Senior Product Manager - Higher Education

Description

Vector Solutions is a leading software company delivering an AI-enabled, performance platform powering safe, compliant, and efficient operations for the public, educational, and commercial sectors. We bring training, safety, and workforce operations together to boost readiness, reduce risk, and drive high-performance results for the everyday heroes who count on us.

In higher education, that means helping colleges and universities keep students safe, support faculty and staff, and stay ahead of evolving compliance requirements. Our solutions help institutions build safer, healthier campus communities where students can learn and thrive and staff can do their best work.

We are seeking a Senior Product Manager to own a key product within our Higher Education portfolio. In this role, you'll set the product vision and own the roadmap by aligning engineering, design, sales, marketing, and customer success around a roadmap tied to clear business outcomes: adoption, retention, and new customer growth. You'll decide what gets built and why, balancing customer needs, market opportunity, and technical tradeoffs, and you'll make sure every release lands with the enablement and go-to-market support it needs. Working directly with customers, you'll be the subject matter expert on how institutions use the product, its place in the higher education market, the competitive landscape, and product positioning. You'll also be hands-on with go-to-market activities, from product marketing and communications to product demos. With every customer problem you solve, you'll make a lasting impact on colleges and universities across the country.

What You'll Do:

• Manage the product life cycle, from strategic planning to tactical initiatives.

• Represent the voice of the customer in deciding not just what to build, but how to solve problems.

• Act as a subject matter expert who works across technical and non-technical teams to communicate value of initiatives to higher education customers.

• Track sales analytics, including win/loss data and pipeline trends, and turn those insights into product priorities and business decisions.

• Perform competitor, customer, and market analysis across the higher education market to identify customer needs, trends, market gaps, and new product opportunities.

• Spend time with customers to understand how campuses train, manage compliance, and support their communities.

• Work with the engineering team to plan, define, and deliver product enhancements, prioritizing new features and setting specific timelines.

• Test new product features before release, provide feedback, and prioritize issues.

• Collaborate with product marketing to support webinars, presentations, demos, case studies, and product release updates.

• Coordinate product launch activities with cross-departmental teams.

• Prepare and conduct sales and customer success enablement training on new features.

• Track the performance of new features and measure product adoption and progress against the business plan.

What We're Looking For:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.

• 7+ years in Product Management.

• Demonstrated working experience in the higher education market preferred.

• Familiarity with higher education compliance and regulatory requirements (e.g., Title IX, Clery Act, FERPA) is a plus.

• Excellent interpersonal skills and a proven team player with co-workers and customers.

• An entrepreneurial mindset and enthusiasm for growing a high-impact product, backed by the established processes and experienced teams of a market leader.

• Strong written and verbal communicator who can build alignment, negotiate tradeoffs, and present product strategy to executives, customers, and cross-functional teams.

• Highly organized and detail-oriented, with a demonstrated ability to work independently.

• Demonstrated ability to understand and communicate technical concepts and learn quickly.

• Curiosity and enthusiasm for applying new technology in daily work and product innovation.

• Experience with Agile product development and AI-first development best practices.

• Ability to travel up to 15%, including customer visits and industry events.

What You Can Expect From Us:

• Friendly, open, and casual work environment

• Comprehensive benefits package effective the first of the month after hire

• Matching 401(k) retirement plan

• Healthy work-life balance with flexible work arrangements and generous time off

• Generous referral incentive program

• Tuition Reimbursement Program

• Pet Insurance

• OnePass Gym/Wellness Discount Program

• Calm Health-Employee Membership

• Company social events

• Employee Resource Groups

• Philanthropic opportunities

What We Value:

• Teamwork - Above all, we're a team. We give and value feedback. We support each other, respect each other and work together to accomplish our common goals and serve our customers. Once we make decisions, we align behind them as a team.

• Customers First - Our customers' success is our success. They are why we are here. We work to earn the trust of our customers and always deliver on our commitments.

• Make a Difference - It's not a job, it's a calling. We have passion for our mission, for our customers, for our work, and for sharing a fulfilling experience with our fellow team members.

• Inclusiveness - Uniqueness is powerful. We support an environment of respect, belonging, and community that promotes a variety of perspectives and crucial conversations, leading to better outcomes.

• Act Now - We act with urgency. The best time to get something important done is now. We don't wait and let perfection be the enemy of good.

• Curiosity - We love a good challenge. We're scrappy, we stretch ourselves to be the best, ask questions, learn from our mistakes, and are dedicated to continually improving and growing.

• Ownership - We own the outcome and don't pass the buck. The score matters. We hold ourselves and each other accountable. We treat company resources like they are our own.

Vector Solutions is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender, race, color, religion, national origin, age, pregnancy, disability, genetic information, or status as a protected veteran.

The base salary range provided is a good-faith estimate at the time of posting. Actual pay may vary based on factors such as skills, qualifications, experience, and work location. Compensation will always comply with applicable state and local pay laws, including but not limited to those in California, Colorado, New York, and Washington.