Senior Manager, Product Operations - Strategic Partnerships

Western Governors University•Salt Lake City, UT

2d•Onsite

About The Position

At Western Governors University, our mission is to expand access to high-quality, affordable education for learners everywhere. As Senior Manager, Product Operations, you will help enable that mission by building and scaling the systems and operational tools that power WGU’s Strategic Partnerships. This role sits at the intersection of business operations, technology, and leadership, ensuring teams have the platforms and processes they need to grow meaningful partnerships and extend WGU’s impact. The Role: Senior Manager, Product Operations - Strategic Partnerships The Senior Manager, Product Operations owns the strategy, development, and delivery of systems and operational tools that support WGU’s Strategic Partnerships team. This role leads a small, cross-functional team and partners closely with technology and business stakeholders to translate operational needs into scalable product solutions, with Salesforce as the primary platform. Success in this role requires strong product and project management discipline, business acumen, and the ability to drive measurable outcomes in a matrixed environment.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree.
5+ years of experience in product management with increasing scope and responsibility.
3+ years of experience leading and managing teams.
3+ years of experience developing enterprise-wide technical solutions such as Salesforce.
Salesforce Administrator (ADM 201) certification is required within 6 months of hire date.
Project Management Professional (PMP) or equivalent certification (e.g., CAPM, PMI-ACP, Scrum Master) is required within 1 year of hire date.

Nice To Haves

Experience in higher education, ed‑tech, or a mission‑driven organization.
Experience in partnerships, business development, or marketing
Experience with Salesforce Experience Cloud, PRM solutions, or CRM data enrichment tools.
Lean Six Sigma, Change Management (Prosci), Agile, or SAFe Work Location
certification.

Responsibilities

Own and manage the product roadmap for Strategic Partnerships systems and tools, including Salesforce CRM, partner portals, intake workflows, and reporting infrastructure.
Lead and support a cross-functional team of developers, administrators, project managers, and a UX designer by setting priorities and enabling delivery.
Translate business requirements into clear technical specifications, user stories, and structured project plans that guide development and deployment.
Serve as the primary liaison between Strategic Partnerships and EdTech teams to ensure alignment on architecture, security, data governance, and integrations.
Manage the full lifecycle of systems initiatives from discovery and scoping through build, testing, launch, and post‑launch support.
Oversee Salesforce solutions including custom objects, flows, reports, dashboards, Experience Cloud portals, and third‑party integrations.
Establish and maintain development standards, release processes, change management protocols, and platform health across the Strategic Partnerships tech stack.