Principal AI Product Manager

Western Governors University•Salt Lake City, UT

6d•$180,300 - $279,500•Onsite

About The Position

At WGU, we believe technology can transform how students experience higher education. As a Principal AI Product Manager, you will help shape the future of student support through intelligent, personalized experiences that improve outcomes at scale. This is our most senior individual contributor product role, offering the opportunity to define strategy, influence executive decision-making, and lead initiatives that span multiple product domains. You will join the Decision Intelligence team, focused on student support orchestration and personalization. Working across product, engineering, analytics, user experience, and academic stakeholders, you will tackle complex challenges that combine artificial intelligence, data-driven decision making, and customer-centered product development to deliver meaningful impact for students.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in a related field.
10+ years of product management experience leading software products, including experience operating at a senior, principal, group product manager, or equivalent level.
Demonstrated success owning complex products that span multiple business domains and stakeholder groups.
Strong understanding of AI, machine learning, decision intelligence, and modern data-driven product development practices.
Technical depth to effectively partner with engineering and data science teams, including familiarity with areas such as distributed systems, middleware, data platforms, cloud architectures, and machine learning solutions.
Experience building business cases, evaluating tradeoffs, conducting ROI analyses, and influencing executive-level decisions.
Experience working within Agile product development environments.
Exceptional communication, storytelling, and presentation skills with the ability to engage technical and executive audiences.
Strong product discovery expertise and comfort operating in highly ambiguous environments.
Proven ability to influence cross-functional teams and achieve outcomes without direct authority.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree in a related field.
Experience in higher education, education technology, or student success platforms.
Experience with decision intelligence, personalization, agent-based AI systems, or advanced analytics products.
Professional product certifications such as CSPO, Pragmatic Institute, or similar credentials.
Change management certification or experience leading organizational transformation initiatives.
Equivalent relevant experience performing the essential functions of this job may substitute for education requirements. Generally, equivalent relevant experience is defined as one year of experience for one year of education and is at the discretion of the hiring manager.

Responsibilities

Own and drive strategic AI-enabled products and initiatives that span multiple product domains and require significant cross-functional collaboration.
Define product vision, strategy, roadmaps, and investment priorities that align customer needs with business objectives.
Partner with senior leaders, executives, and key stakeholders to identify complex business challenges and develop effective product strategies.
Lead discovery efforts, experimentation, and customer research to uncover opportunities and validate product decisions in ambiguous problem spaces.
Facilitate expert-led problem solving across engineering, data science, design, and business teams to deliver high-impact outcomes.
Measure product performance through KPIs and business outcomes, using data-driven insights to adapt strategies and maximize value.
Mentor product managers and help elevate product management practices across the organization.