Director, Technical Product Management

Western Governors University•Salt Lake City, UT

1d•$190,100 - $342,200

About The Position

If you’re passionate about building a better future for individuals, communities, and our country—and you’re committed to working hard to play your part in building that future—consider WGU as the next step in your career. Driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs, WGU is also committed to being a great place to work for a diverse workforce of student-focused professionals. The university has pioneered a new way to learn in the 21st century, one that has received praise from academic, industry, government, and media leaders. Whatever your role, working for WGU gives you a part to play in helping students graduate, creating a better tomorrow for themselves and their families. The salary range for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs. At WGU, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their position, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is: Grade: Executive Technical 716 Pay Range: $190,100.00 - $342,200.00 Want to make an incredible impact and lead the development of innovative technology products used by hundreds of thousands of students? We are looking for a seasoned product leader who knows how to deliver software effectively in a large enterprise or higher-ed institution and to harness the power of AI to improve the customer/student experience. The Director, Technical Product Management, owns the development and delivery of the software and technology roadmap for their division. This leader is skilled at understanding a) institutional strategy, b) macro technology trends, c) WGU student journey, experiences, needs, and expectations, and translating those into a software product roadmap. In this role, the leader is also accountable for delivering that roadmap while ensuring that all technology initiatives align with enterprise architecture, engineering, security, and governance standards. This role drives innovation, operational excellence, and outcome-based delivery. The ideal candidate combines strategic acumen, hands-on technical leadership, and the ability to execute.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in computer science, electrical engineering, or equivalent, with relevant experience.
10+ years' experience within technology in roles of increasing accountability in the fields of Product Management, Technical Product Management, Software Engineering, Program Management, and/or Product Operations.
5+ years of leading and managing a variety of technology teams and functions.
Experience using AI to drive innovation in the product development lifecycle.

Nice To Haves

Experience in the higher education technology domain strongly preferred
Advanced degree

Responsibilities

Own the business unit’s software product portfolio end-to-end — from concept to delivery, adoption, and measurement.
Connect divisional software product and platform goals to institutional outcomes, ensuring alignment between the divisional and institution-wide initiatives.
Define and track divisional software product KPIs that connect to enterprise-level performance and student outcomes.
Lead software engineering and delivery teams to deliver high-quality software and services that provide delightful experiences for our students and other stakeholders.
Drive applied innovation by piloting emerging technologies and through rapid iteration.
Injects the best of AI capabilities to improve the product development lifecycle.
Build, coach, and mentor high-performing cross-functional teams (Engineering, Product, Technical Program Management, UX, etc.) that embrace accountability, urgency, and collaboration.
Develop product manager capability through high expectations, development, and close mentoring.