Principal Product Manager

SANS Institute•Bethesda, MD

9d•$175,000 - $190,000•Remote

About The Position

We are seeking an experienced and strategic Principal Product Manager to join our Product team. This role plays a key part in managing our Certification and Assessment product portfolio. Reporting directly to the Head of Product Management, this role will drive the vision, strategy, and execution for SANS's certification and assessment offerings including GIAC, one of the most trusted and widely recognized credentials in the cybersecurity industry. As a principal product manager, you will lead through influence, working cross-functionally with product management, engineering, business leadership, curriculum, and marketing to deliver world-class products that help cybersecurity professionals validate and advance their skills.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree or equivalent industry experience.
10+ years of professional product management experience with an emphasis on building and managing assessment-based products.
Proven ability to define product roadmaps, prioritize competing demands, and deliver measurable outcomes.
Demonstrated success owning complex product portfolios, ideally in education, credentialing, assessment, or a related field.
Strong strategic thinking skills, capable of setting direction in ambiguous environments and rallying teams around a clear vision.
Proven ability to lead through influence, driving alignment and results without direct management authority.
Excellent cross-functional collaboration and communication skills, including experience presenting to senior leadership.
Deep empathy for learners and a passion for helping people grow professionally.
Familiarity with the cybersecurity industry or technical training landscape is a strong plus.
Comfortable working in a virtual organization with some travel.
Fluent in English, particularly in written communications.
Unrestricted authorization to work in the USA; visa sponsorship is not available.

Nice To Haves

Experience working with psychometric or assessment design principles
Familiarity with NICE, NIST, DoD 8140, and related cybersecurity workforce frameworks
Experience working in the cybersecurity industry, ideally within a product role at a security training, certification, or technology organization.
Background in ed tech, with an understanding of how digital learning platforms, credentialing systems, and assessment tools come together to support learner outcomes.

Responsibilities

Define and own the multi-year product strategy for GIAC certifications and assessments, aligned to broader organizational goals.
Identify market opportunities, competitive dynamics, and learner needs to inform product direction.
Lead the end-to-end product lifecycle from discovery and definition through launch and iteration for all certification and assessment products.
Translate learner, employer, and industry insights into clear product requirements and success metrics.
Create and maintain the GIAC product roadmap, ensuring it reflects business priorities, learner needs, and industry trends while communicating progress and tradeoffs to senior stakeholders.
Own and manage the product backlog, partnering directly with engineering teams to groom, prioritize, and sequence work that delivers the highest impact.
Partner with psychometricians, exam developers, and range and lab platform technology teams to ensure certification and assessment products meet rigorous standards for validity, reliability, and fairness.
Define and monitor KPIs to measure product health and drive continuous improvement.
Lead without formal authority, aligning and influencing cross-functional teams across curriculum, engineering, marketing, and business stakeholders to drive outcomes.
Serve as a senior product thought leader, modeling strong product thinking and helping elevate PM practice across the organization.
Act as a strategic partner and mentor to other product managers on the team, sharing expertise and contributing to a strong product culture.
Serve as the lead product management authority on the certification and assessment landscape, including industry trends, credentialing standards, and competitor offerings.
Build strong relationships with key internal stakeholders across GIAC business leadership, curriculum, sales, marketing, and product development.
Engage directly with customers, employers, and the broader cybersecurity community to deepen understanding of market needs.
Perform other related duties as assigned.