Benchmarking Services Product Manager

Educause•REMOTE, Remote, US,

12d•$85,000 - $100,000•Remote

About The Position

Own the evolution, operation, and member experience of EDUCAUSE’s benchmarking products, ensuring benchmarking delivers decision-ready insights, credible peer comparisons, and clear storytelling for institutions. This role is responsible for moving EDUCAUSE benchmarking from data delivery to interpretation, planning, and narrative value to deliver clear, decision-ready benchmarking products that support institutional planning and decision-making. This role ensures end-user satisfaction and program impact by developing benchmarking tools that campus technology leaders use to plan, manage, and deliver IT services. The Product Manager partners with community and stakeholders to design and deliver these products, define priorities across matrixed teams, guide stakeholders on use cases and product evolution, and track metrics and KPIs to ensure quality and engagement.

Requirements

A bachelor’s degree in a relevant field (e.g., business, information systems, evaluation, data, or higher education) required
At least eight years of working experience as a product manager, product owner, or similar role supporting data, benchmarking, or analytical products, or any combination of education, training, and experience that demonstrates the ability to perform the duties of the position required.
Experience with product management practices, agile delivery, and continuous improvement methodologies
Ability to sustain collaborative relationships, forge partnerships, and build consensus within a diverse community of practice.
Ability to communicate effectively, tactfully and proactively, in both oral and written form, with a variety of groups including technical, professional, and executive audiences.
Demonstrated initiative with the ability to manage multiple short-range and long-term projects simultaneously and meet all deadlines.
Ability to work well independently and to know when to include others.
Ability to handle both broad and detail-oriented work, achieving tangible results.

Nice To Haves

3+ years of work experience in higher education technology preferred.
Experience working with campus technology leaders and/or higher education stakeholders preferred.
Experience developing or guiding the creation of benchmarking outputs and data visualizations (e.g., Power BI, Tableau, or similar tools) based on user needs, preferred.
Experience with benchmarking, survey research, peer group analysis, or data-driven decision-support products, along with familiarity with survey design and administration tools (e.g., Alchemer) and benchmarking data collection methodologies, is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Own and execute the roadmap for EDUCAUSE benchmarking offerings (current and future), in partnership with the director and matrixed technical teams, ensuring alignment with association priorities and the broader decision-support ecosystem.
Partner with the Director of Benchmarking and Portfolio Operations to ensure benchmarking products are cohesive, intentional, and integrated across EDUCAUSE products and services.
Lead cross-functional engagements with internal staff, campus technology leaders, and community members to identify user needs, define benchmarking requirements, and deliver end-to-end solutions that reflect institutional priorities and real-world practice.
In partnership with the EDUCAUSE research team, define and coordinate the full benchmarking lifecycle, including survey/instrument design, peer group definition, and data collection including: relevant benchmarking inputs such as institutional characteristics, peer segmentation, and survey responses.
Facilitate benchmarking product design processes, including survey instruments, data outputs, visualizations, guidance, and usability validation.
Define product objectives, outcomes, and KPIs to measure benchmarking product quality, usability, and impact.
Maintain an awareness of competing and complementary products and conduct competitive market analyses to identify new risks and opportunities.
Assess KPIs, user inquiries, community discussion, and product evaluation information to implement strategies for reaching engagement targets.
Ensure benchmarking products deliver clear value to members through usability, guidance, and actionable insights.
With the EDUCAUSE marketing team, establish and execute marketing, promotion, and communication strategies, including leading ongoing improvements to our public-facing web presence.
Educate members and stakeholders on how to use benchmarking products and interpret outputs using a variety of channels including recorded video tutorials, webinars, virtual community meetings, and other outreach mechanisms.
Own the end-to-end benchmarking experience, including platform functionality, releases, and continuous improvement.
Lead governance group and work with group members from across the organization to plan a future release roadmap for longer-term development and execute service releases accordingly.
Establish and maintain policies and practices supporting benchmarking data integrity, access, and appropriate use.
Oversee the platform’s tier-based support workflow and work with IT to ensure timely issue resolution.
Partner with the IT department to conduct system administrative-related tasks and serve as the team lead on all integration implementation, feature testing, and technical troubleshooting.
Coordinate the work of internal staff and third-party contractors to successfully produce benchmarking products, including the coordination and facilitation of regular product meetings and communications.
Maximize product value by maintaining product backlogs and continuously prioritizing product enhancements based on stakeholder needs.
Collaborate with the EDUCAUSE technical team to establish and maintain development backlogs and plan work sprints.
Communicate with technical development team/contractors and website operations team to ensure development is happening on time and on budget and the website is always fully functional.
Train membership and tier-1 support staff on new and existing products.
Provide second-level end-user support as needed.
Oversee preparation, validation, and quality of benchmarking data inputs and outputs to ensure accuracy and reliability.
Monitor KPIs, user inquiries, community discussions, and product evaluation data to inform and coordinate the ongoing product improvements, including enhancements to benchmarking methodology, outputs, guidance, and user experience.
Generate internal reports and stakeholder communications summarizing the results of product evaluations and the status of KPIs, outlining recommendations for product improvements.
Remain current in higher education benchmarking practices, data standards, and emerging member needs.
Represent EDUCAUSE in a professional manner at all times; engage with co-workers, volunteers, and members in a civil, caring, respectful way.
Act as a departmental liaison with employees, members, volunteers, volunteer groups, and clients.
Participate in EDUCAUSE events and activities as needed.
Support members in a manner that facilitates their growth, engagement, and enhances their EDUCAUSE experience.
Duties, responsibilities and activities may change or new ones may be assigned at any time with or without notice.

Benefits

Medical, Dental, and Vision
2-for-1 employer match to your 403(b) retirement plan; up to 10% of your base salary
Employer-paid Life and AD&D, Short‐Term Disability, and Long‐Term Disability
15 days of vacation and 6 days of personal time annually
9 paid holidays
One week of paid time off when offices are closed between Christmas and New Year’s Day
36-hour work week (without any reduction in pay) amounting to 26 additional days of paid time off each year
Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
Emergency Travel Assistance
Professional development assistance
Monthly connectivity reimbursement