Senior Director of Product at CharacterStrong

Position Description: The Senior Director of Product at CharacterStrong brings deep expertise in SaaS product management methods and tools (in particular within EdTech), combining strategic vision with hands-on operational excellence to drive continuous improvement across our product organization. This leader understands how to align technical requirements, design intent, and customer needs to create impactful, human-centered digital experiences that advance CharacterStrong’s mission to create a more loving world through education.

This position will play a pivotal role in connecting business strategy, product development, and cross-functional execution—ensuring that complex ideas are transformed into clear, actionable work for designers, engineers, and customer-facing teams.

CharacterStrong's Background & Mission

CharacterStrong, a FullBloom Company, is a fast-paced, tech education company that makes PreK-12 digital, social-emotional learning curricula and offers professional learning opportunities to support schools with implementation. There’s currently a team of more than 130 full-time employees and over 30 contractors and interns collaborating to bring this work to life.

Our mission is to create a more loving world by equipping educators with tools to teach the critical social, emotional, and character skills necessary to foster a more empathetic, connected, and generous world. In less than 10 years, our aim is to have reached 50 million students and over 2 million educators. We were ranked by INC. as the 449th fastest-growing private company in the country.

At CharacterStrong, you will have the opportunity to positively impact education, both in the United States and internationally. CharacterStrong employees offer their innovation, dedication to excellence, and compassion to help produce transformational curricula and professional learning for educators.

CharacterStrong’s Company Values & Norms

• We Produce Excellence - Producing timely, quality results and consistently asking the question, “How can we make this 1% better?”
• We Take Full Ownership - Taking the initiative to drive work forward, demonstrating responsibility when things do not go according to plan, and proactively closing identified gaps.
• We Practice Kindness - Exercising inclusion, care, and empathy with others, balancing honesty with compassion, and cultivating the well-being of self and others.
• We Problem-Solve - Identifying issues, analyzing for understanding, and taking action to implement the best possible solution.
  
  

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Product Vision

• Lead the strategic planning, management, and evolution of CharacterStrong’s SaaS product portfolio, including Tier 1 Solutions, Tier 2 Solutions, Tier 3 Solutions, The LoHi Toolkit, Intellispark, and On-Demand PD.
• Craft and communicate a clear, data-informed product vision and roadmap that balances innovation with operational excellence.
• Champion a human-centered design approach that places educators, students, and partners at the heart of every product decision.
• Drive cross-functional alignment, ensuring collaboration across product, engineering, design, research, and go-to-market teams.
• Provide direct leadership and management to the Product Management team, including coaching, performance development, and professional growth aligned to CharacterStrong’s culture and values.
• Establish clear accountability and development pathways for Product Managers to ensure focus, alignment, and execution on company priorities across the product portfolio.
  
  

Product Management Methods & Execution

• Apply proven SaaS product management frameworks to improve focus, velocity, and collaboration across teams.
• Develop and maintain Business Requirements Documents (BRDs) and Product Requirements Documents (PRDs) that clarify objectives, success metrics, and technical requirements.
• Maintain strong ticket hygiene and process discipline, ensuring clarity, prioritization, and accountability throughout development cycles.
• Leverage product management tools (e.g., Notion, Jira) to track initiatives, manage sprints, and communicate progress transparently.
  
  

Technical Fluency & Collaboration

• Demonstrate technical literacy to engage confidently with engineers, understanding architecture, dependencies, APIs, and integration considerations.
• Support the translation of complex technical details into accessible language for cross-functional teams and stakeholders.
• Partner closely with engineering leadership to make sound tradeoffs between user experience, technical feasibility, and business goals.
  
  

Agile Practices & Continuous Improvement

• Model and cultivate AGILE product development principles, ensuring continuous learning, iteration, and rapid delivery of value.
• Facilitate sprint planning, retrospectives, and performance reviews that promote team autonomy and data-informed decisions.
• Drive ongoing improvements to processes that enhance speed, quality, and cross-departmental communication.
  
  

Cross-Departmental Collaboration & Go-To-Market

• Serve as a bridge between Product, Marketing, Sales, Customer Success, and Operations, ensuring seamless collaboration throughout the Go-To-Market (GTM) process.
• Ensure each department understands the “why” and “what’s next” behind product launches, connecting strategy with customer outcomes.
• Translate customer insights, research, and usage data into product priorities and go-to-market strategies that deliver measurable impact.
  
  

Market & User Insight

• Stay informed on SaaS, EdTech, and education-technology market dynamics to anticipate trends, opportunities, and challenges.
• Partner with research and customer success teams to gather user feedback and data that drive continuous improvement.
• Use insights from educators, students, and administrators to refine product strategy and enhance adoption and satisfaction.
  
  

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in SaaS product management, preferably in the EdTech space.
• Proven track record of leading cross-functional product teams in Agile environments.
• Strong understanding of technical requirements, system architecture, and product scalability considerations.
• Demonstrated ability to translate business goals and user needs into clear technical and design requirements.
• Deep knowledge of human-centered design, balancing empathy, usability, and data-driven decision-making.
• Excellent communication skills—able to bridge conversations between designers, engineers, executives, and customer-facing teams.
• Familiarity with modern product and project management tools such as Notion, Jira, Productboard, or Asana.
• Strategic thinker with a passion for education, technology, and human-centered innovation.
  
  

Other Duties

• Performs other duties as assigned.
  
  

Benefits Package

• New laptop computer and other needed equipment
• Annual Individual Budget for Professional Development of $1,000
• 401k Savings Plan with employer contribution
• Medical, Dental, & Vision Insurance
• Life, AD&D, and Disability Insurance
• Employee Assistance Program, Mental Health Support, and Well-Being Programs
• 3 weeks Company-Paid Parental Leave (after 6 months of active employment)
• Flexible Time Off, 6 Paid Sick Days, 11 Paid Company Holidays