Sr Product Manager - Westchester, IL

Position Overview

Follett Higher Education is a leading educational service provider and omnichannel retailer, providing students, faculty, staff, parents, and fans with the course materials, learning tools, and retail services needed to successfully support the collegiate journey. Follett Higher Education supports over 6 million students through its 1,100 physical and 1,750 eCommerce campus stores across North America.

At Follett, we are passionate problem-solvers and challenge-seekers dedicated to delivering exceptional results for our customers. Our mission is to inspire, enable, and celebrate the higher education journey by providing top-tier service to campuses and their students.

We are seeking an experienced Senior Product Manager who will be responsible for leading the development and execution of a core area of our product offering. In this role, you will collaborate closely with design, engineering, and stakeholders across the business to define product strategy, shape customer experiences, and drive growth. If you thrive in a tech-forward environment and are eager to make a significant impact in the education sector, we invite you to join our team.

Responsibilities

• Product Strategy & Vision: Define and communicate a compelling product vision for your area that aligns with company goals, user needs, and market trends. Translate this vision into actionable initiatives that drive value and measurable outcomes.
• Product Roadmap Ownership: Build and maintain a prioritized roadmap based on customer needs, market research, and business objectives. Ensure clarity and alignment across internal teams and adjust plans as priorities evolve.
• Product Development: Lead the full product development lifecycle, from discovery and requirements gathering to launch. Write user stories, define success criteria, and collaborate closely with engineering, design, and QA throughout development, including sprint planning, iteration, and release cycles.
• Customer & Market Insights: Establish strong relationships and regularly engage with customers, end users (including administrators, instructors, and students), and stakeholders to gain user context and uncover pain points. Conduct competitive and market analysis and stay current with emerging technologies to identify new opportunities or risks that could impact product strategy and the roadmap.
• Stakeholder Collaboration: Act as the primary point of contact for your product area across internal stakeholders, ensuring transparency, alignment, and accountability across sales, marketing, support, and operations.
• Go-to-Market Support: Partner with marketing and sales to develop positioning, messaging, training materials, and launch plans. Ensure internal teams are equipped to support product rollouts and customer onboarding.
• Product Performance: Define and track product metrics and KPIs to measure success. Use data to support enhancements, iterate on features, and drive adoption and customer satisfaction.
• Team Leadership & Mentorship: Support the growth of junior product managers through coaching and mentorship. Promote a collaborative, user-centered culture that values innovation, transparency, and continuous learning.

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.
• 6+ years of product management experience, with direct collaboration across design and engineering teams.
• Demonstrated track record of driving company growth through end-to-end product development.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to translate technical concepts for diverse audiences.
• Ability and willingness to travel up to 10%.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience working in education technology, preferably in higher education.
• Deep understanding of the full course materials lifecycle from adoption collection to content delivery.
• Data-driven mindset with hands-on experience using product analytics to inform decisions and facilitate experiments.
• Proficiency in SQL for querying relational databases to extract insights and support product analysis.