Product Discovery Manager

Nelnet Business Services (NBS), a division of Nelnet, Inc., provides payment technology and education services to more than 1,200 higher education institutions, nearly 12,000 K-12 schools, 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.

The Product Discovery Manager leads customer and market discovery activities that help the organization identify, evaluate, and validate product opportunities. This role translates ambiguous business opportunities into focused research questions, gathers customer evidence, identifies meaningful patterns, and develops recommendations for product direction. The position uses discovery, research, prototyping, and experimentation to reduce uncertainty before significant product investment is made. This role partners closely with product, design, technology, business, and other stakeholders to ensure product decisions are grounded in customer needs and evidence.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Lead product and customer discovery activities to understand customer needs, behaviors, workflows, pain points, and unmet opportunities.
• Define research questions, hypotheses, target audiences, and evidence criteria needed to evaluate product and business opportunities.
• Recruit and engage customers, users, buyers, subject-matter experts, and other relevant participants to gather actionable insights.
• Conduct interviews, workflow observations, concept testing, and other qualitative or quantitative research activities appropriate to the business question.
• Synthesize customer and market evidence into clear themes, Jobs to Be Done, opportunity areas, product requirements, and recommendations.
• Develop and test prototypes, concepts, workflows, and other representations of potential solutions to accelerate learning and reduce product risk.
• Evaluate discovery findings and recommend whether opportunities should advance, change direction, or be discontinued based on available evidence.
• Partner with product, design, technology, commercial, and business stakeholders to translate insights into product strategy and development priorities.
• Establish scalable discovery practices, research repositories, templates, tools, and documentation that improve the quality and speed of future discovery work.
• Communicate findings and recommendations clearly to stakeholders, using evidence and business context to influence decisions.

Pay Range for this role is - $140,000 - $150,000

EDUCATION:

Required:

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Psychology, Sociology, Marketing, Research, Product Management, or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.

Preferred:

• Advanced degree or relevant professional training in user experience research, product management, design, customer research, or a related discipline.

EXPERIENCE:

Required:

• 5+ years of experience in product discovery, user research, product management, product design, customer research, innovation, or a related discipline.
• Experience independently planning and conducting customer or user discovery and translating findings into actionable recommendations.
• Experience evaluating ambiguous opportunities and using evidence to influence product or business decisions.
• Experience collaborating across product, design, technology, commercial, or business functions.

Preferred:

• Experience developing and testing prototypes or concepts and conducting discovery for new products, services, or business opportunities.

COMPETENCIES/SKILLS:

• Research & Information Gathering
• Feedback Gathering & Analysis
• Critical Thinking
• UX/UI Design (Figma, Adobe XD, etc.)
• Strategic Thinking

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. Click here to learn more about our benefits: Benefits & Perks - Nelnet Inc

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.

Use of Artificial Intelligence in Hiring

We may use automated or artificial intelligence enabled tools to assist with the initial review of applications, such as identifying relevant skills or experience. These tools are used to support human review and do not make hiring decisions. A recruiter reviews applications and determines which candidates move forward in the hiring process. For more information, see our Privacy Policy and Pre-Use Notice: Automated Tools in Hiring