Senior Product Manager, Workforce

Act Inc; Iowa City (IA); Remote; USD 95,000 - 135,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company-paid life insurance

Medical, dental, vision benefits

401(k) with company contributions

Paid holidays and PTO

Job summary

ACT is seeking a Senior Product Manager, Workforce Solutions to lead the vision, strategy, and roadmap for the workforce assessment and career development portfolio. You will work with engineering, research, and business stakeholders to translate market insights into differentiated products delivering measurable value.

The role requires collaboration across education, employers, and workforce ecosystem segments, with a focus on competitive positioning, scientific credibility, and patient

Qualifications

• 5+ years of progressive product management experience owning and delivering complex portfolios.
• Experience in assessment, credentialing, workforce tech, EdTech, or related high-stakes products.
• Ability to partner with research, psychometrics, or technical experts to define strategy and requirements.
• Strong discovery, user research, and customer insights methods.
• Roadmap planning, prioritization, and agile development experience.
• Experience in regulated, trusted environments.
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams and influence senior stakeholders.
• Strong go-to-market and product positioning skills.
• Bachelor-level education or equivalent experience; AI tool proficiency is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Own vision, strategy, and roadmap for ACT's Workforce Assessment portfolio.
• Define requirements from customer discovery, market research, and analytics.
• Collaborate with research, psychometrics, technology, sales, and operations teams.
• Develop clear product positioning and go-to-market strategies.
• Identify opportunities for new initiatives like digital simulations and skills credentialing.
• Engage customers, employers, and education systems for feedback and market fit.
• Define and track product metrics and business KPIs.
• Represent workforce product strategy in external forums and partnerships.

Skills

Product management

Stakeholder management

Agile development

User research

Go-to-market

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience

Tools

AI tools (Claude/ChatGPT/Copilot)

Job description

At ACT Your Work Makes a Difference

Education has power - a power that changes lives forever. It creates opportunities that lift up individuals, their families, and sparks societal change that echoes through generations to come. From our grassroots we have fought the good fight for fairness in education, and we remain devoted to helping anyone who struggles to access that power. This is what matters to us and we must do better -- we've never been more sure of our purpose.

ACT team members are part of an organization dedicated to an important mission: Helping people achieve education and workplace success. Advancing the mission internally, by helping team members achieve education and workplace success of their own, is core to our values. ACT values a diverse workplace and is committed to fostering an inclusive environment in which every team member has an equal opportunity to grow.

We want our team members to have the well-being and confidence they need to do their best work, in an environment where both they and the ACT thrive. To support this, our total rewards include company paid life insurance, medical, dental, vision, flexible spending accounts, 401(k) with company contributions, paid holidays, paid time off, and so much more. You can find a comprehensive list of our benefits here.

We are seeking a Senior Product Manager, Workforce Solutions to help us fulfill that mission. This role partners closely with engineering, testing professionals, and business stakeholders to define the vision, strategy, and roadmap for ACT's workforce assessment and career development portfolio. This leader is accountable for translating market needs, customer insights, and scientific capabilities into differentiated products that drive growth and deliver measurable value to individuals, educators, program administrators, and employers.

The Senior Product Manager ensures the workforce product portfolio remains commercially competitive, scientifically credible, and aligned with ACT's broader product strategy. This role bridges research excellence and market relevance - setting the direction for what gets built, for whom, and why.

The finalist will be hired at the salary and level commensurate with their qualifications. For this position, we anticipate offering a market competitive annual salary in the range of $95,000 to $135,000. ACT manages salaries within the range based on relevant factors including skills, experience, and internal equity. The position is not incentive eligible.

Location

This is a remote position, based in the United States.

Applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. without the need for visa sponsorship.

What you will be working on

• Own the product vision, strategy, and roadmap for ACT's Workforce Assessment portfolio, including workforce skills tools, and career exploration products.
• Define and prioritize product requirements grounded in deep customer discovery, market research, and competitive analysis across employer, education, and workforce ecosystem segments.
• Partner with Workforce Assessment research and psychometrics teams to translate scientific capabilities and assessment innovation into viable, differentiated product offerings.
• Lead cross-functional product development efforts in collaboration with Research, Technology, Sales, Operations, and Academic Content teams, ensuring on-time, high-quality delivery.
• Develop and maintain clear product positioning, value propositions, and go-to-market strategies that support commercial growth objectives.
• Identify and champion opportunities for new product initiatives, including technology-enhanced assessments, digital simulations, career exploration tools, and skills credentialing programs.
• Engage with customers, partners, employers, workforce boards, and education systems to gather ongoing feedback and ensure product-market fit.
• Define and track key product metrics, user outcomes, and business KPIs to inform prioritization and measure success.
• Serve as internal voice of the customer and market, providing thought leadership on workforce readiness trends, assessment applications, and skills ecosystem developments.
• Represent ACT's workforce product strategy in external forums, industry events, and partner conversations.
• Bring business acumen to every product decision-evaluating trade-offs between user value, market opportunity, and business impact that supports financial goals.

Role Progression

• Within 1 month: You understand the ACT Workforce market, competitive landscape, and current product portfolio. You have begun building relationships with Research, Sales, and Operations stakeholders and have conducted initial customer discovery.
• Within 3 months: You have developed a clear point of view on product priorities and gaps. You have contributed to an updated workforce product roadmap and are leading planning on at least one new product initiative.
• Within 6 months: You are executing on the roadmap, driving measurable progress on key product milestones, and delivering impact in close collaboration with the research, technology, and go-to-market teams.

This could be the job for you if you have these minimum requirements

• At least 5 years of progressive product management experience, with a proven track record of owning and delivering complex product portfolios.
• Experience in assessment, credentialing, workforce technology, EdTech, or adjacent markets where data-driven, high-stakes products are built for diverse end users.
• Demonstrated ability to partner with research, psychometric, or technical subject matter experts to define product strategy and requirements.
• Deep experience with product discovery, user research, and customer insights methodologies, translating qualitative and quantitative findings into product decisions.
• Strong command of product roadmap planning, prioritization frameworks, and agile development processes.
• Experience operating in regulated, high-credibility, or public-interest environments where trust, fairness, and defensibility are important product considerations.
• Experience leading cross-functional teams and influencing senior stakeholders without direct authority.
• Demonstrated ability to develop compelling go-to-market strategies and product positioning in collaboration with Sales and Marketing.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to translate complex product concepts for technical, commercial, and executive audiences.
• Bachelor's degree in a related area of study, or an equivalent combination of education and experience from which comparable knowledge and abilities can be acquired.
• Proficiency with AI tools such as Claude AI, ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot.

It’s a plus if you have

• Experience with digital simulations, performance-based assessments, or adaptive testing products.
• Familiarity with psychometrics, educational measurement, or industrial-organizational psychology sufficient to effectively partner with research teams.
• Experience with digital learning platforms, eLearning integrations, talent management systems, or skills analytics ecosystems.
• Background working with employers, workforce boards, education systems, or public-sector partners on workforce readiness programs.
• Expertise in data analytics, learning analytics, or skills taxonomy frameworks.
• Experience with API-based product integrations or platform/ecosystem product models.

About ACT

When ACT was founded in 1959, it disrupted the assessment industry with a new approach to helping students better understand their readiness so they could take steps to improve it. By leveraging our expertise and authority in assessment and research, we will again disrupt the industry-helping more people learn, better measure their progress, and improve their navigation through life's transitions.

More than ever before, ACT is fulfilling its mission of helping people achieve education and workplace success. We're doing it by pushing the boundaries of learning innovation through the work of our people, who we call team members because we're all in this together.

We know transformation does not come without challenge. That's why ACT invests in a variety of experiences for team members to strengthen their connections, explore ideas, learn from customers, and celebrate success.

Learn more about working at ACT at act.org!

ACT is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. ACT participates in E-verify. ACT's online position announcements are intended only to provide general descriptions of employment opportunities; none of the information provided for any position should be interpreted as a commitment by ACT to specific terms and conditions for employment.

Completion of the ACT National Career Readiness Certificate is recommended. Find a testing site near you to register for the WorkKeys assessments. Finalists for this position will be subject to a criminal background check as a condition of employment.