Director of Product Management (Immediate Opening)
New Today
Director of Product Management
Mission:
We are seeking a highly strategic and design-minded Director of Product Management to lead the vision, roadmap, and delivery of software products that support our growing network of charter schools across multiple states.
Product Management "discovers what's needed now." As the Director of Product Management you will install Teresa Torres-style continuous-discovery habits-weekly user touch-points, opportunity-solution trees, rapid assumption testing-so every dashboard, API-fed tool, or web application we ship advances the Reseach, Analytics, and Product Team's (RAP) vision of "separating signal from noise so leaders have the right information, at the right time." Reporting to the SVP-RAP (solid) and CIO (dotted), you will guide a four-to-five person product team, work hand to hand with teams like Application Development, Enterprise Reporting, and Business Intelligence to design valuable and lovable products, partner with Data Science to operationalize predictive models, and ensure every product drives the network's Org Priorities & Goals.
Supervisory Responsibilities:
- Directly manage a Senior Lead Product Manager and two other Product Managers
- Matrix lead Product Teams comprised of Product Managers (solid-line) and software development teammates (full stack developers, engineers, data scientists, and designers, all of whom are dotted line)
Location:
This is a full-time position based in Texas, with preference given to candidates who live in Austin, El Paso, Houston, Permian Basin (Midland/Odessa), Rio Grande Valley, San Antonio, and Tarrant County (Fort Worth), or who are willing to relocate.
Travel Expectations:
40% travel expected in order to supervise in-person user interviews and observations.
What You'll Do - Accountabilities
Essential Duties:
- Lead dual-track (discovery + delivery) workflow; no item enters development without a defined opportunity, measurable success metric, and validated assumptions.
- Coordinate with the Software Development team to create and execute feasible development timelines for custom software application development projects.
- Translate Org Priorities & Goals into quarterly Outcome Roadmaps-not feature lists-and facilitate "Opportunity Prioritization" sessions with SVP-RAP & CIO.
- Partner with Data Science & Analytics to surface predictive-model outputs in dashboards and tools; create feedback loops to verify impact on decisions.
- Drive launch/change-management playbooks (in-app guidance, field training, adoption analytics).
- Uphold data-governance, privacy and accessibility (FERPA).
- Recruit, coach and performance-manage PMs; host "Opportunity Office Hours" and weekly discovery crits to build muscle across RAP.
- Additional Duties and Responsibilities:
Embed Insights Where Decisions Happen: 100 % of new dashboards/apps are used in at least one operating mechanism (e.g., MTSS, Locus) within 30 days of launch; usage monitored monthly. - Elevate Product Management & Consolidate Tools: PM Discovery Playbook live by 30 Sep 2025; ≥ 25 % of legacy dashboards retired or merged into user-centered suites; new products achieve NPS ≥ 80.
- Continuous-Discovery Health: Each product trio completes ≥ 45 validated user touch-points per quarter; Maintain living opportunity-solution trees; 100 % of roadmap items list testable assumptions & success metrics
- Team Capability & Culture: department meets or exceeds RAP-wide NPS +75 goal.
Knowledge and Skills - Competencies
- Make Strategic Decisions: This team member uses data and trends to drive decisions that impact multiple teams, while anticipating risks and planning contingencies for key initiatives. They apply strategic frameworks to clarify challenges and guide coherent action, and they actively support others in strengthening their strategic thinking and decision-making capabilities.
- Manage Work and Teams: This team member designs scalable systems that anticipate future organizational needs, driving sustainable impact through cross-functional collaboration and strategic problem-solving. They foster a culture of ownership and accountability, lead change with clarity and purpose, and balance hands-on leadership with empowering others to build capacity and achieve long-term success.
- Grow Self and Others: This team member uses data to assess development needs and designs learning opportunities that align with team goals and individual career growth. They model a growth mindset by being open about their own development and ensure that both personal and team-led learning initiatives are impactful and well-aligned with organizational priorities.
- Build a Culture of Trust: This team member fosters a team culture where individuals genuinely care for one another both personally and professionally. They lead with transparency, encourage open communication, including healthy conflict-and promote reliability and consistency, while regularly seeking and responding to team feedback to enhance the collective experience.
- Communicate Deliberately: This team member communicates thoughtfully by anticipating potential misunderstandings and providing necessary context to ensure clarity. They leverage structured communication channels to address challenges, ask meaningful questions, and guide conversations toward solutions, while actively listening to the concerns of others.
Additional Skills:
- Continuous-discovery toolkit (opportunity-solution trees, user (e.g., JTBD) interviews, rapid experiments).
- Outcome-oriented product strategy and portfolio management.
- User-centered design methods (journey mapping, prototyping, usability testing).
- Data-fluency: Power BI or Tableau, basic ML/predictive-analytics concepts, SQL/C#/web design familiarity.
- Cross-functional leadership in matrixed organizations.
- Clear, persuasive communication to senior execs.
Required experience:
- Bachelor's in Business, Computer Science, Human-Centered Design, or a related field (MBA / M.Ed. a plus)
- 7+ years in product management, including 3+ leading product teams; demonstrated success installing continuous-discovery systems and shipping data-infused products within enterprise or ed-tech contexts
What We Offer:
Compensation & Benefits:
Salaries for people entering this role typically fall between $108,100 and $128,600, commensurate with relevant experience and qualifications and in alignment with internal equity. This role is also eligible for performance pay based on organizational performance and goal attainment.
Additionally, we offer medical, dental, and vision plans, disability, life insurance, parenting benefits, flexible spending account options, generous vacation time, referral bonuses, professional development, and a 403(b) plan. You can find more information about our benefits at https://ideapublicschools.org/careers/benefits/.
* IDEA may offer a relocation stipend to defray the cost of moving for this role, if applicable.
Application process:
Submit your application online through Jobvite. Please note that applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis until the position is filled. Applicants are encouraged to apply as early as possible.
Learn more about IDEA
At IDEA the School Culture and Belonging Team uses our Core Values to promote human connection and a culture of integrity, respect, and belonging for all Team and Family members. Learn more about our Commitment to Core Values here: https://ideapublicschools.org/our-story/#core-values
IDEA Public Schools does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, sex or disability, in admission or access to, or treatment of employment in its programs and activities. Any person having inquiries concerning the organization's compliance with the regulations implementing Title VI of Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504), or Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), may contact IDEA Human Resources at (956) 377-8000.
- Location:
- Austin
- Job Type:
- FullTime
