Senior Director of Product Development
About the Role
Teach to One: Math (TTO) is a personalized learning program powered by a portfolio of technologies (including custom & 3rd party integrations). The Senior Director of Product Development is responsible for actualizing a variety of technical (including complex back-end algorithms) and non-technical solutions (including school support solutions) that are necessary to implement, maintain and advance the TTO program. Key to this work will be to ensure that these advancement solutions and on-going execution & maintenance efforts address stated issues, challenges, opportunities and objectives. Also key will be effective project management that includes balancing and maximizing priorities such as quality, functional & technological health, time to completion, scope, resources, etc.
Senior Director of Product Development will be focused on: 1) understanding and safeguarding the vision and goals of efforts and initiatives, 2) partnering with the Program Design and Analysis,Technology Divisions, and other teams to create/develop and support the products, tools and implementation designs that bring that vision to life and 3) working closely with the Delivery Teams that support the implementation of the program to make sure the program’s products and services are operating and functioning as intended.
The role will report directly to the Chief Program Officer and Co-Founder. Senior Director of Product Development for New Classrooms is a highly unique opportunity to play a critical role in helping to realize the evolution of a personalized learning model that is being successfully implemented nationwide. Qualified candidates for this role should be passionate about bringing their product and project management skills, technical understanding, and education experience to bear on this challenge.
What You Would Do
Strategic Alignment
Understand the short term and long term objectives of program design team
Develop approach to accomplishing critical program work that aligns with key priorities
Solutioning
Serve as a bridge across the various teams within the Program Wing, ensuring successful collaboration and problem solving to meet objectives as they relate to the development and support of the program
Ensure that the goals of a given program feature are being realized functionally, technically and operationally once they have gone into execution
Ensure integrity of product/program objectives are maintained, both functionally and technically, as new solutions are put into production
Check for the understanding of the bigger global program picture so that a given solution factors in other priorities and developments
Factor in the uncertain future and manage risk: asking questions like “will taking one technical direction cut off five directions for the future”
Evaluate solutions against a set of sometimes competing expectations, including quality level, timeline, impact on product health, program design goals, project objectives, and impact on operations or other product areas
Champion and drive the investigation of what’s technically or operationally possible before we decide which paths to head down for a variety of types of work
Work in partnership with technology to drive enterprise architecture rebuild plan
Actualization & Work Management
Responsible for ongoing planning and management of key work to achieve program strategic objectives
Guide program delivery teams to select and focus on highest priority work that meets overall program objectives, appropriately balancing quality vs. timeline vs. budget
Ensure meaningful planning & analysis of the work, at both the long term and short term level, that balances new/advancement development, with tech rebuild and ongoing support & maintenance
Ensure all developed solutions are appropriately released and launched
Oversee the triage process to ensure all urgent issues are resolved in a timely manner
Develop, implement and maintain/improve standard processes and tools
Ensure regular communication to all stakeholders on priorities and progress of all work
About You
You are someone with impeccable communication skills, both written and verbal, who enjoys sharing and clarifying information
You are someone who enjoys straddling the space between technology and business/program needs and can move fluidly between the language of business and strategy and technology
You are a fast learner: quick on the uptake + able to quickly apply those learnings
You like to apply your creativity toward solving really complex puzzles
You are good at finding the common ground between two competing or disparate points of view--even when those are held by highly passionate and intelligent individuals
You are comfortable with ambiguity and when necessary, you can quickly grasp the abstract and turn it into concrete
While you are not currently an engineer, you understand enough about the software development process to work with business analysts and engineers to explore multiple pathways to success
You can be assertive and direct without being obnoxious or off-putting
Role Requirements
10+ years of business analysis or product management experience preferred
Demonstrated success collaborating with and influencing a diverse group of cross-disciplinary stakeholders
Understanding of the K-12 education space strongly preferred
Knowledge of complex, back-end technical components and how they interact with each other and ability to discuss these with engineers and other technical stakeholders (on a technical knowledge scale of 1-5 you are at least a 3.5).
Excited to work in a highly entrepreneurial and ambiguous environment where you will wear multiple hats
Equal Opportunity
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, marital status, affectional or sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, nationality or sex.
Work Authorization
In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification document form upon hire.