Associate Director, Digital Product Management

Braven • Chicago, IL

14h • $101,200 - $119,600 • Hybrid

About The Position

Braven is a national nonprofit that prepares promising college students to secure a strong first opportunity after graduation through a career-accelerating program. The Associate Director, Digital Product Management supports the strategy, design, and continuous improvement of Braven’s digital products and workflows as the organization works toward serving 80,000–100,000 Fellows over the next decade.

This senior individual-contributor role owns recommendations that support the Digital Product Management Office’s prioritization process and uses product analytics to shape the roadmap for a product domain. The role represents the product team to program leaders and partners across Braven, working closely with Salesforce, software engineering, and data teams to reduce manual work, improve staff and stakeholder experiences, and build scalable systems. It combines strategic planning with hands-on execution and reports to the Sr. Director, Digital Product Management.

The position is full-time, regular, exempt, and benefits-eligible. It follows a hybrid schedule, with in-office work Tuesday through Thursday and remote work Monday and Friday. The employee must live within commuting distance of the Chicago, New York City, or Newark hub and be able to work in person three days per week. Travel is required 2–3 times per year. Candidates must be authorized to work in the U.S.; Braven does not offer employment visa sponsorship.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree.
• 5–7 years of experience in product management, business systems, program operations, product operations, or a related role.
• Experience supporting cross-functional teams in an agile environment.
• Authorization to work in the United States.
• Ability to work in person three days per week in Chicago, New York City, or Newark and live within commuting distance of a Braven hub.
• Access to the internet.

Nice To Haves

• Experience owning a product roadmap and driving automated workflows or digital products from ideation through launch.
• Ability to translate ambiguous program or operational needs into clear product strategy, requirements, and user stories.
• Strong presentation skills and experience communicating technical concepts to technical and non-technical audiences, including leadership.
• Excellent analytical, creative problem-solving, and critical-thinking skills.
• Experience in ed tech, a technology startup, or a technical function at a nonprofit.
• Experience working with engineers.
• Experience in a professional services, agency, or consulting environment.
• Hands-on experience with automation platforms and AI-assisted workflows or no-code/low-code tools for building multi-step workflows.
• Familiarity with Agile or Scrum methodologies.
• Familiarity with UX design processes and principles.
• Experience with Salesforce or similar CRM/program management platforms.
• Experience mentoring or informally leading product, systems, or program staff.
• Demonstrated commitment to building strong, welcoming cultures that develop others.
• Exemplification of Braven’s core values.
• Experience that informs a belief in Braven’s mission and prepares the candidate to work with or for Braven’s student Fellow population.

Responsibilities

• Own and evolve the product strategy and roadmap for a domain, balancing near-term program needs with longer-term platform investment across Braven’s digital products and integrated tools.
• Represent the product domain to program leadership, cross-departmental stakeholders, and the Systems team.
• Lead the end-to-end product lifecycle for digital tools and automations, from discovery and user-story writing through technical scoping, backlog grooming, release management, and post-launch iteration.
• Work with program leadership to understand user journeys, staff workflows, and pain points, translating ambiguous or competing needs into clear requirements and priorities.
• Lead stakeholder meetings, document requirements, and assess technical feasibility with engineering and Salesforce partners.
• Present strategic recommendations, roadmap updates, and product concepts to technical and non-technical audiences, including senior leadership.
• Guide sprint planning and Scrum operations for the domain alongside the Technical Project Manager, bringing prioritized recommendations into planning.
• Identify and prioritize high-impact automation opportunities using tools such as Atlassian Jira, Confluence, Canvas, and Salesforce.
• Direct documentation of current-state processes and design future-state processes that reduce manual effort for program staff.
• Champion reusable automation components, integration patterns, and documentation standards for the domain.
• Partner with engineering to monitor system performance and data integrity, identify failure points and technical debt, and drive continuous improvement.
• Define and track metrics for automation’s impact on program efficiency and stakeholder experience, using results to inform investment decisions.
• Contribute domain needs, automation investment recommendations, and outcome reporting to the broader Digital Product Roadmap.
• Improve intake, planning, and delivery processes to make product and automation work more mature, scalable, and sustainable across the Systems team.
• Stay current on program technology and automation trends, including low-code/no-code platforms, workflow automation, and Salesforce ecosystem developments, and share relevant insights and recommendations.
• Balance forward-looking innovation with pragmatic solutioning and champion agile, user-centered product development within the Systems team and across Accelerator stakeholders.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Discretionary time off, in addition to organization-wide holidays and two week-long shutdowns in July and December, with a minimum of 20 days per year.
• $25,000 in lifetime Carrot benefits for fertility, family-building, and hormonal health.
• 401(k) contribution match up to 5% of base annual salary, starting the first full month.
• Coverage of 85% of health insurance premiums for employees and dependents.
• 12 weeks of paid parental leave.
• One-month paid sabbatical after four years on staff.
• $75 monthly reimbursement for cell phone or internet.
• Access to funding for continued career development.
• Competitive compensation with opportunities for salary growth over time.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior