Product Manager

Role Overview

Encoura is looking for a Product Manager to help drive our Predictive Solutions Suite and the enrollment data ingestion pipelines that power our marketing, analytics, and predictive modeling products. This role sits at the intersection of data, product strategy, and customer outcomes — you'll work closely with engineering, data science, and go-to-market teams to ensure the data flowing into our predictive products is accurate, timely, and actionable for the colleges and universities we serve. This is a great opportunity for a product manager early in their career who wants to grow their craft inside a mission-driven, data-rich business at the center of the higher education ecosystem.

A Day in the Life

Support the roadmap and backlog for the Predictive Solutions Suite, working with engineering and data science to prioritize features that improve model accuracy and usability

Partner with data engineering to define requirements for enrollment data ingestion — sourcing, validation, transformation, and delivery into downstream marketing, analytics, and predictive modeling systems

Write clear user stories, acceptance criteria, and specs that translate customer and internal stakeholder needs into buildable work

Collaborate with customer-facing teams (sales, marketing, client success) to understand how institutions use predictive insights and data products, and translate that feedback into product improvements

Monitor data quality and pipeline health metrics, flagging issues and working with engineering to resolve them

Support user research, competitive analysis, and market scans to inform product decisions

Help prepare product documentation, release notes, and internal/external communications about new features and data capabilities

Participate in agile ceremonies (standups, sprint planning, retros) and help keep initiatives on track

Role Progression

Within 1 month, you'll: Get onboarded into the Predictive Solutions Suite and enrollment data ingestion architecture, meet key stakeholders across engineering, data science, marketing, and analytics, and begin shadowing sprint ceremonies and backlog grooming.

Within 3 months, you'll: Own a defined slice of the roadmap, independently write specs and user stories, and be the go-to person for a specific data ingestion workflow or predictive feature area.

Within 6 months, you'll: Be trusted to lead a feature initiative end-to-end — from problem definition through launch — and contribute meaningfully to prioritization discussions across the Predictive Solutions Suite.

About You

Bachelor's degree in a related field (Business, Data/Analytics, Computer Science, or similar), or equivalent practical experience

1–2 years of experience in product management, business analysis, data analytics, or a related role; higher education, EdTech, or SaaS experience is a plus

Comfort working with data — you can read a data model, ask good questions about data quality, and translate technical detail into plain language for non-technical stakeholders

Strong written and verbal communication skills; able to write clear specs and collaborate across technical and non-technical teams

A curious, detail-oriented mindset — you enjoy digging into "why" a metric moved or "how" a pipeline works

Experience working in Agile/Scrum environments, or eagerness to learn

Familiarity with tools like JIRA, Confluence, SQL, or BI/analytics platforms is a plus, but not required

A collaborative, low-ego approach — you're comfortable asking questions, taking feedback, and iterating quickly

Genuine interest in higher education, student success, or data-driven decision-making

Successful candidates will be required to complete and pass a CLEAR™ identity verification as part of the pre-employment screening process.

CLEAR™ Candidate FAQ

The annual base salary range for this exempt position is $125,000 - $140,000 and reflects the midpoint through maximum of the established range for this role . Encoura establishes compensation using national market data, internal equity considerations, and organizational budget factors to ensure fairness and consistency across the organization. Certain roles may also be eligible for variable compensation in addition to base salary. Employees in this role are eligible for Encoura’s comprehensive benefits package, which includes health insurance, retirement contributions, paid time off, and other programs that support employee well‑being.

About Us

Encoura’s mission is to empower students and institutions to create meaningful connections so everyone can make the most informed decisions to achieve their goals. Since 1972, the Company has evolved its products and services to better represent the link between students and higher education institutions and to create the highest probability of student success.

Encoura’s expertise now spans enrollment, research, marketing, student success, and advancement and provides an unmatched combination of higher education experience and innovative solutions for colleges and universities. The Company also offers Encourage® — the nation’s largest free college and career planning program used by millions of high school students and educators nationwide.

It is the policy of the Company to provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, protected veteran or disabled status, or genetic information. All applicants must be eligible to work in the U.S.

Encoura endeavors to make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities and disabled veterans pursuant to applicable federal and state law. If you are an individual with a disability and require reasonable accommodation to complete any part of the application process or are limited in the ability and need an alternative method for applying, please contact the Talent Team.

Applicants from California, please review the CA HR Privacy Notice .

To review our privacy policy, please click this link: https://encoura.org/privacy-policy/