Product Manager

POSITION PURPOSE

As IDP continues to build a global platform that guides international students along their learning and career journeys, the Product team is looking for an experienced Product Manager to join our EdTech product organisation.

The Product Manager will be responsible for defining product vision, strategy and outcomes, and for ensuring that products create meaningful value for customers, students and IDP. The role will translate customer needs, business objectives, market insight and technology trends into a clear product strategy and roadmap.

Working closely with Product Owners, Engineering, UX, Data, CX, Marketing and business stakeholders, the Product Manager will lead products through discovery, delivery, launch, measurement and continuous optimisation.

PRODUCT VISION, STRATEGY & DIRECTION

Define and communicate a clear product vision and strategy aligned to IDP’s strategic priorities, customer needs and business objectives.

Develop and maintain a product roadmap that articulates priorities, outcomes, dependencies and expected value.

Identify product opportunities through customer research, market insights, analytics, competitive analysis and technology trends.

Translate complex customer and business problems into clear product opportunities and strategic priorities.

Establish the target state for products and ensure Product Owners and delivery teams are aligned to the broader product direction.

Continuously assess products to identify opportunities for innovation, optimisation and simplification.

Ensure product strategy considers the broader IDP ecosystem, customer journey and connected digital experiences.

CUSTOMER & USER EXPERIENCE

Develop a deep understanding of students, customers, partners and internal users and their needs.

Use customer research, journey mapping, focus groups, behavioural data and CX insights to identify problems and opportunities.

Champion the voice of the customer across the product lifecycle.

Work with UX, CX and Product Owners to ensure customer journeys and experiences are considered end-to-end.

Sponsor co-design, discovery and design-thinking activities to validate customer problems and potential solutions.

Ensure product decisions are grounded in customer outcomes rather than feature delivery alone.

 

Product Manager – EdTech

PRODUCT DISCOVERY & INNOVATION

Lead product discovery activities to identify and validate customer, market and business opportunities.

Develop hypotheses, assess opportunities and determine potential value and feasibility.

Work with UX, Data, Engineering and business teams to test concepts and validate assumptions.

Use prototypes, experiments, analytics and customer feedback to inform product decisions.

Identify opportunities to leverage emerging technologies and new ways of working to improve customer and business outcomes.

Build clear business cases for significant product investments, including benefits, risks, options and recommendations.

PRODUCT ROADMAP & PRIORITISATION

Own the overall product roadmap and ensure it remains aligned to strategic priorities and measurable outcomes.

Establish prioritisation principles based on customer value, business value, strategic alignment, commercial opportunity, feasibility, risk and dependencies.

Provide direction to Product Owners on priorities, initiatives and expected outcomes.

Manage cross-product dependencies and ensure alignment across Product Owners, squads and value streams.

Balance short-term delivery requirements with longer-term product strategy and technical evolution.

Regularly review and adapt the roadmap based on market conditions, customer insight, product performance and business priorities.

PRODUCT DELIVERY & AGILE LEADERSHIP

Work closely with Product Owners, Engineering Managers, UX, Architecture, Data and delivery teams to translate strategy into executable product plans.

Ensure Product Owners have clarity on product vision, priorities, outcomes and success measures.

Support effective Agile and/or SAFe ways of working across product teams.

Participate in and contribute to PI Planning, product reviews, showcases and other relevant product forums.

Identify and resolve cross-squad dependencies, risks and delivery challenges.

Provide timely decisions and recommendations where customer, commercial, technical or delivery trade-offs are required.

Ensure delivery remains focused on customer and business outcomes rather than output alone.

Support Product Owners in maintaining healthy backlogs and effective prioritisation.

PRODUCT PERFORMANCE & BENEFITS REALISATION

Define clear product objectives, KPIs and measures of success.

Establish mechanisms to track product value and benefits realisation.

Monitor product performance using customer, commercial, operational and behavioural data.

Use analytics and insights to identify opportunities for product optimisation.

Evaluate whether products and initiatives are delivering their intended customer and business outcomes.

Lead regular product performance reviews and use findings to influence roadmap and investment decisions.

 

Product Manager – EdTech

STAKEHOLDER & BUSINESS LEADERSHIP

Build strong relationships with senior stakeholders across Product, Technology, CX, Marketing, Operations, Data and business functions.

Act as a central point of communication for product strategy, priorities, roadmap and outcomes.

Facilitate discussions where stakeholder needs or priorities conflict and drive decisions based on agreed product principles.

Clearly articulate product options, trade-offs, risks and recommendations to senior stakeholders.

Influence stakeholders without direct authority and create alignment across diverse teams and geographies.

Represent the product vision and strategy within relevant global forums.

Build effective relationships with external partners and vendors where required.

PRODUCT LAUNCH, ADOPTION & OPTIMISATION

Partner with business, marketing, communications and digital adoption teams to develop effective product launch and adoption plans.

Ensure stakeholders understand upcoming product changes and expected customer and business impacts.

Coordinate product releases with relevant teams and ensure readiness for launch.

Monitor adoption and post-launch performance.

Identify opportunities to improve adoption, engagement and customer outcomes.

Incorporate customer feedback, analytics and post-launch learnings into future product decisions.

Continuously iterate products in response to data, feedback and changing market needs.

PRODUCT PRACTICE & CAPABILITY

Contribute to the development of Product Management practices, frameworks and ways of working within IDP.

Coach and support Product Owners in product thinking, prioritisation, discovery and outcome-based delivery.

Promote consistent product management practices across squads and product areas.

Lead or contribute to product communities of practice and knowledge-sharing initiatives.

Encourage experimentation, continuous improvement and adoption of modern product management approaches.

RELATIONSHIPS

Internal

Head of Product / Senior Product Leadership

Product Managers and Product Owners

Engineering Managers and Engineering / Development Teams

UX / UI, CX and Customer Research

Data & Analytics

Marketing, Communications and Digital Adoption

Operations, Architecture and Solution Design

Global and Regional Business Teams

External

Students and customers

Universities and education partners

Technology partners, vendors and third-party service providers

 

Product Manager – EdTech

ESSENTIAL SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

7–10 years of experience in Product Management, with significant experience managing digital products.

Demonstrated experience owning product vision, strategy, roadmap and product outcomes.

Proven experience taking products through the full lifecycle from discovery and definition through delivery, launch and optimisation.

Strong experience working within Agile and/or SAFe product development environments.

Demonstrated experience in customer discovery, user research, design thinking and experience optimisation.

Strong understanding of product analytics, KPIs and data-driven decision making.

Demonstrated ability to assess and articulate customer and business value and track benefits realisation.

Strong commercial and strategic thinking, with the ability to connect product decisions to business outcomes.

Proven experience managing complex stakeholder groups and navigating competing priorities.

Strong experience working with Engineering, UX, Data and Business teams.

Excellent facilitation, influencing, negotiation and stakeholder management skills.

Excellent written, verbal and presentation skills.

Strong analytical and problem-solving capability.

Experience working in a global or matrixed organisation.

HIGHLY DESIRABLE

Experience in EdTech, education technology, online learning, assessment or international education.

Experience building products serving B2C, B2B2C or enterprise customers.

Experience managing products across multiple markets or geographies.

Experience working with international or distributed teams.

Experience with digital platforms, mobile applications, websites and/or SaaS products.

Experience with AI/ML-enabled products or emerging digital technologies.

Experience with complex integrations, APIs and technology platforms.

Experience with vendor and third-party partner management.

Product Management qualification or Agile/SAFe certification.

TECHNICAL / PRODUCT SKILLS

Product discovery and user research

Product strategy, vision and roadmap management

Product prioritisation and portfolio thinking

Agile / Scrum / SAFe methodologies

Product analytics, KPI definition and benefits realisation

Experimentation and validation

UX/UI and customer journey collaboration

Technology and API fundamentals

Data-driven product decision making

Product lifecycle management

Agile product tools such as Jira, Confluence, Productboard, Aha!, Azure DevOps or equivalent

 

Product Manager – EdTech

KEY COMPETENCIES & BEHAVIOURS

Customer focused – consistently starts with the customer problem and desired outcome.

Strategic thinker – connects product decisions to broader business strategy.

Outcome oriented – focuses on measurable value rather than feature delivery.

Commercially aware – understands the relationship between customer value and business value.

Data driven – uses evidence, analytics and insights to make decisions.

Influential – creates alignment without relying on formal authority.

Collaborative – works effectively across Product, Technology and Business.

Comfortable with ambiguity – able to navigate complex and evolving problems.

Decisive – clearly articulates options, trade-offs and recommendations.

Curious and innovative – stays ahead of customer, market and technology trends.

Global mindset – works effectively across cultures, markets and geographies.

Ownership and accountability – takes responsibility for product outcomes.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

A clear and compelling product vision and strategy aligned to IDP’s strategic objectives.

A prioritised, outcome-focused product roadmap.

Improved customer / student experience and engagement.

Successful delivery of high-value product initiatives.

Measurable improvements in agreed product and business KPIs.

Strong product adoption and customer outcomes.

Effective benefits realisation from product investments.

Strong alignment across Product, Engineering, UX, Data and Business teams.

Effective development and support of Product Owners.

Continuous innovation and optimisation of the product portfolio.

ROLE DISTINCTION

The Product Manager provides the broader product direction and ensures alignment between customer needs, business strategy, commercial value and technology opportunity. Product Owners translate this direction into prioritised delivery outcomes, manage the squad backlog and work with delivery teams to realise customer and business value.

The Product Manager therefore operates primarily across product vision, strategy, roadmap, investment, stakeholder alignment and measurable outcomes, while partnering closely with Product Owners who lead detailed product delivery and squad-level execution.