Senior Professional Development Lead - Operations

NASW (National Association of Social Workers); Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

NASW, based in Washington, DC, seeks a Senior Professional Development Lead to own the lifecycle of professional development offerings, including continuing education and digital platforms. You will translate member needs into scalable products, work with marketing and technology teams, and drive revenue-generating initiatives.

The role emphasizes data-driven decision-making, performance metrics, and cross-functional collaboration to deliver high-value member experiences and financial

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, communications, or related field preferred.
• Knowledge of product management principles, UX, digital platforms, and data-driven decision-making.

Responsibilities

• Owns end-to-end product lifecycle for NASW professional development offerings.
• Develops and maintains product strategies and roadmaps for continuing education and related digital products.
• Partners with marketing, technology, and operations to define requirements, pricing, success metrics, and go-to-market alignment.
• Ensures high-quality user experiences across all products and partner technologies.
• Serves as primary product owner for external vendors and platform partners.
• Uses customer research, member feedback, usage data, and market analysis to inform decisions and identify growth opportunities.
• Defines and monitors product performance metrics and drives continuous improvement.

Skills

Product ownership

Roadmap development

Prioritization

Lifecycle management

Cross-functional leadership

Data-informed decisions

Communication

Stakeholder management

Analytical thinking

Education

Bachelor’s degree in business

Tools

Product analytics tools

Job description

I. MAJOR FUNCTION:

The Senior Professional Development Lead is responsible for leading the strategy, development, and lifecycle management of NASW's professional development products. This role owns the roadmap and performance of revenue-generating, non-dues products, including continuing education and digital platforms, ensuring they deliver strong member value, align with organizational goals, and achieve financial sustainability.

Working cross-functionally with NASW departments, the Senior Professional Development Lead translates member needs and market insights into scalable, high-quality product offerings and continuous improvements across the portfolio.

II. MAIN DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Owns the end-to-end product lifecycle for NASW professional development offerings, including ideation, discovery, prioritization, launch, optimization, and retirement.
• Develops and maintains product strategies and road maps for continuing education and related digital products.
• Partners with subject matter experts including in marketing, technology, and with operations teams to define product requirements, value propositions, pricing considerations, success metrics, and go-to-market alignment.
• Ensures seamless and high-quality user experiences across all professional development products and partner technologies.
• Serves as the primary product owner and liaison for external vendors and platform partners, managing requirements, timelines, enhancements, performance expectations, and ongoing optimization.
• Uses customer research, member feedback, usage data, and market analysis to inform product decisions, prioritize enhancements, and identify growth opportunities.
• Defines and monitors product performance metrics, including engagement, satisfaction, adoption, and revenue, and uses insights to drive continuous improvement.

III. MINIMUM WORK REQUIREMENTS:

Skills:

• Strong product ownership skills, including roadmap development, prioritization, and lifecycle management.
• Ability to analyze product performance data and customer insights to drive strategic decisions and improvements.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex requirements for diverse stakeholders.
• Ability to lead cross-functional teams and influence without direct authority.
• Strong organizational, analytical, and problem-solving skills.

Knowledge:

• Bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, communications, or a related field preferred. Social work degrees are welcomed.
• Knowledge of product management principles, user experience considerations, digital platforms, and data-informed decision-making.
• Familiarity with marketing technology, learning platforms, and customer engagement tools preferred.

Experience:

• 5+ years of progressively responsible experience in product management, digital product ownership, or a closely related role.
• Non-profit experience highly preferred.Corporate experience welcomed.
• Demonstrated experience managing complex, multi-channelor platform-based products from concept through launch and optimization.
• Demonstrated ability to balance multiple product initiatives simultaneously, adapting to changing priorities whilemaintainingquality, alignment, and strategic focus.
• Experienced in presenting and communicating with senior management and executive leadership, including a board of directors
• Experience working with vendors, technology partners, and cross-functional internal teams.
• Proficiencywith product, analytics, and collaboration toolsrequired.

IV. ATTRIBUTES

• Results driven: Sees the big picture, develops and monitors key performance metrics, and takes appropriate risks to produce the desired results. Not content with simply maintaining the status quo.
• Business acumen: Sees opportunities and emerging trends, and is knowledgeable about the operations, unique needs, and goals specific to member-driven, not-for-profit organizations. Sets priorities wisely and knows how to make tough resource allocation decisions, always finding a way to forward strategic initiatives. This individual knows how to translate strategy into action and enjoys solving tactical and process problems to meet strategic goals.
• Partnership: Builds trust internally and externally and must be viewed as highly professional, discreet, and accountable.
• Organizational agility: Has a thoughtful, respectful communication style that fosters an open environment, enabling thought-provoking discussions and collaborative decision making.
• Perceptive: This individual is creative and intuitively recognizes opportunities and takes appropriate action.