Platform Product Manager

Platform Product Manager

The Platform Product Manager will play a pivotal role in defining and guiding the success of the iCivics platform throughout its lifecycle. They will act as the central hub connecting customer needs, organizational objectives, and technical feasibility. The role is part of the Product team and reports to the Senior Director, Innovation and Product Management.

Strategy & Vision

• Understanding the Market & Users: Collaborating with Marketing to conduct market research, competitive analysis, and with UX to conduct in-depth user research (interviews, surveys, usability testing) to identify unmet needs, pain points, and opportunities.
• Defining the Product Vision: Articulating a clear, inspiring long-term vision for the platform that aligns with the organization's overall strategy.
• Developing the Product Strategy: Outlining with input from Marketing and other Product Owners how we will achieve the platform vision, including target users, key problems to solve, and differentiation.
• Roadmapping: Creating and maintaining a roadmap that outlines the key projects, features, and innovative experiments planned over specific time frames, balancing short-term goals with long-term vision.

Product Discovery & Definition

• Problem Identification: Clearly articulating the "why" behind what needs to be built – what problem are we solving for whom?
• Defining Requirements: Translating user needs and business goals into clear and concise product requirements, user stories, and acceptance criteria for the technology team, including functionality, user experience (UX) flows, and success metrics.
• Prioritization: With input from Product Owners, Marketing and Tech teams, continuously prioritizing the platform backlog based on strategic importance, customer value, technical effort, and business impact.

Day-to-Day Execution

• Collaboration with Technology: Working closely with the technology team throughout the development cycle to ensure requirements are understood, technical challenges are addressed, and the product is built to specifications. Answer questions and make real-time decisions.
• Design (UX/UI) Alignment: Providing guidance to UX design to ensure the product is intuitive, user-friendly, and visually appealing, translating user needs into effective interfaces.
• Stakeholder Management: Communicating progress, challenges, and decisions to internal stakeholders.

Launch & Growth

• Go-to-Market Strategy: Collaborating with the marketing and comms team to define launch plans, messaging, and positioning for new platform features. Collaborate with the technology team to create support and maintenance plans.
• Performance Monitoring: Collaborating with Principal Data Scientist to define key metrics (KPIs) and analyze product performance after launch, using data to understand user behavior, identify issues, and inform future iterations.
• Iteration & Optimization: Based on data and user feedback, identifying opportunities for continuous improvement, new feature development, or product sunset.

This role is ideal for someone with the following skills and mindsets:

• Adaptive leadership: Embraces the transition from funder-driven to customer-centered product development, helping teams shift mindsets while maintaining productivity and morale
• Communication as connective tissue: Serves as the central communication hub between product vision, technical feasibility, and user needs—ensuring all stakeholders have the context they need to contribute effectively
• Growth mindset in action: Views the challenges of organizational restructuring as opportunities to develop new capabilities, both personally and as a team
• Communication & Storytelling: Articulates vision, strategy, and requirements clearly to diverse audiences.
• Leadership & Influence: Leads cross-functional teams without direct authority.
• Analytical Thinking: Uses data to make informed decisions and measure success.
• Technical Understanding: Conversant in technology in order to communicate effectively with engineers and understand feasibility.
• User Empathy: Deeply understands the needs, behaviors, and pain points of the target users, tracking and communicating key shifts
• Business Acumen: Understands market dynamics, revenue models, and business objectives.

What you'll need:

• 8+ years of product management experience, including meaningful time in edtech or another mission-driven, learning-focused industry
• Demonstrated success owning a platform product at scale — ideally one connecting multiple user types (e.g., students, teachers, administrators) with millions of users
• Experience building or shipping AI-powered product features, with a thoughtful point of view on responsible AI use in sensitive contexts like education
• A track record of translating ambiguous, cross-functional inputs (market research, user research, engineering constraints) into clear roadmaps and requirements
• Comfort operating as a "hub" role — influencing engineering, design, marketing, and data science teams without direct authority
• Experience partnering with data science/analytics to define KPIs and drive post-launch iteration
• Bonus: background or interest in civic education, K-12 education, or nonprofit/mission-driven organizations

Salary: The expected salary for this position is between $100-$120K plus benefits.

Benefits:

• Health First: Medical options with $0 deductible (covered by us).
• True Flexibility: 100% remote (US) with flexible hours to fit your life.
• Abundant Rest: 5 weeks PTO + Winter Break + Summer Fridays + a guaranteed 4-day July 4th weekend.
• Family Support: 12 weeks of 100% paid parental leave.
• Growth & Connection: Annual professional development stipend and an in-person annual staff retreat to bond with your team.

Location: This position is remote and able to work from anywhere in the United States, with occasional travel (less than 25%) .

Application Process: Please apply online with a resume and cover letter sharing your interest in iCivics and this role; we will be reviewing applications on a rolling basis