smart. Learn big.

Students need guidance navigating this important time in their life. They need someone who acknowledges that their education path is unique.

They need a partner willing to evolve and not only meet but surpass their expectations. We’re changing. Because students need a better way.

We’re looking for people who are excited to drive this transformation. To break barriers and think of new ways to adapt, help, and create better experiences for students and for each other.

This is where diverse backgrounds, beliefs, and perspectives matter. It’s where you’re empowered to bring your authentic self to work.

Feeling your best allows you to do your best. Our benefits take care of the whole you from physical and mental to financial and professional.

You’ll get opportunities to further your education and career, support for you and your family (including your pets!), paid time off to volunteer for the things that matter to you, and more.

We’re obsessed with impact and making a real difference. For us, that means putting relationships first, asking why not? when tackling challenges, and continuously learning new skills.

Come do more than join something, change something. For students, for future generations, for the future of education.

What You'll Contribute

As Senior Product Manager, you’ll lead a product development team that builds, launches, and continually iterates on Sallie Mae’s Education Services Products in a lean, agile fashion.

You will collaborate with a business partner to ensure the vision of the product you own aligns with growth and business objectives.

You will align and regularly communicate the vision, objectives and roadmap with stakeholders. You will work directly with a dedicated development team to iteratively deliver against the roadmap to maximize value to the company and its users.

What You'll Do

Collaborate :

• Ascertain The Why relating to products, features and initiatives.
• Regularly collaborate with business functions and teams across SLM corporation.
• Work closely with the customer experience team to enhance the product so it aligns to innovation pipeline, product roadmap, customer journeys and UX / UI design systems.
• Work with compliance and legal partners to ensure the work is meeting regulation guidelines.

Refine :

• Provide The What for the development team to ensure the reason for a new product or feature is productized, so that it can be leveraged to scale the business.
• Manage and prioritize product backlog.
• Break down epics into user stories.
• Work with development team to provide clarity on product features and objectives.
• Work with the development team to determine The How , working through detailed requirements to dev tickets based on feedback collected.

Build, launch, iterate :

• Prioritize the backlog and plan sprints.
• Evaluate progress during sprints.
• Remain engaged with team throughout sprints to provide engagement, clarity and feedback.
• Approve all sprint items as meeting acceptance criteria.
• Regularly present and provide visibility on development progress.
• Lead through the launch of features and enhancements to products.

What You Have

Minimum education, skills and experience required.

• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills.
• Detail oriented, with strong analytical capabilities. Ability to overcome ambiguity and deliver results.
• Strong leadership skills with the ability to lead by influence, in a way that maximizes both personal and team efficiency.
• Teamwork / collaboration mindset with the ability to work with stakeholders throughout the organization.
• Robust understanding of full-cycle development within an Agile framework.
• Product orientation with a strong sense of ownership. Ability to persistently unravel complex problems and get to the root problem or challenge the status quo.
• Experience in prioritizing and managing new features and enhancements.
• Ability to travel up to 5%.
• 10+ years of digital experience in Agile product management.
• Proven leadership transforming internal processes, systems, and platforms into scalable solutions for the organization.
• A human-centered mindset and readiness to work with customer experience research & design teams to create a customer-centric experience.
• Understanding of financial modeling, forecasting, and tracking as it relates to product delivery.
• Lean Agile mindset that constantly builds, measures, and learns.
• Ability to prioritize products and features according to business need, customer need and industry trends.
• Demonstrated ability to manage tight delivery timelines and calmness amidst pressure and ambiguity.
• Pragmatic problem-solving skills.
• Ability to compile and tell a powerful story with industry trends, data, and customer insights.
• Structured thinker, effective communicator with excellent written communication skills.
• Ability to collaborate and influence stakeholders with diverse points of view.
• Exhibit being : available, positive, level-headed, thoughtful, decisive, flexible, a consensus builder, a promoter of ideas and people, humbly confident

Preferred education, skills, and experience.

• Intermediate experience with HubSpot, or similar CRM technologies.
• Experience with Product Analytics tools, such as Heap.
• Bachelor’s degree or professional experience in computer science / engineering, business, digital marketing, or related field.
• Proven record of leading a team through cultural and digital transformations.

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