Staff Software Product Manager - Communications Engineering

Salt Lake City, UT (On-site)

$161K/yr – $250K/yrFull time

Posted 13 days ago

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Job Description

If you’re passionate about building a better future for individuals, communities, and our country—and you’re committed to working hard to play your part in building that future—consider WGU as the next step in your career.

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:  

Grade: Technical 411Pay Range: $161,000.00 - $249,500.00

Job Description

Join WGU at a transformational moment as we build a new communications engineering capability that will redefine how students engage with the university. In this high-impact role, you will lead product strategy for communication orchestration across multiple channels, bringing clarity, governance, and innovation to a fragmented ecosystem. You will operate at the intersection of product, architecture, and engineering to shape scalable, user-centered solutions that directly improve the student experience.
This is a greenfield opportunity with enterprise-wide visibility. You will partner across teams to unify communication platforms, reduce noise, and introduce thoughtful, data-driven engagement powered by modern architecture and conversational AI.

What You’ll Do

  • Define and drive the product vision and roadmap for communication orchestration across channels including SMS, email, push notifications, portal experiences, and voice
  • Partner with engineering, architecture, and business stakeholders to design scalable, secure, and reliable communication platforms
  • Lead the strategy and evolution of conversational AI capabilities, including chatbot experiences and AI-driven engagement solutions
  • Build business cases, define success metrics, and measure the impact of product initiatives to continuously improve outcomes
  • Balance competing priorities and make high-stakes trade-offs to align customer needs with business objectives
  • Serve as a cross-functional leader who influences without authority and aligns stakeholders across complex systems and dependencies
  • Mentor other product managers and contribute to strengthening product practices across the organization

What You’ll Bring

  • Bachelor’s degree
  • 8 years of experience as a Software Product Manager or Product Owner in highly technical environments
  • Minimum 3 years of experience in communications engineering and/or omnichannel communication platforms
  • Strong experience building or managing omnichannel communication solutions across channels such as SMS, email, push, or voice
  • Demonstrated experience with conversational AI, including building or owning chatbot or AI-driven messaging products
  • Deep understanding of software architecture principles including service-oriented architecture and cloud-based systems
  • Proven ability to define success metrics, execute against them, and adjust based on data-driven insights

Bonus Points

  • Experience working in SaaS companies that build communication platforms for enterprise customers such as Braze, Airship, Salesforce, or Oracle
  • Familiarity with customer identity, consent management, and multi-system data orchestration
  • Experience with platforms like NICE Systems or similar conversational AI leaders

Experience in Lieu of Education

Equivalent relevant experience performing the essential functions of this job may substitute for degree requirements. Generally, equivalent relevant experience is defined as one year of experience for one year of education and is at the discretion of the hiring manager.
At WGU, our mission drives everything we do, including how we hire. Our interview experience is designed to give qualified candidates the opportunity to show their best work through meaningful conversations and collaboration.
We thoughtfully review every application and invite forward the candidates whose experience and potential best align with the role and our mission.
  • Introductory call
  • Hiring manager interview
  • Technical interview
  • Panel interview
This is a full-time, in-office position requiring five days per week in our Salt Lake City, UT office, designed to foster the collaboration and connection that fuel our best work.
While we welcome applicants from all backgrounds, WGU is not able to provide visa sponsorship for this role.
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Position & Application Details

Full-Time Regular Positions (classified as regular and working 40 standard weekly hours): This is a full-time, regular position (classified for 40 standard weekly hours) that is eligible for bonuses; medical, dental, vision, telehealth and mental healthcare; health savings account and flexible spending account; basic and voluntary life insurance; disability coverage; accident, critical illness and hospital indemnity supplemental coverages; legal and identity theft coverage; retirement savings plan; wellbeing program; discounted WGU tuition; and flexible paid time off for rest and relaxation with no need for accrual, flexible paid sick time with no need for accrual, 11 paid holidays, and other paid leaves, including up to 12 weeks of parental leave.

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 Employment Opportunity: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any protected characteristic as required by law.

Western Governors University logo

Western Governors University

WGU, www.wgu.edu, is an online university for the 21st century.We are driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs. Since its establishment in 1997, WGU has grown into a national university, serving more than 120,000 students from all 50 states.The university continues to open doors for adult learners who need flexibility to achieve their education and career goals. WGU’s innovative competency-based academic approach makes it possible, allowing individuals to fit their education into their lives, not the other way around.WGU was founded by the governors of 19 U.S. states. WGU is also supported by over 20 major corporations and foundations who believe in WGU’s commitment to producing highly competent graduates.

Founded in 1997
Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
12K employees (373 in marketing)