Principal AI Product Manager

Western Governors University•Salt Lake, UT

5d•Onsite

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: Technical 412 Pay Range: $180,300.00 - $279,500.00 Job Description 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.