Senior Program Manager - Discovery (Academy)

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Driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs, WGU is also committed to being a great place to work for a diverse workforce of student-focused professionals. The university has pioneered a new way to learn in the 21st century, one that has received praise from academic, industry, government, and media leaders. Whatever your role, working for WGU gives you a part to play in helping students graduate, creating a better tomorrow for themselves and their families.

The salary range for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs.

At WGU, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their position, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is:

Job Description

About the Role:

The Senior Program Manager - Discovery supports the Certificate team to define and bring high-impact micro-credential offerings to market, ensuring they align with the demand from both employers and prospective students. This role blends academic product strategy with program management, focusing on identifying the best opportunities to launch. The Senior Program Manager - Discovery will engage in activities such as discovery, market research, customer insights, data analysis, and needs-based requirements gathering, all with the goal of meeting the evolving needs of learners and employers.

As a certificate SME and research collaborator, the Senior Program Manager - Discovery will develop business cases for programs that align with WGU Academy's mission and vision, while also ensuring strong market relevance and positive student outcomes. This includes managing complex research and strategy projects across multiple groups.

This position also manages the pre-launch phase of the academic product cycle, which includes developing program strategy, needs assessment, cross functional collaboration, and leading the launch of new certificate programs. Success will be measured by achieving product-market fit and uncovering pockets of demand, along with shared accountability for program quality and impact.

Location: This position requires you to work in office 4 days per week at the WGU headquarters 4001 South 700 East Salt Lake City, UT 84107

What You'll Do:

Product Discovery:

• Build the business case for certificate offerings, in partnership with shared service teams such as marketing, research and analytics, design, business development, college partners and others.
• Partner across functional teams to ensure that the Voice of the Customer (learners and organizations) is known and incorporated in offering concepts.
• Collaborate with Research Team to design and conduct qualitative and quantitative studies, including user interviews, surveys, and focus groups targeting prospective and current learners.
• Collaborate on research plans for product feedback. Participate in both B-B and B-C research to ensure empathy for end users and purchasing organizations.
• Manage certificate academic product roadmap and backlog of potential future program ideas in partnership with Academy and college stakeholders.
• Identify target audiences (buyers and users) and develop appropriate go-to-market strategies for new certificate offerings.
• Ideation and Concept Development:Facilitate brainstorming sessions and workshops to generate innovative product ideas based on user research.
• Continuous Improvement:Stay up-to-date with the latest research methodologies and tools to continuously improve our product discovery processes.
• Support the Manager, Product Discovery with additional side projects and new initiatives.
• Perform other job-related duties as assigned.

Certificate Launch

• Conduct essential product concept research, including (but not limited to) market sizing, competitive analysis, enrollment estimates, pricing models, and strategic insights to inform offerings' design.
• Engage cross-functional teams throughout product concept and charter creation (to ensure completion of product design, marketing, finance, GTM, enrollment, etc.).
• Regularly engage with regional sales leaders and strategic partnership managers to understand market needs, identify potential organizational buyers, conduct B2B research, pilot offerings, and engage with potential partners as SME.
• Ensure product launch and planning documents are well documented, detailed, and reflect relevant market insights to support GTM strategies.
• Partner to support proper pre-launch field training and offering
• Partner with Product Launch and Continuous Improvement teams to ensure successful, on-time launch.
• Perform other job-related duties as assigned.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities You'll Need to be Successful:

• Leads product discovery and influences product strategy and planning decisions for business-critical, strategic, complex, and innovative products.
• Actively builds and maintains a deep understanding of both employer and learner educational needs
• Serves as certificate SME with deep experience in product discovery, including methods for gathering and distilling insights, feedback loops, and customer testing
• Ability to drive for results across a matrixed organization
• Diplomatic and composed under pressure, with a high level of organizational savvy.
• Strong organizational and communication skills (both written and verbal).
• Collaborative, able to work effectively across multiple teams with diverse needs and perspectives
• Executive presence and ability to influence and partner with senior leaders.
• Proven ability to drive discovery process in a matrixed environment.
• Strong critical thinking, empathetic listening, and product discovery skills.
• Skilled in consultative questioning to uncover key product and learner insights.
• Strong business acumen and strategic thinking abilities.
• Brings structure and clarity to ambiguous situations, comfortable with ambiguity.
• Significant experience in Online Education.
• Experience working with at-risk or underserved student populations.

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor's Degree
• 5 or more years of experience in program or product discovery
• Experienced professional seasoned in product discovery strategies

Why Join WGU?

• You will be part of a growing, diverse, inclusive workforce, committed to creating pathways to a better life for our students by expanding access to education for everyone.
• We provide comprehensive dental, vision, and medical benefits, with paid time off, parental leave, and inclusive family forming benefits.
• We offer generous retirement and HSA company contributions.
• You will also have opportunity for continuous learning! Employees and their families receive discounted undergraduate and graduate WGU tuition.

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Disclaimer: This Job Description has been designed to indicate the general nature, essential duties, and responsibilities of work performed by employees within this classification. It does not contain a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications that are required of the employee to do this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice. This Job Description does not constitute a contract of employment and the University may exercise its employment-at-will rights at any time.

Position & Application Details

How to Apply: If interested, an application will need to be submitted online. Internal WGU employees will need to apply through the internal job board in Workday.

Additional Information

Disclaimer: The job posting highlights the most critical responsibilities and requirements of the job. It's not all-inclusive.

Accommodations: Applicants with disabilities who require assistance or accommodation during the application or interview process should contact our Talent Acquisition team at recruiting@wgu.edu.

Equal Opportunity Employer: We are an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status. #DEI