GreatSchools

About GreatSchools.org:

GreatSchools is the leading national nonprofit empowering parents to unlock educational opportunities for their children and support stronger schools in their community. We aim to make school quality information relevant and actionable to support equity for underserved communities who have faced systemic racism and unjust barriers to access a quality education for their children. We are the only national organization that collects education data from all 51 state departments of education and the federal government and then provides analysis, insights and school quality ratings to parents, communities, advocacy organizations, researchers, policymakers and others. GreatSchools.org reaches 45 million users per year, 40% of whom are from low-income households. We also work to uncover bright spots in American education and catalyze discussions about equity. We have worked for two decades to develop parent support resources, including articles, videos, podcasts, parent tips, and learning materials parents can use at home to strengthen the home-school connection and keep their child learning and on track. 

Summary:

We are looking for a dynamic Vice President of Product to join our mission-driven team. As the VP of Product, you will lead our organization’s product and design strategy to evolve our offering to best support our users and social impact goals in a dynamic K-12 education landscape. This role is highly cross-functional and requires strong interpersonal skills.

The VP of Product reports to the CEO. This is a full time, exempt position located in our Oakland, CA office, but remote work within the US is ok, with the ability to travel to Oakland periodically, once it’s safe to do so. 

We are an equal opportunity employer and encourage diversity in our workplace — education is a universal concern and we need people from all backgrounds to help parents navigate their options and make informed decisions for their children’s education.

Primary responsibilities:

• Manage the product team in support of building the most effective platform possible for our users and our social impact goals.
• Build and manage overall product roadmap, working with stakeholders in cross-functional roles representing data, content, marketing, customer service, revenue, communications, and engineering to ensure alignment throughout the organization.
• Lead and drive individual products through the full lifecycle, from concept and development and from release to post-launch, inclusive of UX and design.

• Manage a rapid cycle ‘build, measure, learn’ process to gauge success and inform future improvements.
• Lead work to understand user mindsets and needs, partner priorities, the competitive environment, and to identify key metrics to measure progress in increasing engagement and user satisfaction, supporting revenue, and driving impact.
• Partner with the revenue team to identify and cultivate new revenue product opportunities.
• Serve on GreatSchools’ senior leadership team as a key partner to the CEO and other organizational leaders.

About you:

• You have strong product vision and execution. You can work with the leadership team to translate strategic goals into a product roadmap and then ensure our products are built to meet those goals.
• You are mission-oriented, and are passionate about ensuring our products support parents and others to drive towards equitable opportunities for all students, particularly those from underserved communities.
• You have significant knowledge of the product development process - in particular with mobile-first and mobile-responsive solutions, and you have experience both in substantially improving legacy products to increase functionality and designing new products.
• You use storytelling and other methods to communicate new, ambitious design concepts to leadership and external partners. You ask the right questions, you listen, and you effectively improve our products based on the feedback you receive.
• You enjoy working with data and have experience creating products that rely on data visualization that is both accessible and useful for non-technical users.
• You are a natural collaborator - empathetic and innately curious- and you actively seek feedback as part of your learning process. 
• You are comfortable working with a start-up mentality, moving quickly, iterating often, and remaining flexible.
• You believe in research and actively and energetically encourage input from a broad array of viewpoints, including parents, advocacy partners, education leaders and all internal team members.
• You enjoy nurturing the talents of your own direct reports and can support and inspire the development and success of others within the wider organization.
• You care about K-12 education and issues around equity, have an interest in data-driven products and solutions, and want to help parents. Experience working with schools, parents, or working in support of high-needs communities is a plus.

Position Location:

Remote within the US, or Oakland, CA

Travel:

When deemed safe by health guidelines, occasional travel to partner institutions, convenings and meetings across the country, and/or to our headquarters in Oakland, CA may be necessary. 

To Apply:

Please submit a cover letter, including salary requirements, along with your résumé. Your cover letter should include reasons why you want to work at GreatSchools. Résumés without cover letters and salary requirements will not be considered. No phone calls, please.

GreatSchools users are diverse in all ways. We are committed to hiring talented staff that reflect the people who use our products, and who believe in supporting all parents. As a proud Equal Opportunity Employer, we are committed to considering applicants regardless of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class.