Job Information
Educational Testing Service Executive Director, Innovation Product Manager & Functional Product Owner Lead in Princeton, New Jersey
About ETS:
For more than 75 years, we have amplified products and services based rigorous research and our belief in the power of learning. Driven by our mission to advance quality and equity in education, ETS provides learning solutions, pioneering research and trusted assessments that help guide learners around the world on their path to new possibilities.
Our portfolio of trusted measures include
TOEFL®, TOEIC®, GRE® and Praxis®
. Along with research, development and innovation that explores new frontiers in learning and measurement our educational measurement solutions and research contribute to the development of new methods and tools, inform important dialogue with education policymakers, and shed light on critical issues and potential solutions - all with the aim of creating a world where all learners can improve their lives through education.
With new senior leadership at the helm, ETS aims to continue changing the lives of all learners as we expand our organization's global footprint. Our goal is to remain at the forefront of assessment and measurement efficacy within the education and ed tech space as it continues to grow and evolve.
Summary
The Executive Director, Product Owner is responsible for developing, defining, and executing a strategy for Product Ownership within Product Innovation and Development at ETS. The Executive Director is responsible for overseeing a team that owns the backlogs of new products, product expansions, and in some cases portfolios of products. The team is expected to galvanize cross-functional scrum teams to execute their backlogs. The Executive Director, Product Owner manages the strategy for how the team will receive business requirements from Product Managers and translates those business requirements to product requirements and a product development backlogs. The Executive Director, Product Owner is responsible for creating the strategy for their team to execute the complete product design, user interactions, content architecture and insights, capability integrations, and world class end-to-end user experiences.
The Executive Director, Product Owner manages a team of Product Owners and reports to the Vice President of Product Innovation and Development. The Executive Director, Product Owner collaborates closely with ETS business unit leaders.
Responsibilities
Set the strategy for how teams will executive an innovation funnel and product development lifecycle.
Collaborate with Executive Director, Product Managers and Business Unit leaders to develop strategies for defining existing and emerging market segments, conducting competitive analyses, setting strategic visions, and translating business requirements into clear and actionable product requirements.
Establish the process and execute the strategy for resource management among scrum teams, helping Product owners manage the onboarding and offboarding of resources to execute the product development backlog effectively, efficiently, and maximize value.
Build the strategy for the product design process of learning and assessment products that are built on learning science principles and that have evidence of efficacy.
Vision and design a world-class end-to-end user experience, including intuitive user interactions and engaging feature and content architecture.
Establish operating models for capability integrations by partnering with Senior Technical Product Managers and ensure seamless functional across different aspects of the product.
Optimize processes for gathering insights from users and stakeholders to inform product decisions and improvements.
Regularly communicate with stakeholders about the status of products, the backlogs, and strategy roadmaps.
Act as the primary point of contact for any product-related strategy questions or concerns from the scrum team and/or stakeholders.
Ensure all products meet quality standards and is delivered on time and within budget.
Support a strong go-to-market by delivering Product Managers and cross-functional teams including Marketing and Sales with insights about product-market-fit and claims about product efficacy.
Build processes for keeping up to date with market trends and competitor products to inform the product strategy.
Define product key performance indicators that will track across all products so the organization can measure and monitor the health of our products.
Manage and develop a team of Product Owners.
Education
Bachelor’s degree required
MBA or master’s degree in business administration, product management, organizational psychology, information technology, marketing or related field preferred
Experience
10+ years in successful product management
Experience in the educational technology industry a plus
Agile Methodologies: Strong understanding and experience in working with Agile frameworks, particularly Scrum, and a proven ability to effectively manage and prioritize product backlogs.
Business Acumen: Sound business judgment and the ability to align product decisions with strategic objectives and market demands.
User-Centric Mindset: A deep understanding of user needs and behaviors, with the ability to create intuitive and user-friendly product designs and experiences.
Communication and Collaboration: Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, with the ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams, stakeholders, and executives.
Technical Aptitude: Familiarity with technology and software development processes, enabling effective communication with development teams and a clear understanding of technical constraints and possibilities.
Requirements Gathering and Analysis: Proficient in translating business requirements into actionable product requirements, ensuring they are clear, complete, and aligned with business objectives.
Product Design and UX: Ability to lead product design efforts, ensuring the development of innovative, visually appealing, and user-friendly product interfaces and interactions.
Market Research and Analysis: Strong research skills to gather market insights, competitive analysis, and customer feedback to inform product strategy and decision-making.
Decision-Making and Prioritization: Effective decision-making skills to prioritize features and enhancements based on business value, market needs, and available resources.
#LI-NK1
#LI-REMOTR
ETS believes in a Total Rewards philosophy for our employees, and they include:
Health, Vision, Dental insurance plans to choose from
Generous continuous learning support, from individual learning grants to up to 6 classes a year for tuition reimbursement as well as on-line learning access!
Generous PTO and vacation time to balance your work and life
Additional 8 hours of PTO for volunteer work
Retirement plan (401(a)) and traditional Roth (403b) with company contribution
Commuter Benefits, Pet Insurance, 1 year subscription to Calm App
ETS is mission driven and action oriented
Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging is at the forefront of the ETS employee's daily work. To further foster an inclusive environment ETS is home to a wide variety of Affinity groups that celebrate the diversity of our talented employees.
How about cultivating growth, innovation, and continuous transformation for the next generation of rising professionals as leaders? ETS offers multiple Business Resource Groups (BRG) for you!
Are you passionate about volunteering and being active in your career and community? ETS offers our Center for Advocacy & Philanthropy (CAAP) where we encourage ETS employees to become active volunteers in their communities and schools through the ETS Cares Giving Campaign. Our employees can support any 501c3 or eligible charity of their choice.
ETS is an Equal Opportunity Employer comprised of people with different experiences, strengths, and backgrounds who share a passion for advancing quality and equity in education. We are dedicated to building teams that reflect the various backgrounds, experiences, and identities of those we serve. The Talent Acquisition team strives to ensure candidates enjoy a fair and equitable hiring process. We believe our differences empower us to be a better team, making better decisions and delivering better results.