[Remote] Product Manager – Contractor (1099)

Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. InStride is a human capital management company dedicated to empowering employees through education programs. The Product Manager will be responsible for leading product initiatives, collaborating with engineering teams, and ensuring product solutions meet the needs of corporate partners and learners.ResponsibilitiesLead end-to-end product lifecycle from discovery through launch, ensuring timely execution and high-quality deliveryAccountable for a roadmap of features and capabilities to ensure a scalable and high-quality experience for learners and/or corporate partnersLead product work for pods focused on technical initiatives, including internal support tools, partner eligibility management, core platform/API evolution, and front-end framework migrationPartner closely with engineering to define scope, sequence work, manage dependencies, and make informed tradeoffs that balance delivery, scalability, and technical qualityEnsure technical initiatives are clearly tied to business outcomes, operational efficiency, or future product capabilitiesLead partnership with other departments to ensure proper triage, review and prioritization of feature and/or bug requests from internal and external stakeholdersDefine, track, and report on key product metrics; leverage data analytics and user research to guide decisions and to continuously improve product performance and user experienceSupport exploration and go-to-market of new business solutions and features in collaboration with other teams, including representing the product team in strategic partnership conversationsMaintain a solid understanding of the problems and needs of working adult learners and employer partners, by proactively reviewing and analyzing available market data and internal data (e.g., A/B testing, learner survey data, platform usage data) and seeking opportunities to obtain firsthand learnings (e.g., watch Gong recordings of sales calls, join/lead user experience interviews)Translate market and business needs into product solutions and featuresSkills5+ years of product management or similar experience, preferably in edtech or HR techBachelor's degree or relevant work experienceExperience with agile software development practices and experience crafting epics, user stories, building agile processes, backlog management, and roadmap planningExperience leading or significantly contributing to platform, infrastructure-adjacent, or internal product initiatives (e.g., APIs, internal tools, system integrations, migrations)Comfortable context-switching between deeply technical problem spaces and customer- or partner-facing feature developmentExperience leading technical conversations with less technical internal and external stakeholders (e.g., corporate and/or higher education leaders)Understands the value of strong documentation, knowledge management, and impact measurementEnjoys tackling open-ended, ambiguous problems and delving into new topics, domains, and techniques; can process a large amount of information and distill into recommendationsNo job too small attitude / roll up sleeves mentality; proactive with a bias for speed and action; able to handle multiple, competing (and sometimes unexpected) demandsAbility to translate complex market and business needs into clear product requirementsComfort leading highly technical initiatives such as platform enhancements, internal tools, system integrations, and architectural or framework migrations; able to engage engineers in detailed discussions and understand tradeoffsAbility to reason about complex systems, dependencies, data flows, and long-term scalability when defining product directionStrong analytical skills and inclination to use data (or proxy data) to inform decisions and prioritizationStrong verbal and written communication across a diverse set of partners and team members; writes clearly, succinctly, and in a compelling mannerAble to build rapport and trust across stakeholder groups; strong listener who displays emotional intelligenceExperience partnering cross-functionally to effectively ask questions, listen, uncover perspectives, present options, build consensus, and effectuate new ideas; Proven experience working closely with engineering teams to shape solutions, sequence work, and balance technical health with business outcomesDesigns strong project plans, effectively mobilizes colleagues across teams, and ensures the work is completed on time and to a high standardBenefitsEligible to enroll in 2,800+ online certificate and degree programs through our Step Forward programInStride covers your tuition upfront, regardless of your course of study, degree type, or school - eligible to employees starting Day 1401(k) plan with company matchFlexible vacation policyPaid family leaveBest-in-class health care benefitsCompany OverviewThe premier global provider of strategic enterprise education programs. It was founded in 2019, and is headquartered in El Segundo, California, USA, with a workforce of 51-200 employees. Its website is https://www.instride.com/.