Senior Manager, Product & User Experience - Craft Education

Western Governors University•Nashville, TN

6d•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: Management_Executive 611 Pay Range: $141,900.00 - $255,500.00 Job Description The Senior Manager of Product and User Experience will drive product execution, develop our product management team, and establish user experience as a strategic capability. This role thrives at the intersection of operational excellence and hands-on development; coaches Product Managers at varying stages of autonomy while ensuring reliable product delivery.

Requirements

Proven track record shipping high-quality products in B2B or B2B2C environments.
Strong product execution and delivery skills; can lead product development with minimal oversight.
Comfortable guiding decisions with incomplete information and adjusting as you learn.
Experience in regulated or compliance-heavy environments (education, workforce development, healthcare, fintech, government).
Experience managing and developing Product Managers or readiness to step into people leadership.
Strong communication and influence skills; can build alignment across functions.
Comfortable operating independently in high-growth environments.
Bachelor’s degree preferred; equivalent experience considered.
5 years in product management with ownership of significant products or portfolios
2 years of experience leading Product & User experience teams or related leadership experience

Nice To Haves

Strong POV on what makes great UX; design or research background preferred.

Responsibilities

Owns outcomes across a significant product portfolio; ensures delivery from discovery through launch.
Guides product decisions within established strategic frameworks and empower your team to make autonomous calls.
Translates strategic vision into executable plans; partners with senior leadership to clarify priorities and surface execution risks.
Drives cross-functional alignment with Engineering, Sales, Customer Success, and Operations.
Represents Product in leadership forums and with key stakeholders.
Builds, mentors, and develops a team of Product Managers across levels of seniority and autonomy.
Leads performance management with clear accountability, including difficult conversations.
Adapts leadership style to individual needs—strategic partnership for autonomous PMs; intensive development where needed.
Creates structures, rituals, and expectations that drive high performance across the team.
Defines and champions UX vision and standards—what “great design” means for our customers.
Leads or partners closely with UX professionals (designers and researchers).
Embeds user-centered design early starting in discovery, not bolted on at delivery.
Builds scalable UX capabilities—design systems, research practices, and quality standards.
Establishes team rituals and communication patterns that enable high performance.
Ensures product development processes are optimized and repeatable from discovery through delivery.
Drives predictability—oversees release management, quality standards, and cross-team coordination.
Creates visibility into performance via metrics, dashboards, and regular reporting.
Enables team autonomy while maintaining visibility and accountability for outcomes.
Surfaces execution risks early with solutions, not just problems.
Executes product organization initiatives and build team capabilities.
Builds trust through reliable delivery and strong judgment.