Product Manager-NBS-SGO Donor

Nelnet•Lincoln, NE

2d•$120,000 - $140,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Nelnet Business Services (NBS), a division of Nelnet, provides payment technology and education services to higher education institutions, K-12 schools, and students, families, and supporters. The SGO Product Management function leads the development and ongoing management of the SGO Compass North Star vision, strategy, and roadmap, working with business development, engineering, product marketing, and other cross-functional teams. Its products are intended to align with FACTS’ organizational strategy, meet market and stakeholder needs, deliver measurable student outcomes, and achieve sustainable financial performance. The Product Manager reports to the Managing Director, Product SGO. The role contributes to SGO product strategy and the SGO Compass core solution ecosystem roadmap, and leads delivery of the Donor product module. It translates market, client, and institutional needs into scalable platform solutions, drives cross-functional alignment, and advances the business’ competitive position with key clients. The role covers market and K-12 research, competitive intelligence, product strategy, requirements development, prioritization, stakeholder engagement, and go-to-market planning. It owns the Donor product lifecycle and roadmap, including discovery, product requirements, delivery, measurement, adoption, and ongoing improvement. The position also supports payment, security, and regulatory compliance; donor onboarding and launch readiness; and product performance and financial outcomes. The annual compensation range is $120,000–$140,000, depending on experience. The position offers a hybrid work option for associates living within 30 miles of an office location: remote work for part of the week and in-office presence 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, Finance, IT, or a related field.
Minimum 6–8 years of product management experience.
Experience with donor and giving products associated with scholarships, philanthropy, or social impact.
Experience building and managing provider or merchant networks.
Experience with fraud prevention specific to donations and giving.
Track record of defining, developing, launching, and managing successful products in an Agile environment, supported by market research, data-driven decisions, and human-centered design.
Experience leading organizational change, communicating change, and supporting stakeholder alignment and adoption.
Excellent strategic thinking and product strategy skills.
Ability to manage product roadmaps and make data-driven decisions.
Ability to influence others cross-functionally and conduct customer-centric discovery.
Ability to define product strategy and deliver measurable outcomes.
Familiarity with treasury management principles, including funding, settlement, and liquidity.
Familiarity with card issuing programs, including issuing bank and program manager relationships.
Strong risk management background.
Ability to translate organizational strategic goals into actionable product strategies, roadmaps, priorities, and innovation initiatives.
Ability to build cross-functional partnerships and collaborate across an organization.
Strong written, verbal, analytical, and presentation skills, including communication across a broad range of stakeholders.
Commitment to improving student outcomes and expanding K-12 opportunities for underserved and underrepresented students.
Ability to travel for business meetings, partner engagements, and other customer-facing activities.
Must already be authorized to work in the United States without current or future visa sponsorship.

Nice To Haves

Additional education or professional training in financial technology, payments, nonprofit management, or digital commerce.
Advanced degree.
Product management certification.

Responsibilities

Own and execute the end-to-end product strategy and roadmap for engagement with SGOs, foundations, individuals and institutional donors, payment partners, and other stakeholders.
Lead product discovery, including client engagement and research, to validate problems and define solutions.
Translate insights into prioritized product requirements, balancing scalability, donation conversions, contribution volume, donor retention, payment success rates, transaction costs, and funds available for scholarship awards.
Define, track, and optimize key product metrics to drive business outcomes and continuous improvement.
Partner with engineering to deliver complex modernization and platform initiatives through iterative releases, including improvements to donor engagement, fraud detection, operational efficiency, and fundraising intelligence.
Drive strategic initiatives, including AI-enabled capabilities within the product ecosystem.
Ensure compliance with payment, security, and regulatory requirements, including donor onboarding, SGO implementation, training, and launch communications.
Lead go-to-market readiness and support delivery value and adoption across stakeholders.
Influence cross-product roadmap alignment to create cohesive client and end-user experiences, donor insights, market intelligence, and measurable product performance.
Represent the voice of the customer in executive discussions using data-driven recommendations.
Evaluate market conditions, K-12 trends, donor behavior, fundraising needs, scholarship tax-credit programs, customer needs, competitive intelligence, and emerging opportunities to inform product strategy and innovation.
Collaborate across the SGO team, FACTS Division, Nelnet Business Services, and other Nelnet functions to turn organizational strategy into product initiatives and measurable outcomes.
Lead Donor and Giving roadmap development and prioritization in alignment with FACTS’ mission, vision, North Star goal, and strategic plan.
Facilitate a continuous product management culture that incorporates stakeholder perspectives and supports prioritization transparency, alignment, engagement, and adoption across the product lifecycle.
Drive measurable improvements in product effectiveness and efficiency while balancing partner needs, student outcomes, compliance, revenue, donor experience, fundraising needs, payment costs, financial risks, and available development resources.
Own the lifecycle of the Donor product and other assigned roadmap areas, including growth, maturity, and decline, and maintain appropriate P&L performance with stakeholders.
Establish feedback loops to understand partner, staff, and student needs and experiences, assess product outcomes, and identify improvements.
Collaborate with product marketing to develop and execute go-to-market strategies and pilots for SGO Compass and other assigned products.
Gather, define, and document requirements for reliable and scalable product features, including donor registration, identity and eligibility verification, contribution processing, settlement, reconciliation, refunds, acknowledgements, tax-credit documentation, and integration with SGO fund management.
Evaluate pilot results and product performance data, and present actionable recommendations to internal and external audiences.
Oversee and prioritize the product backlog according to business value, strategic alignment, stakeholder needs, feasibility, student outcomes, regulatory obligations, fundraising impact, donor experience, and financial performance.
Develop KPIs for strategic priorities and implementation goals, including contribution volume, active donors, donor acquisition and retention, average contribution value, conversion and payment success rates, processing costs, reconciliation accuracy, and SGO fundraising performance.
Partner with Marketing on communications about product innovations, product development, industry trends, and student outcomes, supporting lead development, stakeholder engagement, adoption, and organizational learning.
Build product culture and operating capabilities through repeatable processes, governance practices, documentation standards, and change management across FACTS.
Model and uphold FACTS’ core values.