Product Director – Higher Education, School Boards

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in Portugal.

📋 Description

• Take charge of the product vision, strategy, and multi-horizon roadmap for Higher Education and K-12.

• Ensure that the product roadmap aligns with Unit4's platform strategy and commercial growth objectives.

• Manage a prioritized product backlog backed by dedicated engineering resources.

• Establish outcomes, success metrics, release plans, and quality standards.

• Convert sector insights into product requirements, opportunity assessments, and build-vs-partner evaluations.

• Create industry-specific solution blueprints, reference configurations, and pre-built templates.

• Collaborate with horizontal product teams across finance, HR, procurement, and research management.

• Partner on launch readiness, pricing strategies, packaging, and field enablement efforts.

• Engage with strategic customers and the HE Industry Board to validate roadmap direction and foster co-innovation.

• Ensure that regulatory, accessibility, research compliance, and provincial requirements are incorporated into the roadmap.

• Keep a close eye on competitors such as Ellucian, Workday, Microsoft, and Tribal Group.

• Collaborate with partners to enhance value for Higher Education and K-12 clients.

• Oversee feature outcomes and monitor adoption, usage, and customer impact post-launch.

• Act as the internal expert on the Higher Education and K-12 sectors for product, marketing, analyst relations, and pre-sales teams.

⛳️ Requirements

• Demonstrated product management experience in building enterprise software, ERP, finance systems, or enterprise SaaS for higher education institutions or K-12 school districts.

• Experience in delivering products utilized by higher education finance teams, research administrators, or school board operation staff.

• Comprehensive knowledge of higher education finance, encompassing research grant accounting, fund and restricted-fund accounting, full economic costing, endowments, and tuition revenue models.

• Familiarity with provincial ministry funding formulas, trustee governance, board reporting, school-level budget delegation, and collective agreement administration.

• Insight into student lifecycle interfaces, including financial aid, tuition management, and integrations with student information systems.

• Awareness of AI's implications for research enterprises and administrative operations, with a focus on responsible and governance-compliant product decisions.

• Commercial acumen with an understanding of ARR, win rates, and customer retention metrics.

• Ability to communicate effectively with CFOs, VPs of Finance, Superintendents of Business, and senior academic and school board leadership.

• Background in product management for enterprise SaaS platforms.

• Strong grasp of professional services business models, including project-based delivery, utilization, billing, scheduling, and compliance.

• Capability to influence without authority and work collaboratively in a matrixed environment.

• Proven track record of translating complex industry needs into scalable product solutions.

• Excellent communication, analytical, and stakeholder engagement abilities.

• Desirable: experience with ERP or PSA platforms.

• Desirable: familiarity with mid-market services firms and their operational challenges.

• Desirable: understanding of AI-driven or data-rich product environments.

• May require security clearance and background checks for customer projects and access to sensitive customer data.

🏝️ Benefits

• Flexible Leave Paid Time Off policy.

• Opportunities for remote work.

• Global Wellbeing Days.

• Opportunities for growth.

• Resources and guidance for professional development.

• Collaborate with talented colleagues, role models, and mentors.

• Engage in sustainability initiatives through the Environmental, Social, and Governance strategy and Act4Good programme.

• Enjoy a safe and inclusive working environment.

• Participate in Employee Resource Groups open to all.