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Risepoint

Director, PDM Planning & Operations

🇺🇸 Remote - US 🕑 Full-Time 💰 TBD 💻 Operations 🗓️ October 10th, 2026

Edtech.com's Summary

Risepoint is hiring a Director, PDM Planning & Operations to own the business direction of the Partner Data Manager, its central database of partner and program information. The director turns priorities from Partner Support, Finance, Marketing, and other teams into a clear roadmap. Working beside Business Technology's Product Owner, this leader also runs the team that keeps PDM reliable day to day.

Highlights
  • Shape the multi-year vision for PDM as its business owner.
  • Translate transformation priorities into a roadmap and business requirements.
  • Build an intake and prioritization process for enhancement requests, UX improvements, and compliance needs.
  • Write business cases covering cost, risk, efficiency, and user experience for PDM investments.
  • Find UX friction points and data gaps and push fixes onto the roadmap.
  • Liaise with Business Technology and resolve cross-functional roadblocks.
  • Follow each release through, gathering feedback from affected teams and feeding lessons into future changes.
  • Bring 8+ years in business systems, enterprise application management, or product leadership, including 3+ years at director level.
  • Offer 5+ years of people leadership, including managing managers.
  • Support more than 100 partner universities with a single source of truth for program information.

Director, PDM Planning & Operations Full Description

Risepoint is an education technology company that helps regional universities launch and grow online programs for modern learners. Risepoint supports more than 100 universities and colleges across five countries, with programs concentrated in high-demand fields including nursing, healthcare, teaching, business, technology, and public service. Our suite of products and services supports the full student journey and each university's long-term goals. Together, we increase access to affordable education that delivers a strong return on investment for learners and meets employer and community needs. Learn more at risepoint.com.

The Impact You Will Make

Partner Data Manager (PDM) is Risepoint's centralized database for partner and program information. It is also the mechanism through which Partner Support updates and distributes partner-facing content and resources organization-wide, giving teams one source of truth and helping ensure consistent messaging across Risepoint and with prospective and current students.
 
As Risepoint's business grows more dependent on PDM, this role ensures PDM evolves deliberately: anticipating business needs, prioritizing the right improvements (including user experience), and powering the transformation initiatives the business has prioritized.  You will lead the business direction and roadmap for PDM, translating broader business priorities and the needs of Partner Support, Finance, Marketing, and other teams into a clear, prioritized roadmap. You'll partner closely with Business Technology's Product Owner, who leads technical delivery, while you own the business case, priorities, and the team that keeps PDM running reliably day to day.
 
How You Will Bring Our Mission to Life
What You Will Do
  • Serve as the business owner for PDM, shaping its multi-year vision and translating Risepoint's broader business and transformation priorities into a clear roadmap, priorities, and business requirements.
  • Represent the business voice in roadmap trade-off decisions when partnering with Business Technology.
  • Build and maintain a structured intake and prioritization process for enhancement requests, balancing transformation-critical work, UX improvements, compliance/audit needs, and operational fixes.
  • Develop business cases and value justifications (cost, risk, efficiency, user experience) for proposed PDM investments.
  • Identify UX friction points and data/functionality gaps across PDM users and champion improvements through the roadmap
  • Serve as the primary point of accountability for PDM within Partner Support, representing its capabilities, constraints, and roadmap to leadership.
  • Act as liaison to Business Technology on all PDM-related initiatives, escalating and resolving cross-functional roadblocks.
  • Maintain a cross-functional view of how PDM connects to adjacent systems and processes, anticipating ripple effects of a given change rather than evaluating each request in isolation.
  • Own post-release follow-through — checking that changes landed as intended, gathering feedback from affected teams, and feeding lessons learned back into how future changes are scoped and rolled out.


What Success Looks Like
  • A prioritized, business-aligned PDM roadmap is in place and jointly owned with Business Technology's Product Owner.
  • Enhancement requests move through a clear intake and prioritization process
  • Key UX pain points and data/functionality gaps for PDM users have been identified and are being actively addressed.
  • Major PDM releases land with minimal disruption because affected teams were identified, informed, and prepared in advance.
  • undefined
  • Percentage of roadmap items entering Business Technology's backlog with a validated business case, clear priority, and defined success criteria.
  • Breadth of cross-functional input into the roadmap — how many departments actively contribute needs and priorities each planning cycle.
  • Stakeholder confidence — feedback from department heads and business leaders that their needs are understood and genuinely reflected in the roadmap

What You'll Bring to the Team
 
Experience That Matters Most

  • 8+ years of experience in business systems, enterprise application management, or product/program leadership, including 3+ years in a director-level or equivalent strategic leadership role.
  • Demonstrated experience owning a roadmap or product strategy for a business-critical system, ideally in partnership with a separate technical/IT product or delivery team.
  • 5+ years of people leadership experience, including experience managing managers.
  • Experience with business case development, prioritization frameworks, and cross-functional stakeholder management at the executive level.

Experience That's Great to Have
  • Higher education, ed-tech, or partner/affiliate-based business experience.
  • Experience supporting or leading organizational transformation initiatives involving technology systems.
Risepoint is an equal-opportunity employer and supports a diverse and inclusive workforce.