Job Title: Senior Product
Manager
About Wadhwani Foundation:
The Wadhwani Foundation is a global, technology-driven
not-for-profit committed to accelerating job creation, innovation, and skill
development in emerging economies. Through a portfolio of programs in skilling,
entrepreneurship, and innovation, we aim to empower millions by 2030.
About WIN:
The Wadhwani Innovation Network (WIN) supports the
translation of high-quality research into market-ready products, services, and
startups across India. WIN is building a coy mprehensive solution to empower researchers
across the innovation lifecycle from ideation to commercialization.
Role Overview:
We are seeking a Senior Product Manager to own the
development of the Wadhwani Innovation Platform, which will drive commercialization
in three ways:
- Establish
a unified system for effective researcher support so that grant-funded
researchers receive programmatic assistance in areas of critical need
while also fulfilling their grant reporting requirements.
- Build
researchers’ entrepreneurship capacity via online programming -- such
as playbooks, curated/proprietary content, expert sessions, and targeted
WIN staff support -- in key commercialization topics, customized by sector.
- Connect
researchers to personalized live assistance from a resource network of
mentors, experts, and investors, incubators, accelerators, service
providers, and funding organizations that can provide direct assistance in
the translation journey.
The ideal candidate brings strong technical product
development experience combined with demonstrated success in building solutions
that effectively meet users’ needs. This candidate has demonstrated experience
in building impactful, high-usage products in the fields of (a)
entrepreneurship support, (b) entrepreneurial Learning & Development, and (c)
mentor networks, while also bringing deep exposure to India’s research,
innovation, and/or startup ecosystems.
The Senior Product Manager will report to the Global Chief
Product Officer and will work closely with the Wadhwani Engineering and Design
Teams in development of the Wadhwani Innovation Platform. This role will also
supervise a Content Manager who will lead the content curation and development
effort in partnership with the Wadhwani Content Team. The Senior Product
Manager must be available in the evenings IST for connects with the Global
Chief Product Officer and CEO, who are based in the U.S.
Key Responsibilities:
1. Overall Product Leadership
· Identify
key program and user needs.
· Develop
corresponding requirements and success metrics for the Wadhwani Innovation Platform.
· Coordinate
with Engineering and Design teams to build or customize platform features,
taking full advantage of AI technologies as appropriate.
· Represent
the platform to external stakeholders as required.
2. Unified Researcher Support
· Design
and develop a new researcher support system that enables researchers to
efficiently submit reports on their grant progress (via WIN’s existing Grants
Management tool) while also obtaining support in areas of critical needs
· Enable
integrated tracking and monitoring, with data aggregation and disaggregation
3. Entrepreneurship Capacity-Building
· Design and scale programs that equip researchers
with translation and startup skills.
· Embed founder-readiness content (videos,
playbooks, templates) and expert-led master-clases into researcher journeys
· Oversee Content staff in instructional design decisions
and in operationalizing content development and curation.
4. Resource Network
· Oversee
development and implementation of algorithms to efficiently match researchers
with mentors, experts, investors, incubators, accelerators, service providers,
and funding organizations.
· Design and deliver tools to capture expert
insights and track usage, outcomes, and satisfaction to continuously improve
network quality.
Required Experience:
· 10+ years experience in software product development,
with 5+ years experience in one or more of (a) business entrepreneurship
support, (b) Learning & Development, and (c) start-up or business mentor
networks
- Experience managing data-rich, multi-feature
platforms that integrate learning, CRM, and/or workflow tools
· Strongly preferred: Experience overseeing
content development
· Strongly preferred: Experience in innovation,
research translation, and/or startup incubation
- Demonstrated experience building and managing
high-performing teams across diverse functions.
- Strong relationship and stakeholder management
skills, combined with excellent execution skills.
Required Qualification:
- Master’s degree in business, science, or
engineering fields
