Job Description

Manager Of Product Operations

Nelnet Business Services (NBS), a division of Nelnet, Inc., provides payment technology, education services, and learning management solutions to education and faith-based organizations, serving more than 1,300 higher education institutions, 11,500 K-12 schools, 3,500 churches, and millions of individual students, families, and supporters across the globe. Our culture of service enables us to form long-lasting and trusted partnerships, while our focus on creativity and innovative solutions empowers our customer communities to thrive.

As a Nelnet company, the perks at NBS go beyond our benefits package. You're part of a community, invested in you as an individual and united by our mission to create opportunities for people where they live, learn and work.

At FACTS, we build technology that powers K12 education. From tuition management and financial aid to admissions, SIS, and learning platforms. Our Product team is at the heart of this mission, transforming deep customer insight into bold, market-aware strategies that support the missions of the schools we serve. We're a team of builders, thinkers, and collaborators who care deeply about the schools we serve. As we continue to grow, we're investing in strategic leadership roles that will help us scale innovation, elevate customer experience, and lead with an AI-first mindset. Join us in shaping products that matter, for schools, families, and the future of learning.

The Manager of Product Operations (MPO) is responsible for driving operational excellence across the Product Development Lifecycle. This role leads the team of Product Owners and owns the processes, tools, and metrics that enable consistent, high-quality delivery across product lines. The MPO ensures that our agile practices are scalable, efficient, and aligned with business priorities. Reporting to the Managing Director of Product Strategy, the MPO collaborates closely with Product Managers, Engineering, UX, Client Support, and cross-functional stakeholders to ensure that day-to-day product execution delivers measurable business outcomes. This is a key leadership role focused on execution quality, agile discipline, and backlog health.

Job Responsibilities:

• Lead and coach a team of Product Owners, ensuring excellence in backlog management, sprint planning, and cross-functional coordination.
• Standardize agile practices across teams, including sprint cadence, backlog refinement, sprint reviews, and retrospectives.
• Own tooling strategy for product operations (e.g., Azure DevOps, Pendo tagging, release notes processes, client feedback systems).
• Champion operational KPIs such as backlog readiness, sprint velocity, cycle time, and release predictability.
• Collaborate with Product Managers and Engineering leaders to remove blockers, improve delivery timelines, and align execution with roadmap goals.
• Build and maintain a culture of continuous improvement, customer focus, and curiosity across all product teams.
• Develop onboarding, documentation, and playbooks to scale PO effectiveness.
• Drive automation and AI enablement within Product operations (e.g., story generation, summarizing feedback, backlog triage).
• Coordinate operational triage for bugs, escalations, hotfixes, and internal support requests.
• Monitor FACTS^SPACE and other feedback sources to ensure client insights are integrated into the backlog.
• Partner with product strategy leaders to support long-term planning and execution readiness.

Pay Range for this position is $90,000 - $120,000

Education:

Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in a related field is required.

Experience:

• 3+ years in agile product development roles, preferably in SaaS or education technology.
• Prior experience managing Product Owners or operational product teams.

Competencies Skills/Knowledge/Abilities:

• Operational discipline and ability to manage complex workflows and dependencies.
• Proven ability to standardize and scale agile processes.
• Strong understanding of tooling for backlog and delivery management (e.g., Azure DevOps, Jira, Pendo).
• Demonstrated ability to deliver results through cross-functional collaboration.
• Deep understanding of agile delivery, cross-functional collaboration, and how to translate product strategy into deliverable, prioritized work.
• Strong team leadership and coaching abilities.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Skilled in using data and metrics to inform decisions and drive improvements.
• Customer-focused mindset and a passion for enabling high-quality delivery.
• Familiarity with emerging tools (e.g., AI-assisted backlog refinement, RAG pipelines).
• Collaborative mindset with ability to build trusted relationships across departments.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, evolving environment.

Our benefits package includes medical, dental, vision, HSA and FSA, generous earned 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- and long-term disability, and a robust wellness program.

Nelnet is committed to providing a welcoming and respectful workplace where all associates have the opportunity to succeed. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we ensure that all qualified applicants are considered for employment. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion/creed, national origin, gender, sex, marital status, age, disability, use of a guide dog or service animal, sexual orientation, military/veteran status, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local law. We value the unique contributions of every team member and believe that a positive work environment benefits everyone.

Qualified individuals with disabilities who require reasonable accommodations in order to apply or compete for positions at Nelnet may request such accommodations by contacting Corporate Recruiting at 402-486-5725 or corporaterecruiting@nelnet.net.

Nelnet is a Drug Free and Tobacco Free Workplace.

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