Senior Product Manager, Personalization & Journey Optimization at 2u

At 2U, we are all in on purpose. We are motivated by our mission – to make learning limitless– and connected by our shared passion to deliver world-class higher education at scale. As the parent company of edX, a leading online learning platform, 2U powers thousands of higher education offerings – from free courses to full degrees. Together with our college, university, and corporate partners, we are helping accelerate careers and transform lives. What We’re Looking For: 2U is searching for a Product Manager to own personalization and journey optimization for the edX Marketplace — a role at the frontier of how a modern learning marketplace converts curious visitors into committed learners. In a marketplace with thousands of courses, programs, and credentials across hundreds of subject areas, the ability to surface the right opportunity to the right learner at the right moment is a fundamental competitive advantage. This PM owns the product experiences and capabilities that make edX feel intelligent, relevant, and responsive to each individual learner's goals — increasing the likelihood that a visitor finds what they're looking for, trusts that it's right for them, and takes the next step. You will own the product roadmap for on-site personalization and conversion journey optimization — including personalized discovery surfaces, dynamic journey pathing, behavioral targeting, and experimentation infrastructure. You will work at the intersection of product, data science, UX, and marketing to design and deliver experiences that reduce friction, increase relevance, and improve mid-funnel conversion rates across the edX platform. This is a role for a PM who is equally comfortable with data models and design thinking — someone who can partner with data scientists to define a recommendation algorithm and with UX designers to bring it to life in a way that genuinely serves the learner. Responsibilities Include, But Are Not Limited To: • Own the edX.org personalization and journey optimization product roadmap — including personalized discovery surfaces, dynamic content and recommendations, behavioral journey pathing, and mid-funnel conversion optimization. • Define and execute product strategies that use learner behavioral data, stated preferences, and contextual signals to deliver more relevant, personalized experiences across the edX platform. • Lead product initiatives to improve mid-funnel conversion rates — identifying and reducing friction in the journey from discovery to enrollment decision. • Partner with data science to define the requirements for recommendation models, personalization algorithms, and targeting logic — translating data capabilities into learner-facing product experiences. • Develop and own the on-site experimentation roadmap — designing, prioritizing, and measuring A/B tests and multivariate experiments that generate actionable insights and compound conversion improvements over time. • Define, track, and report on personalization and conversion KPIs — including recommendation click-through rate, journey completion rates, mid-funnel conversion lift, and experiment velocity. • Collaborate with the GPM Organic Discovery & Content Experience to ensure personalization strategies enhance rather than conflict with organic discovery and content experiences. • Partner with the lifecycle marketing and MarTech teams to connect on-site personalization with off-site targeting and re-engagement strategies. • Define engineering backlog, technical requirements, and product features; lead cross-functional teams of engineering, data science, and UX to design and deliver results. • Interact directly with learners, data scientists, marketers, and stakeholders to understand emerging needs and capture them in product memos, experiments, and executive presentations. • Regularly measure and communicate impact; adjust strategy and roadmap based on experimentation results and evolving learner behavior. • Use your own product — explore edX as a learner, notice what feels relevant and what doesn't, and let that empathy inform your decisions. Things That Should Be In Your Background: • 2–5 years of product management experience, with demonstrated focus on personalization, recommendations, conversion optimization, or experimentation at a consumer web or marketplace company. • Experience owning or contributing to personalization or recommendation product areas — with measurable conversion or engagement outcomes to show for it. • Strong understanding of A/B testing and experimentation methodology — you know how to design a good experiment, interpret results correctly, and build a compounding learning program over time. • Comfort working with data science teams — you can engage meaningfully in conversations about recommendation models, feature inputs, and algorithmic tradeoffs without needing to be a data scientist yourself. • Structured and data-driven thinking — you use behavioral analytics, funnel analysis, and segmentation to identify opportunity and inform prioritization. • Experience partnering with engineering, UX, and data science teams to deliver outcome-oriented product work. • Excellent communication skills and strong cross-functional collaboration instincts. • Experience with agile software development. Other Attributes That Will Help You In This Role: • Familiarity with personalization and recommendation platforms or frameworks. • Experience with experimentation platforms such as Optimizely, LaunchDarkly, or similar. • Background in marketplace, edtech, or consumer subscription products. • Familiarity with customer data platforms (CDPs) such as Segment and how they enable personalization. • Experience with product analytics platforms such as Amplitude, Mixpanel, or similar. • Understanding of how on-site personalization intersects with paid and lifecycle marketing strategies. While this position is open to remote candidates across the U.S., we will prioritize those who live in the Washington-Baltimore metropolitan area and who are available to come into our Headquarters in Arlington, VA two days a week. Benefits & Culture Our global employee base is a diverse collection of innovators, dreamers, and doers working together to transform lives through higher education. We believe that every employee can advance our shared purpose, and that life at 2U should be fun and meaningful. If you’re excited by the opportunity to provide millions of learners and counting with access to world-class higher education, then join us – and do work that makes a difference. We offer comprehensive benefits (unique per country) and excellent work/life balance. Full-time, U.S.benefits include: • Medical, dental, and vision coverage • Life insurance, disability, and 401(k) employer match • Free snacks and drinks in-office • Generous paid holidays and leave policies, including unlimited PTO • Additional time off benefits include: volunteer days, parental leave, and a company-wide winter break The anticipated base salary range for this role is ($143,100 - $163,000) with potential bonus eligibility. Salary offers are made based on the candidate’s qualifications, experience, skills, and education as they directly relate to the requirements of the position, budget for the position and cost of labor in the market in which the candidate will be hired. 2U Diversity and Inclusion Statement At 2U, we are committed to building and sustaining a culture of belonging, respect, and inclusion. We are proud of the steps we’ve taken to bring together an employee base that embodies diverse walks of life, ideas, genders, ages, races, cultures, sexual orientations, abilities and other unique qualities. We strive to offer a workplace where every employee feels empowered by what makes us different, as well as by how we are alike. 2U is committed to providing reasonable accommodations during our recruitment process. If you need assistance or accommodations, please reach out to us at: [Upgrade to PRO to see contact]. About 2U 2U partners with the world's top universities and companies to develop and deliver education programs that accelerate careers and transform lives. Through partnerships with the world’s leading colleges, universities, and companies, 2U delivers thousands of online programs to millions of learners worldwide on edX, its global learning platform. From executive education and professional credentialing to master’s degree programs and free, open courses, 2U transforms how top institutions deliver workforce-aligned online education, enabling professionals to advance without pausing their careers. Learn more at 2U.com. The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by individuals assigned to this position, and are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required. All employees may be required to perform duties outside of their normal responsibilities from time to time, as needed. 2U is an equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate against applicants or employees and ensures equal employment opportunity for all persons regardless of their race, creed, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, national origin, age, marital status, disability, citizenship, military or veterans’ status, or any other classifications protected by applicable federal, state or local laws. 2U’s equal opportunity policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including but not limited to recruiting, hiring, training, promotion, job benefits and pay.