Manager, Product Owner

SMB Business Development, Inc.; Newark (DE); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive base salaries

Bonus incentives

Generous PTO, holidays, and paid time

401k with employer match

Comprehensive health benefits

Flexible hybrid working arrangements

Job summary

Sallie Mae is seeking a Manager, Product Development to own the product vision, roadmap, and backlog for digital lending products. You will translate customer needs into prioritized backlogs and lead cross-functional teams to deliver measurable value using AI capabilities.

You will define success metrics, drive agile practices, and ensure alignment with company objectives while championing responsible AI and data-informed decisions for better customer journeys.

Qualifications

• 5 years of experience in product management/development, with a track record of successfully owning and delivering products to market.
• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field, such as engineering, computer science, business administration, or a related discipline.
• Demonstrated product ownership experience—owning a product vision, roadmap, and backlog and being accountable for delivered value and outcomes.
• Hands-on experience applying AI tools in a product management or development context (e.g., generative AI, ML-driven features, AI-assisted discovery, prototyping, or analytics).
• Solid understanding of product development and agile methodologies, with strong backlog management, user-story writing, and user-centered design skills.
• Analytical, data-driven mindset, with the ability to define metrics, run experiments, and make prioritization decisions grounded in evidence.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to align cross-functional teams and influence across all levels of the organization.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to own multiple priorities simultaneously.
• Experience delivering AI-or-data-powed product features, and familiarity with responsible/ethical AI practices.
• Product owner or agile certification (e.g., CSPO, PSPO) is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Own the Product (Product Ownership): define vision, strategy, and roadmap end to end, align to customer needs and business objectives.
• Prioritize and refine the product backlog with clear trade-offs on scope, sequencing, and value.
• Define and execute product development strategies aligned to market needs and customer expectations.
• Apply efficient project management to drive delivery, resource allocation, and risk mitigation.
• Connect engineering, design, marketing, compliance, and stakeholders to drive timely delivery.
• Define success metrics and KPIs, and use data/experimentation to inform the roadmap.
• Represent the voice of the customer through discovery and problem validation.

Skills

Product management

AI in product

Agile / Scrum

Backlog management

Stakeholder communication

Data-driven decisions

CSPO/PSPO certification

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

When you join Sallie Mae, you become a champion for all students. We’re on a mission to power confidence as students begin their unique journey. To help them plan their higher education, successfully finish, and prepare for life after school. To help them Start smart. Learn big. Students need guidance navigating this important time in their life. They need someone who acknowledges that their education path is unique. They need a partner willing to evolve and not only meet but surpass their expectations. We’re changing. Because students need a better way. We’re looking for people who are excited to drive this transformation. To break barriers and think of new ways to adapt, help, and create better experiences for students—and for each other. This is where diverse backgrounds, beliefs, and perspectives matter. It’s where you’re empowered to bring your authentic self to work. Feeling your best allows you to do your best. Our benefits take care of the whole you—from physical and mental to financial and professional. You’ll get opportunities to further your education and career, support for you and your family (including your pets!), paid time off to volunteer for the things that matter to you, and more. We’re obsessed with impact and making a real difference. For us, that means putting relationships first, asking “why not?” when tackling challenges, and continuously learning new skills. Come do more than join something, change something. For students, for future generations, for the future of education.

What You'll Contribute:

The Manager, Product Development serves as the product owner for one or more digital lending products-owning the product vision, strategy, and roadmap end to end. This individual is accountable for the value delivered by their product(s), translating customer needs and business objectives into a prioritized backlog and championing outcomes over outputs. A defining expectation of this role is the fluent, hands-on use of AI—both to build smarter, more personalized products and to accelerate how the product team discovers, decides, and delivers.

What You'll Do:

Own the Product (Product Ownership)
Own the product vision, strategy, and roadmap end to end, ensuring alignment to customer needs, business objectives, and measurable value.
Own, prioritize, and continuously refine the team’s product backlog, making clear trade-off decisions on scope, sequencing, and value; write clear user stories and acceptance criteria.
Define and execute product development strategies, ensuring alignment with company objectives, market needs, and customer expectations.
Implement effective project management methodologies and processes to drive efficient project execution, resource allocation, and risk mitigation.
Serve as the primary decision-maker at the development team level, connecting engineering, design, marketing, compliance, and business stakeholders to drive aligned, timely delivery.
Help define and clearly communicate success metrics and KPIs (e.g., adoption, conversion, NPS, cycle time) to the development team to drive value, using data and experimentation to inform the roadmap.
Represent the voice of the customer, conducting discovery, validating problems, and ensuring every release advances a seamless, transparent customer journey.

Apply AI Across Product Management & Development
Embed AI into the product itself, identifying and prioritizing opportunities to use machine learning, generative AI, and intelligent automation to improve customer experience, personalization, and decisioning.
Use AI to accelerate the product lifecycle, applying AI-powered tools for discovery, backlog refinement, requirements drafting, prototyping, user-research synthesis, and competitive analysis.
Leverage AI-driven analytics to surface customer insights, forecast outcomes, and inform data-driven prioritization and roadmap decisions.
Champion responsible AI adoption on the team—establishing practical guardrails, evaluating model quality and bias, and partnering with risk and compliance to ensure trustworthy, well-governed use.
Stay current on emerging AI capabilities and continuously evaluate how new tools and techniques can raise product quality, team velocity, and innovation capacity.

Lead Delivery & Cross-Functional Execution
Partner closely with engineering and design in agile ceremonies to guide delivery from concept through prototyping, testing, and launch - balancing speed, quality, and value.
Provide leadership and guidance to product and delivery talent, fostering a collaborative, AI-forward, high-performance culture.
Monitor product performance and delivery of health, reporting on KPIs and providing regular, executive-ready updates to stakeholders.
Manage risk and drive continuous improvement, ensuring effective prioritization, dependency management, and mitigation across the delivery lifecycle.

What You Have:

• 5 years of experience in product management/development, with a track record of successfully owning and delivering products to market.
• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field, such as engineering, computer science, business administration, or a related discipline.
• Demonstrated product ownership experience—owning a product vision, roadmap, and backlog and being accountable for delivered value and outcomes.
• Hands-on experience applying AI tools in a product management or development context (e.g., generative AI, ML-driven features, AI-assisted discovery, prototyping, or analytics).
• Solid understanding of product development and agile methodologies, with strong backlog management, user-story writing, and user-centered design skills.
• Analytical, data-driven mindset, with the ability to define metrics, run experiments, and make prioritization decisions grounded in evidence.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to align cross-functional teams and influence across all levels of the organization.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to own multiple priorities simultaneously.
• Experience delivering AI-or-data-powed product features, and familiarity with responsible/ethical AI practices.
• Product owner or agile certification (e.g., CSPO, PSPO) is a plus.

The Americans with Disabilities Act:

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) prohibits discrimination by employers, in compensation and employment opportunities, against qualified individuals with disabilities who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the “essential functions” of a job. A function may be essential for any of several reasons, including: the job exists to perform that function, the employee holding the job was hired for his/her expertise in performing that function, or only a limited number of employees are available to perform that function.

Feeling your best helps you do your best: Our benefits take care of the whole you—so you can build your work around your life (not the other way around!).

• Competitive base salaries
• Bonus incentives
• Generous PTO, Floating Holidays and 12 Federal Holidays observed
• Support for financial-well-being and retirement 401k with employer match
• Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, hospital indemnity, critical illness, pet insurance and more
• Employer paid short-term/long-term disability and basic life insurance
• Flexible hybrid working arrangements
• Paid parental leave and adoption reimbursement programs
• Free access to on-site staffed fitness centers (in Delaware) and gym subsidy (for locations outside Delaware)
• Confidential counseling support (EAP), Health Advocacy services and Wellness program with financial incentives
• Tuition Reimbursement and Family Scholarship Programs
• Career development and training opportunities

Sallie Mae is proud to be an equal opportunity (EEO) employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, genetic information, gender identity, disability, Veteran status or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law.

Reasonable accommodations are available for applicants with disabilities in all phases of the application and employment process. To request an accommodation please call [phone] and choose option 9. All information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extent required to provide needed reasonable accommodations.