Director, Product Management

KU Endowment•Lawrence, KS

14d•$136,500•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director, Product Management is responsible for the strategic direction, planning, and continuous improvement of KU Endowment’s advancement and donor technology platforms, including Salesforce and related systems. This role ensures that technology investments deliver meaningful operational value to fundraising teams, improve donor data quality, and modernize how donor operations function across the organization. This position works closely with fundraising leadership, advancement operations, finance, IT, and external implementation partners to align technology solutions with organizational priorities. The Director leads the advancement technology product function and champions adoption of new platform capabilities and workflows across KU Endowment, guiding Product Owners responsible for individual platforms and capability areas. The Director focuses on portfolio strategy, cross-platform alignment and organizational roadmaps, while supporting Product Owners managing platform roadmaps, stakeholder discovery, and backlog prioritization. The individual in this position is expected to embrace KU Endowment’s stated core values – collaboration, curiosity, empowerment, and excellence – and demonstrate support for them through professional interactions and activities.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required (or equivalent professional experience)
Five (5) or more years of experience in a Salesforce ecosystem.
Five (5) to Seven (7) years of experience in product management, business systems ownership, digital transformation, or related roles supporting operational teams
Demonstrated ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships across technical and non-technical teams, including fundraising, advancement operations, finance, IT, and external partners
Strong ability to adapt to new technologies, platforms, and evolving business needs
Demonstrated understanding of team dynamics, excellent interpersonal skills, and a commitment to building positive, collaborative working relationships
Ability to collaborate effectively across departments and provide guidance and mentorship to colleagues involved in platform delivery and adoption
Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills, with the ability to clearly articulate priorities, requirements, and outcomes
Proven ability to independently initiate, organize, and follow through on complex initiatives
Ability to work with minimal supervision while exercising strong judgment, discretion, and accountability.
Ability to establish and maintain professional and effective working relationships inside and outside KU Endowment.
Ability to adapt to new procedures and technology.
A valid driver’s license.
Must have access to reliable transportation to travel between multiple locations for training, donor meetings, networking, events and/or work-related activities.
Must be able to respond quickly and effectively to directions and safety hazards.
This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office productivity machinery such as computers, keyboards and a mouse, laptops, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets and fax machines.
This is largely a sedentary role; however, some filing is required. This would require the ability to move files, open filing cabinets and bend or stand as necessary.
The ability to observe details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Must be able to communicate with others effectively.
Physical effort/lifting, such as sedentary- up to 10 pounds

Nice To Haves

Prior experience leading cross-functional initiatives or managing Product Owners, project teams, or complex workstreams preferred
Outcome-Driven Thinker
You focus on measurable impact — improved workflows, better data quality, higher adoption — not just completing tasks or delivering features.
Strong Prioritization Judgment
You are skilled at making tradeoffs in complex environments, balancing stakeholder needs, technical constraints, and organizational goals to determine what matters most.
Systems Thinker
You understand how people, processes, data, and technology interact. You design solutions that improve the entire donor ecosystem — not just individual tools.
Trusted Cross-Functional Partner
You build credibility quickly with fundraising teams, operations staff, IT, leadership, and external vendors. You listen deeply, communicate clearly, and bring groups together around shared objectives.
Change Leader
You help teams successfully adopt new tools and workflows. You recognize that digital transformation is as much about people and behavior as it is about technology.
Pragmatic Problem Solver
You prioritize practical, high-impact improvements over perfection. You know when to move quickly and when to slow down to protect long-term system health.
Data Stewardship Mindset
You treat donor data as a strategic asset. You care deeply about accuracy, governance, and reporting reliability, and you design processes that build organizational trust in data.
Comfortable With Ambiguity
You thrive in evolving environments where problems are not clearly defined. You bring structure, clarity, and momentum to complex initiatives.

Responsibilities

Define and maintain the advancement technology portfolio roadmap, ensuring alignment with institutional priorities, operational needs, and long-term platform sustainability.
Partner with fundraising leadership, advancement operations, and finance to understand strategic priorities and ensure advancement technology capabilities evolve to support those needs.
Collaborate with IT to ensure strategic vision and roadmap implementation.
Serve as the primary business strategist for Salesforce and related systems, working closely with internal technical teams and external vendors to ensure solutions align with organizational objectives.
Ensure effective discovery practices across advancement platforms by supporting Product Owners responsible for stakeholder engagement and requirements discovery.
Manage, coach and develop a newly established product team in a mission-driven organization.
Provide leadership and guidance to the Product Team to ensure platform initiatives align with portfolio strategy and organizational practices.
Evaluate platform performance, adoption trends, and operational outcomes to inform portfolio-level product strategy and roadmap decisions.
Establish and evolve product management practices, governance frameworks, and prioritization processes that guide advancement technology development across platforms.
Communicate progress, priorities, and outcomes to senior leadership and key stakeholders.
Support change management efforts by helping teams adopt new tools and workflows.
Regular and reliable attendance is essential for this position.
Performs other duties as assigned.