Remote Product Discovery Lead

NelNET; Providence (RI); Remote; USD 140,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

HSA / FSA

Generous time off

401K / Student loan repayment

Life Insurance

AD&D Insurance

Employee Assistance Program

Employee Stock Purchase Program

Tuition Reimbursement

Performance-based incentive pay

Short-term Disability

Long-term Disability

Wellness program

Job summary

Nelnet is seeking a Product Discovery Manager to lead customer and market discovery activities, translating ambiguous opportunities into focused research questions and evidence‑based recommendations. The role uses interviews, prototyping, and analysis to reduce uncertainty before major product investments and aligns with product, design, technology, and business stakeholders.

Applicants should have 5+ years in product discovery, user research, or related fields, and possess strong skills in

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Advanced degree or related professional training is preferred.
• 5+ years of product discovery, user research, or related experience.
• Experience translating findings into actionable recommendations.
• Experience collaborating across product, design, technology, and business functions.

Responsibilities

• Lead product and customer discovery activities to understand needs, workflows, pain points, and opportunities.
• Define research questions, hypotheses, audiences, and evidence criteria.
• Recruit and engage customers and subject‑matter experts for insights.
• Conduct interviews, observations, concept testing and other research activities.
• Synthesize evidence into themes, jobs to be done, opportunities, and requirements.
• Develop and test prototypes and workflows to accelerate learning.
• Evaluate findings and decide whether to advance or discontinue opportunities.
• Partner with stakeholders to translate insights into strategy and priorities.
• Establish scalable discovery practices, repositories, templates, and tools.

Skills

Research

Feedback Analysis

Critical Thinking

UX/UI Tools

Strategic Thinking

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Design, HCI, Psychology, Sociology, Marketing, Research, Product Management, or related field

Advanced degree or relevant professional training in UX research / product management / design

Job description

Nelnet is seeking a Product Discovery Manager to lead customer and market discovery activities, translating ambiguous opportunities into focused research questions and evidence‑based recommendations. The role uses interviews, prototyping, and analysis to reduce uncertainty before major product investments and aligns with product, design, technology, and business stakeholders.

Applicants should have 5+ years in product discovery, user research, or related fields, and possess strong skills in