Group Product Manager, NextGen

Nelnet Servicing•Lincoln, NE

4d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Group Product Manager is a player-coach responsible for personally owning one or more NextGen solutions while leading and developing a small team of Product Managers. The role shapes a cohesive product strategy across NextGen’s portfolio and works closely with engineering, design, sales, implementation, client support, and other partners to deliver impactful products for higher education institutions, campus administrators, employers, students, and families. The position reports into senior product leadership. The product leader will lead discovery, write requirements, make prioritization decisions, partner with engineering and design to ship, and set a high bar for product craft. They will guide team development and recruiting, establish an outcome-oriented culture, own portfolio strategy and roadmaps, identify opportunities to connect products, and develop practical AI applications that reduce manual work and simplify student experiences. The role also includes monitoring higher education policy and market changes, coordinating launches, defining success metrics, managing delivery trade-offs, and ensuring releases meet compliance, security, accessibility, and regulatory requirements. The annual compensation range is $115,000–$165,000, depending on experience. Candidates living more than 30 miles from a Nelnet office may work remotely; candidates within 30 miles are expected to work a hybrid schedule in the office at least three days per week. Candidates must already be authorized to work in the United States without current or future visa sponsorship.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Computer Science, Finance, or a related field.
At least 6 years of product management experience.
A strong track record of personally shipping products.
At least 1 year mentoring or directly managing other Product Managers.
Experience partnering with go-to-market teams to launch complex SaaS or platform products.
A track record of personally shipping AI-enabled or data-driven software products with measurable business impact.
Ability to align and influence stakeholders across engineering, design, and commercial functions.
Must already be authorized to work in the United States without current or future visa sponsorship.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree emphasizing strategy, technology, or leadership.
Experience in higher education technology, fintech, payments, or B2B2C platform businesses.
Experience contributing to or leading platform modernization, replatforming, or migration work.
Familiarity with PCI Level 1 compliance, payment processing workflows, or ERP integrations such as Workday, Banner, PeopleSoft, or Colleague.

Responsibilities

Personally own one or more NextGen solutions end to end, including discovery, requirements, prioritization, and delivery with engineering and design partners.
Analyze data, prototype and pressure-test ideas, review designs, and validate solutions with financial aid, student employment, and campus administrator users.
Model strong product discovery, writing, and decision-making practices for the Product Managers on the team.
Lead, mentor, develop, and recruit Product Managers; establish clear expectations and help team members strengthen their product craft.
Foster a high-agency, outcome-oriented culture and lightweight product practices that support accountability for measurable business results.
Balance coaching with autonomy, providing PMs ownership of their areas and stepping in when issues require direct attention.
Own the vision, strategy, and roadmap across the NextGen portfolio, translating business goals into a sequenced plan.
Identify opportunities to connect portfolio products through shared workflows, integrations, and data.
Identify and build practical AI applications that eliminate manual work for campus staff and simplify student experiences.
Monitor higher education policy, competitive activity, and institutional needs, and incorporate relevant findings into the roadmap.
Partner with sales, marketing, implementation, and client support to plan and execute launches that are market-ready and easy for institutions to adopt.
Work with engineering on architecture and delivery cadence, transparently managing trade-offs among quality, reliability, and timelines.
Define portfolio success metrics, including adoption, retention, workflow completion, time saved for campus staff, and institutional satisfaction, and hold the team accountable for outcomes.
Collaborate with compliance, security, and risk teams to ensure releases meet SOC audit standards, FERPA, accessibility requirements, and applicable federal financial aid and student employment regulations.