Job Information
National Student Clearinghouse Product Operations Specialist (Grant Funded) in Herndon, Virginia
By joining the National Student Clearinghouse, you can be sure that the work you do now will help shape the future of education and the workforce in the U.S. As the trusted source for higher education data since 1993, the Clearinghouse is the leading provider of transcript and data exchange services, automated enrollment and degree verifications, learner insights and research, and compliance solutions for schools, businesses, and learners nationwide. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the Clearinghouse works with nearly 3,600 postsecondary institutions to meet their compliance needs and with thousands of high schools and districts to provide continuing collegiate enrollment, progression, and completion statistics about their alumni. In addition, the Research Center publications inform policymakers and business leaders about student educational pathways. Using our unique combination of data, analytics, and software to drive our mission, security and privacy is paramount. Join us as we continue to invest in our talent and new advanced technologies to unlock the power of data on behalf of all learners.
About the Role:
The Specialist, Product Operations is responsible for supporting the vision, leadership, and product implementations of the Product Management department in partnership with the Senior Manager, Product Management, Product Managers, and Education Solutions internal stakeholders, such as Customer Care and Implementations. A primary goal of this position is to make the Education Solutions teams more efficient by streamlining processes to include communication within the product team and other parts of the organization and standardizing business processes such as planning and reporting.
The Specialist works in conjunction with the Learner Insights leadership and staff to help oversee product quality assurance and identify product improvement opportunities. The Specialist will work with product management to develop the ideal product experience and organize and analyze product data to help product management make informed decisions. In addition, the Specialist works to ensure that the necessary groups are aware of product changes and will coordinate the needed training for internal groups such as Customer Care, Implementations, Data Operations, etc. The position reports to the Senior Manager, Learner Insights.
Currently, this is a remote-first position, and this position may be required to periodically work on-site at our office and the frequency would depend on the department/division's requirements. Therefore, candidates must either reside within a reasonable distance to commute to our office or be willing to travel to our office in Herndon, when required.
Note: This position is funded by a grant and the funding is currently through 6/30/2026.
How You Contribute:
- Demonstrate the Clearinghouse's core competencies: Customer Focus, Optimizes Work Processes, Collaborates, Communicates Effectively, and Be Open and Authentic.
- Partner with clients to provide white glove service and improve utilization of assigned products.
- Assist with managing the customer feedback lifecycle to include information gathered from surveys, focus groups, etc.
- Gather and analyze statistics to identify product improvements, whether customer facing or process focused.
- Define and maintain the customer support process to include first and second level support.
- Streamline routine and/or recurring tasks and internal processes to ensure cross-functional consistency.
- Lead change execution with ideas for improvement.
- Maintain templates, guidelines, and resources for the product team and business analysts.
- Assist with developing internal training programs for Clearinghouse teams such as Customer Care and Implementations as new products and services are launched.
- Coordinate between Product Management, Customer Care, and Corporate Communications o generate customer communications in a timely manner.
- Be able to help with the contract process for the more unique situations such as College and Career Readiness Evaluation Consortium (CCREC), by reviewing documents to ensure language around the product/offering is correct, monitoring the feedback cycle between parties, etc. to help ensure efficiency.
- Assist product managers in the promotion of StudentTracker and Post-secondary Data Partnerships (PDP) at conferences - both virtually and in person - by helping to man booths, answering questions about the product, and helping with presentations.
- Work as an extension to the Customer Care and Operations teams to improve overall experience.
- Keep management and relevant staff informed about potential product improvements and upcoming releases for products via internal presentations, training guides, and/or product release notes.
- Effectively communicate between groups to ensure a common understanding of pertinent product related topics (e.g., between Customer Care and Product Managers).
- Demonstrate openness to new perspectives and ideas.
- Build trust with internal and external stakeholders by demonstrating consistency between words and actions.
Position may be required to perform other duties as required. These essential functions are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the job. Reasonable accommodations will be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions.
What You Bring to the Table:
Bachelor's degree, or a combination of education and experience including military service will also be considered.
3 years of progressively responsible Customer Service or Client Management experience.
Experience with a Client Relationship Management (CRM) tool, such as Salesforce.
Demonstrated ability to:
- Effectively work on a team and across organizational boundaries.
- Adapt to changing priorities and procedures and remain poised under pressure.
- Successfully manage multiple tasks and priorities simultaneously.
- Work independently with minimal supervision, in a fast-paced environment with a team and achieve results in a team environment.
- Identify and analyze service issues or other problems, and proactively provide resolution.
Highly customer centric, service oriented with the ability to understand, execute, and meet customers' expectations.
General knowledge of or the willingness to learn:
- Learner Insights Products.
- SDLC and methodologies, including Agile.
- Contract management process.
Excellent analytical skills and detail oriented.
Excellent verbal, written and interpersonal communication, time management, and effective presentation skills.
Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite, and other collaboration tools.
Demonstrates the Clearinghouse's core competencies: customer focus, optimizes work processes, communicates effectively, collaborates, and is open and authentic.
Must live within a commutable distance to Herndon, VA or in one of the Clearinghouse's approved States for hiring purposes. Refer to our HR Policies Page, located on our Careers site at , for more details.
Must be currently authorized to work in