Senior Product Strategist

Harvard University
Position Title: Senior Product Strategist
Req ID: 66802BR
School or Unit: Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Description: Position Description
Reporting to the Director of Strategic Initiatives and Product Management, the Senior Product Strategist will leverage their extensive product expertise to work with our various product and program teams, as well as IQSS leadership generally, to craft product vision and strategy, refine and create roadmaps and performance metrics, incorporate approaches to stakeholder engagement and user-centered design, identify product marketing opportunities, and collaboratively develop product management best practices, processes, and tools to support all our product development activities.
Product Strategy

• Work with product owners, engineering teams, and IQSS leadership to develop product development roadmaps and performance metrics (e.g. Dataverse, Peer Pre-Review, Data Science Services, Sid, etc.).
• Lead strategic planning and visioning workshops and develop long term product strategy, with related Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
• Craft product marketing strategies with product and communications teams.
• Research and make recommendations on resource allocation and business models.
• Report on IQSS product strategy to organizational leadership and external parties.

Technical Product Management

• Collaborate with internal and external product teams to determine, document, and prioritize end-user needs.
• Consult with teams to write requirements/user stories, produce user workflows, develop business processes, incorporate UX/UI design principles, refine product backlogs, and create sample screens/wireframes to convey needs and solutions.
• Identify and facilitate removal of operational roadblocks so teams can successfully collaborate to create value for our internal and external partners.
• Design, oversee, and conduct user research and stakeholder interviews to gather end user feedback.
• Coordinate activities between product components by aligning scope, deadlines, and delivery with embedded product owners, technical teams, and developers.
• Facilitate decision-making, manage conflicts and resolve issues, escalate critical problems to leadership as necessary, ensuring major decisions are aligned with IQSS' goals and direction.

Organizational Product Management Practices

• Train and advise teams on product management best practices.
• Assess team approaches to product management and suggest changes to optimize processes
• Develop handbooks and standard materials (e.g. templates, guidebooks, primers).
• Identify and introduce product management and design tools as needed (e.g. Airtable, Google Data Studio, Figma, Miro, etc.).
• Provide project oversight for development and implementation of institute-wide resources.

Basic Qualifications

• Minimum of seven years' post-secondary education or relevant work experience

Additional Qualifications and Skills

• A depth of experience as a senior technology product leader (i.e. creating strategic product roadmaps from conception to launch and working with cross-functional teams), across the product life cycle.
• Effective communication and collaboration skills with a wide range of audiences including technical and layperson, and internal and external constituencies. Ability to work not just with engineering, but across many functions and teams with their own agendas, to bring all voices into the conversation and lead people toward agreement on the path forward.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, high EQ and levels of empathy with a deep interest in and care for humans, both those with whom they collaborate and those they ultimately serve through the product experiences they create.
• Highly adaptable, open, inquisitive, and flexible. Curious and willing to learn from experiments, hearing new ideas no matter where they come from, and changing course quickly.
• Familiarity with every stage of product development (design, marketing, strategy, development, etc.) and an ability to leverage relevant experience dynamically and simultaneously as needed; able to dive into details while maintaining a high level view at all times.
• Experience in both industry and academic settings preferred.
• Bachelor's degree helpful but not required.

Additional Information
This is a 12-month term position from the date of hire, with the possibility of extension based on funding and performance.
This is a part-time, 0.75 FTE (26.25 hours per week) position.
We are unable to provide visa sponsorship for this position.
All formal offers will be made by FAS Human Resources.
About Us
IQSS sits in the Division of Social Science, which is strongly committed to creating and supporting a diverse workforce. Respect and fairness, kindness and collegiality, and trust and transparency are among the values we espouse and promote in our workplace culture. We work hard to ensure a healthy, inclusive and positive environment where everyone does their best work in support of Harvard's mission.
The Institute for Quantitative Social Science (IQSS) is a university-wide institute whose mission is to solve society's greatest challenges through the creation, preservation, and dissemination of social science knowledge. We build infrastructure and community so social scientists can work at unprecedented speed, scale, and levels of collaboration. The IQSS approach includes: providing an environment (physical space, events, services) that encourages scholars to convene and collaborate; developing powerful (and broadly useful) statistical, computational, and analytical infrastructure and tools; building bridges between the many different scientific communities concerned with real world problems; removing impediments to discovery by providing exceptional administrative services; and supporting and showcasing innovative ideas through the creation and incubation of scientific programs.
Benefits
We invite you to visit Harvard's Total Rewards website (https://hr.harvard.edu/totalrewards) to learn more about our outstanding benefits package, which may include:

• Paid Time Off: 3-4 weeks of accrued vacation time per year (3 weeks for support staff and 4 weeks for administrative/professional staff), 12 accrued sick days per year, 12.5 holidays plus a Winter Recess in December/January, 3 personal days per year (prorated based on date of hire), and up to 12 weeks of paid leave for new parents who are primary care givers.
• Health and Welfare: Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision benefits, disability and life insurance programs, along with voluntary benefits. Most coverage begins as of your start date.
• Work/Life and Wellness: Child and elder/adult care resources including on campus childcare centers, Employee Assistance Program, and wellness programs related to stress management, nutrition, meditation, and more.
• Retirement: University-funded retirement plan with contributions from 5% to 15% of eligible compensation, based on age and earnings with full vesting after 3 years of service.
• Tuition Assistance Program: Competitive program including $40 per class at the Harvard Extension School and reduced tuition through other participating Harvard graduate schools.
• Tuition Reimbursement: Program that provides 75% to 90% reimbursement up to $5,250 per calendar year for eligible courses taken at other accredited institutions.
• Professional Development: Programs and classes at little or no cost, including through the Harvard Center for Workplace Development and LinkedIn Learning.
• Commuting and Transportation: Various commuter options handled through the Parking Office, including discounted parking, half-priced public transportation passes and pre-tax transit passes, biking benefits, and more.
• Harvard Facilities Access, Discounts and Perks: Access to Harvard athletic and fitness facilities, libraries, campus events, credit union, and more, as well as discounts to various types of services (legal, financial, etc.) and cultural and leisure activities throughout metro-Boston.

LinkedIn Recruiter Tag (for internal use only)
#LI-JB1
Department Office Location: USA - MA - Cambridge
Job Code: I0859P IT Business Analysis Prfss V
Job Function: Information Technology
Work Format: Hybrid (partially on-site, partially remote)
Sub Unit: Social Sciences
Salary Grade: 059
Department: Institute for Quantitative Social Science
Union: 00 - Non Union, Exempt or Temporary
Time Status: Part-time
Pre-Employment Screening: Identity
Commitment to Equity Diversity Inclusion and Belonging: Harvard University views equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging as the pathway to achieving inclusive excellence and fostering a campus culture where everyone can thrive. We strive to create a community that draws upon the widest possible pool of talent to unify excellence and diversity while fully embracing individuals from varied backgrounds, cultures, races, identities, life experiences, perspectives, beliefs, and values.
EOE Statement: We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions, or any other characteristic protected by law.

PI249440013