Product Lead

Introduction:

University of the People (UoPeople) is the first non-profit, tuition-free, American, accredited, 100% online university. Today, UoPeople has over 170,000 students enrolled from more than 200 countries and territories, including 18,800 students who are refugees. UoPeople is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC).

We believe that higher education is a basic human right and that it can transform not only the lives of students, but also their families’ lives, their communities, their nations, and, by extension, the world. See President Reshef’s TED Talk when he announced the founding of the University.

UoPeople is an innovative university, and we welcome team members who bring creativity and innovation to their roles. We’re a fast-paced organization with remote teams all around the globe. If you’re a self-starter who wants to succeed alongside a passionate team, we’d love to hear from you!

UoPeople is supported by the generosity of individuals and foundations, including the Gates, Hewlett, Ford Foundations, Foundation Hoffmann, and others. The University has been covered by The New York Times, BBC, NPR, Times Higher Education, U.S. News & World Report, and many other leading media outlets. President Reshef’s TED Talk and Nas Daily interview about the University have more than 30 million combined views.

General :

The Product Lead is accountable for the end-to-end product lifecycle, from project/feature initiation through successful delivery and release. The Product Lead partners with business stakeholders to understand strategic objectives, translate business needs into product solutions, and drive delivery through Agile teams.

The Product Lead owns the product vision, roadmap, requirements, backlog, prioritization, and product validation. Acting as the voice of the business and users, the Product Lead collaborates closely with business stakeholders, designers, engineers, QA, Scrum Masters, and other cross-functional teams to ensure products deliver measurable value and align with the University's strategic objectives.

The role combines strategic product management with hands-on product ownership, ensuring continuity from idea through implementation and continuous improvement.

Responsibilities :

• Own the product lifecycle – Lead the product from ideation through delivery, release, and continuous improvement, ensuring alignment with University strategy and business objectives.
• Define product strategy and priorities – Develop and maintain the product vision, roadmap, and priorities based on business goals, user needs, and organizational value.
• Manage requirements and backlog – Translate business needs into product requirements, epics, user stories, and acceptance criteria. Own, prioritize, and continuously refine the product backlog.
• Partner with stakeholders and delivery teams – Collaborate closely with business stakeholders, engineers, QA, UX, Scrum Masters, and other cross-functional teams to ensure a shared understanding of requirements and successful product delivery.
• Support Agile delivery – Participate in Agile ceremonies, provide functional guidance during development, remove ambiguities, and ensure the team is ready to deliver high-quality solutions.
• Validate and release products – Perform product validation, support User Acceptance Testing, prioritize functional issues, and ensure delivered solutions meet business requirements before release.
• Drive communication and continuous improvement – Communicate product progress, risks, and priorities, while identifying opportunities to improve products, processes, and user experience.
• Support CRM-driven initiatives – Apply hands-on CRM platform experience to translate business needs into CRM configurations, workflows, and integrations that support product and business processes.

Qualifications :

• Bachelor’s degree in business, engineering, computer science, or a related field
• 3+years of proven experience in product management, business analyst or in a similar role within an agile environment
• Experience with managing product backlogs and collaborating with cross-functional teams.
• Understanding of agile frameworks and development life cycles.
• Familiarity with tools like Jira or other agile project management platforms.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to adapt to a fast-paced, ever-changing environment and make informed decisions under pressure.
• Hands-on knowledge and experience working with CRM systems, including understanding CRM-based business processes, data, configurations, and integrations.
• Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) or Professional Scrum Product Owner (PSPO).
• Experience in user research methodologies and usability testing.
• Technical background or prior experience in software development and/or QA is preferred.
• Excellent written and spoken English