Senior IAM Product Manager

IAM Product Manager Location: Durham, U.S Position Summary:

Pearson Virtual Schools (PVS) is seeking a Senior Product Manager to lead our Identity & Access Management program as a domain expert and key individual contributor. This role is for an experienced, high-impact professional with deep expertise in enterprise identity solutions and strategic influence. In this capacity, you will drive the vision and execution of a critical platform modernization initiative (Identity & Access Management), leading cross functional teams by influence across engineering, architecture, security, and design. You will blend strong technical acumen in identity management and cloud architecture with top tier product management skills to deliver forward looking milestones on the program's roadmap. The ideal candidate is also passionate about innovation in the software development lifecycle, leveraging generative AI and intelligent agents to enhance product development and user experiences. This is a remote friendly role (with a preference for working hours that align with U.S. Eastern Time) and offers the opportunity to shape the future of PVS's platform at a strategic level.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Vision & Roadmaps: Develop and own the product strategy and multi year roadmap for the PVS Identity & Access Management (IAM) program, ensuring it aligns with PVS's overall platform modernization goals. Clearly define phased milestones and outcomes, communicating a compelling vision to stakeholders and team members.
• Identity & Access Management: Guide the Identity program to build a next generation identity and access management solution for PVS. Oversee the development of a unified identity service for all user types (students, caretakers, teachers, administrators), implementing modern authentication/authorization protocols (OAuth 2.0/OIDC, SAML, etc.), single sign on (SSO), and robust user lifecycle management. Emphasize security, user privacy, user experience, and compliance requirements (e.g., FERPA, GDPR) in all identity features.
• Cross Functional Leadership: Serve as the product lead for this initiative, coordinating and inspiring cross functional teams comprising software engineers, architects, security specialists, UX/UI designers, and business stakeholders. Without direct managerial authority, exercise influence and thought leadership to drive decision making, resolve conflicts, and keep everyone aligned on product objectives and timelines.
• Product Development Lifecycle Innovation: Introduce and champion the use of generative AI and agent driven tools in our product development process. For example, explore how AI can automate parts of product discovery, market research, requirements gathering, coding, testing, or analytics - improving development efficiency and product quality.
• Execution & Delivery: Oversee the end to end execution of product initiatives, from concept through launch and iteration. Write clear product roadmaps, product requirements (PRDs), define features and acceptance criteria in partnership with Agile teams, and maintain a well groomed backlog for Identity program workstreams. Prioritize features by balancing strategic impact, user value, and development effort. Ensure on time delivery of key roadmap milestones, adjusting plans as needed based on feedback and changing requirements.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Collaborate closely with internal stakeholders - including other Product Vertical leaders, Program/Project Managers, and executives - to ensure the Identity & Access Management program meets the needs of various learning products and operational teams. Communicate program progress, challenges, and next steps through presentations and reports. Act as the voice of the customer and the business, ensuring that delivered capabilities drive tangible improvements in user experience, operational efficiency, and platform capabilities.
• Technical Depth & Decision Making: Use your strong technical background to make informed product decisions. Understand the complexities of identity management systems, authentication flows, and cloud architecture well enough to trade off approaches with architects and engineers. Ensure that architectural choices serve the product vision (e.g., selecting appropriate technologies or protocols, designing for scalability and security, aligning with industry best practices for identity management).
• Innovation & Continuous Improvement: Stay abreast of industry trends in identity and access management, security, and AI/ML. Identify opportunities to incorporate new technologies or practices (for example, exploring passwordless authentication, adaptive security policies, or AI driven anomaly detection for user access). Foster a culture of innovation and experimentation within the team - for instance, pilot an "AI agent" that can assist with monitoring authentication flows or recommending access policies - and scale successful experiments into full features.
• Measurement & Accountability: Define key performance indicators (KPIs) and success metrics for the Identity program. For example, metrics might include authentication success/error rates, reduction in support tickets related to login/access issues, or improved user onboarding time due to streamlined identity processes. Track these outcomes and use data to inform product decisions and demonstrate program value.
• Mentoring and Leadership (Individual Contributor Role): Although this role does not have direct reports, you are expected to mentor and guide junior product managers and product owners within the team, sharing your expertise across the product management organization. Act as an expert consultant for other product teams in your areas of ownership. Help foster best practices in product management, especially in areas like technical product management and AI adoption within the SDLC.

Required Qualifications

• Experience: 8+ years of product management experience, with multiple years in platform or technical product management roles. Proven track record delivering initiatives end to end - ideally including identity and access management (IAM) products or related technical platforms. Experience should demonstrate increasing responsibility and the ability to lead cross functional teams without direct authority.
• Domain Expertise: Strong knowledge of identity and access management principles and technologies. Familiarity with modern authentication/authorization standards (OAuth 2.0, OIDC, SAML), directory services or identity providers, user account lifecycle management, and security/privacy compliance requirements (e.g., FERPA, GDPR) in software products.
• Technical Acumen: Comfortable discussing and understanding complex technical designs with architects and engineers. Hands on experience with cloud platforms (AWS preferred) and modern software architecture (microservices, APIs, event driven systems). Ability to grasp AI/ML concepts and their application in products - you don't need to be a data scientist, but you should understand how AI technologies (e.g., large language models, recommendation systems) can be applied to solve product problems.
• Leadership & Collaboration: Exceptional cross functional leadership skills. Able to lead by influence and inspire teams that do not report to you directly. Excellent communication and stakeholder management abilities - can distill complex ideas into clear proposals and status updates for both technical teams and executive leadership. Experience working in an Agile/Scrum development environment, collaborating closely with engineering on user story definition, backlog prioritization, and sprint planning.
• Innovation Mindset: Demonstrated interest or experience in cutting edge technologies, especially generative AI, automation, and intelligent agents. A track record of driving innovation - whether launching a new data driven feature, improving a process with technology, or implementing an AI powered solution. Curiosity and a continuous learning attitude are a must.
• Education: Bachelor's degree required (Computer Science, Engineering, or related field strongly preferred). An MBA or advanced degree in a relevant field is a plus. Equivalent professional experience in product leadership can substitute for some formal education if clearly applicable.

Preferred Qualifications

• Identity and access management (IDAM) solutions: Extensive hands on experience designing, implementing, and scaling identity and access management (IDAM) solutions, including authentication, authorization, directory services, and user lifecycle management for complex SaaS platforms. Adept at navigating security and regulatory requirements (FERPA, GDPR) and optimizing user experiences while safeguarding sensitive data.
• EdTech and Data Standards: Experience in the education technology domain or other highly data driven industries. Familiarity with education data standards (e.g., Ed Fi, LTI) or student information systems is a strong plus. Understanding the nuances of K 12 school operations, online learning platforms, or similar can help inform better product decisions in PVS's context.
• AI/ML Projects: Direct experience working with AI/ML product features or incorporating AI into a product management process. For example, having managed a product that included an AI component (like a recommendation engine or predictive analytics dashboard) . click apply for full job details