What is a Product Manager at Emory University?

As a Product Manager or Associate Product Manager within Emory University, you sit at the crucial intersection of technology, education, and enterprise operations. Specifically within Enterprise Technology Services (ETS), this role is designed to drive the digital transformation that empowers students, faculty, researchers, and administrative staff. You are not just building software; you are shaping the digital campus experience and enabling the academic and operational missions of a premier research university.

Your impact in this position is both immediate and far-reaching. You will guide products from conception through deployment, ensuring that the technology solutions developed by ETS actually solve the complex, everyday problems faced by the university community. Because Emory University operates at a massive scale—balancing the needs of an academic institution with a sprawling healthcare network—the products you manage must be scalable, accessible, and highly reliable.

This role is critical because it requires navigating a highly matrixed, consensus-driven environment. You will find the work intellectually stimulating as you balance competing priorities from diverse departments, translate complex academic or administrative needs into actionable technical requirements, and deliver products that make a tangible difference in how the university functions. Expect a dynamic environment where your strategic influence directly supports higher education innovation.

Getting Ready for Your Interviews

Preparing for a product management interview at Emory University requires a blend of standard product methodologies and an understanding of the higher education technology landscape. Your interviewers will be looking for candidates who can balance technical execution with deep empathy for diverse user groups.

You will be evaluated across several key dimensions:

Product Execution and Delivery – This evaluates your ability to turn ambiguity into a structured roadmap. Interviewers want to see how you write requirements, manage backlogs, and work alongside engineering teams to deliver features on time. You can demonstrate strength here by sharing specific examples of how you prioritize tasks and keep cross-functional teams aligned.

Stakeholder Management – In a university setting, stakeholders range from tenured professors to IT directors and student representatives. This criterion tests your communication skills and your ability to build consensus. Show your strength by discussing times you successfully navigated conflicting priorities and brought diverse groups to a shared agreement.

Problem-Solving Ability – This focuses on how you approach complex, systemic challenges. Interviewers will assess your analytical thinking and how you use data (both quantitative and qualitative) to make product decisions. You can excel here by walking them through your frameworks for identifying root causes and validating potential solutions.

Culture Fit and Adaptability – Emory University values collaboration, mission-driven work, and adaptability, especially in temporary or evolving roles within ETS. Interviewers evaluate this by looking at your enthusiasm for higher education and your flexibility when faced with shifting project scopes.

Interview Process Overview

The interview process for a Product Manager at Emory University is designed to be thorough, collaborative, and reflective of the university's consensus-driven culture. You will typically begin with a recruiter screen, which focuses on your background, your interest in the university, and high-level behavioral questions. This is your first opportunity to showcase your alignment with Emory's mission and your understanding of the ETS organization.

Following the initial screen, you will move on to a hiring manager interview. This conversation dives deeper into your product management experience, specifically focusing on your execution skills, agile methodologies, and how you handle stakeholder relationships. The hiring manager wants to ensure you have the practical skills to step into the role—especially critical for an Associate Product Manager or temporary position where onboarding needs to be efficient.

The final stage is usually a panel interview involving cross-functional team members, which may include engineers, designers, and key business stakeholders from various university departments. During this round, you will likely face scenario-based questions or a light case study that mimics the real-world challenges of building enterprise technology in a university setting. The panel is looking for your ability to communicate complex ideas clearly and collaborate effectively under pressure.

This visual timeline outlines the typical progression from your initial application through the final panel interviews. Use this map to pace your preparation, focusing first on your behavioral narrative and gradually shifting toward scenario-based problem-solving as you approach the final rounds. Keep in mind that for temporary or associate-level roles, the process may be slightly condensed to meet urgent project needs.

Deep Dive into Evaluation Areas

To succeed in your interviews, you must deeply understand the core competencies that Emory University values in its product team. Expect your interviewers to probe into these specific areas using behavioral and scenario-based questions.

Product Execution and Agile Methodologies

As a Product Manager within ETS, execution is your bread and butter. You need to demonstrate that you can take a high-level university initiative and break it down into deliverable, iterative chunks. Interviewers will look for your fluency in Agile/Scrum ceremonies, your ability to write clear user stories, and your tactical approach to backlog grooming. Strong performance here means showing that you are organized, proactive, and capable of keeping a development team unblocked.

Be ready to go over:

• Roadmap Planning – How you translate strategic goals into a 3-to-6-month actionable plan.
• Prioritization Frameworks – How you decide what gets built first (e.g., MoSCoW, RICE) when resources are limited.
• Sprint Management – Your role in sprint planning, stand-ups, and retrospectives.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Release management processes, managing technical debt versus feature delivery, and transitioning teams from Waterfall to Agile.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Walk me through how you would prioritize features for a new student portal when the registrar and the bursar have conflicting immediate needs."
• "Tell me about a time a sprint failed to deliver its goals. How did you handle it, and what did you change for the next sprint?"
• "How do you ensure your engineering team truly understands the 'why' behind a user story?"

Stakeholder Management and Empathy

In higher education, you rarely have unilateral authority to make product decisions. You must lead by influence. This evaluation area tests your ability to listen to diverse stakeholders, understand their underlying needs (which often differ from their stated requests), and build consensus. A strong candidate will demonstrate high emotional intelligence and a structured approach to communication.

Be ready to go over:

• Requirement Gathering – Techniques for extracting clear needs from non-technical stakeholders.
• Conflict Resolution – Strategies for managing disagreements between different university departments.
• Communication Cadence – How you keep sponsors, users, and the development team informed of progress and blockers.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Navigating university governance boards, managing vendor relationships alongside internal builds.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Describe a time you had to say 'no' to a senior stakeholder. How did you approach the conversation?"
• "How would you handle a situation where a key department refuses to adopt the new enterprise software you just launched?"
• "Tell me about a time you had to align a highly technical engineering team with a completely non-technical business unit."

User-Centric Problem Solving

Emory ETS builds tools for a massive, diverse user base. Interviewers want to see that you do not just build what is asked for, but that you investigate the actual problem. This area evaluates your product sense and your reliance on data and user feedback. Strong candidates will consistently anchor their answers in the user experience, whether that user is a freshman registering for classes or an administrator processing financial aid.

Be ready to go over:

• User Research – How you gather qualitative feedback from your target audience.
• Data-Driven Decisions – Using analytics to validate assumptions or measure product success.
• Defining Success Metrics – Establishing KPIs that actually reflect user value and business outcomes.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – A/B testing in enterprise environments, accessibility (WCAG) compliance in product design.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "If we noticed a 20% drop in usage on the faculty resource dashboard, how would you investigate the cause?"
• "How do you balance qualitative feedback from a vocal minority of users with quantitative data showing a different trend?"
• "Walk me through how you would design a new mobile experience for campus dining services."

Key Responsibilities

As an Associate Product Manager or Product Manager at Emory University, your day-to-day work is a dynamic mix of strategy, execution, and communication. You will be responsible for defining product requirements and maintaining a healthy, prioritized backlog that aligns with the strategic goals of Enterprise Technology Services. This involves writing detailed user stories, defining acceptance criteria, and ensuring the development team has everything they need to execute smoothly.

Collaboration is a massive part of your daily routine. You will work side-by-side with software engineers, UX/UI designers, QA testers, and project managers. You serve as the bridge between these technical teams and the university's business units, translating complex academic or administrative workflows into seamless digital experiences. Expect to spend a significant portion of your week in cross-functional meetings, facilitating sprint ceremonies, and gathering ongoing feedback.

You will also drive specific initiatives from discovery to launch. This might include overhauling a legacy internal tool, integrating a third-party vendor solution with Emory's existing infrastructure, or launching a net-new application for student services. Throughout these projects, you are responsible for tracking success metrics, managing stakeholder expectations, and continuously iterating on the product based on real-world usage and feedback.

Role Requirements & Qualifications

To be a competitive candidate for the Product Manager role at Emory University, you must bring a solid foundation in product methodologies along with the soft skills necessary to thrive in a complex organizational structure.

• Must-have skills – You need a strong grasp of Agile and Scrum methodologies, including hands-on experience managing a product backlog. Exceptional written and verbal communication skills are non-negotiable, as you will be translating technical concepts for non-technical audiences daily. You must also demonstrate a proven ability to gather requirements, write user stories, and work directly with engineering teams.
• Experience level – For an Associate Product Manager role, candidates typically have 1 to 3 years of experience in product management, business analysis, or technical project management. Previous internships or rotational programs in product management are highly valued. For a mid-level PM, 3 to 5 years of direct product experience is expected.
• Soft skills – Empathy, active listening, and the ability to influence without authority are critical. You must be comfortable navigating ambiguity and capable of building strong, trusting relationships across various university departments.
• Nice-to-have skills – Experience working in higher education, healthcare, or large enterprise IT environments will make your application stand out. Familiarity with specific tools like Jira, Confluence, and common enterprise software (like PeopleSoft or Workday) is highly beneficial.

Common Interview Questions

When preparing for your interviews, do not try to memorize answers. Instead, use these representative questions to practice your frameworks and structure your thoughts. The goal is to recognize patterns so you can adapt your past experiences to fit whatever the interviewer asks.

Product Execution & Prioritization

This category tests your ability to manage the day-to-day realities of building software. Interviewers want to see your organizational skills and how you make trade-offs.

• How do you decide what goes into an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) versus what waits for version 2.0?
• Tell me about a time you had to pivot your product roadmap mid-sprint. What caused it, and how did you manage the team?
• Walk me through your process for writing a user story from scratch.
• How do you balance the need to ship new features with the need to address technical debt?
• Describe a time when a product launch was delayed. How did you communicate this to stakeholders?

Stakeholder Management & Behavioral

These questions focus on your interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence, and ability to navigate a matrixed university environment.

• Tell me about a time you had to build consensus among stakeholders with completely opposing views.
• Describe a situation where you had to work with a difficult or unresponsive stakeholder.
• How do you ensure that the voice of the user isn't lost when business stakeholders are pushing for specific features?
• Tell me about a product failure or a mistake you made. What did you learn from it?
• How do you adapt your communication style when speaking to an engineer versus a university administrator?

Product Sense & Strategy

This area evaluates your ability to think big picture, understand user needs, and design logical, impactful solutions.

• If you were tasked with improving the digital onboarding experience for new Emory staff, how would you approach it?
• What is your favorite digital product, and how would you improve it?
• How do you determine the success metrics for an internal enterprise tool that doesn't generate revenue?
• Walk me through how you would evaluate whether to build a custom solution internally or buy an off-the-shelf vendor product.
• How do you incorporate accessibility and inclusive design into your product strategy?

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How difficult is the interview process, and how much should I prepare? The process is rigorous but fair, focusing heavily on practical application rather than trick questions. You should spend significant time preparing your behavioral stories using the STAR method and practicing how to concisely explain your prioritization frameworks. Expect to spend 1-2 weeks doing focused preparation before your first hiring manager screen.

Q: What does it mean that this is a "Temporary" position? Temporary or contract-to-hire roles in university IT departments are common and often tied to specific, large-scale project funding or digital transformation initiatives. These roles are an excellent way to get your foot in the door at Emory University, build a strong internal network, and often lead to permanent placements or extended contracts depending on performance and budget.

Q: What differentiates a successful candidate from an average one? A successful candidate doesn't just know how to build software; they understand why they are building it for a university. Candidates who stand out demonstrate deep empathy for the academic and administrative staff, show patience for institutional processes, and excel at translating complex technical constraints into clear business trade-offs.

Q: What is the typical timeline from the initial screen to an offer? The end-to-end process typically takes between 3 to 5 weeks. Because this role is situated within ETS and may be tied to immediate project needs, the team often moves efficiently, but scheduling panel interviews across multiple departments can sometimes introduce slight delays.

Q: What is the working style and culture like at Emory ETS? The culture is highly collaborative, mission-driven, and consensus-oriented. Unlike a fast-moving startup that might "break things," Emory prioritizes stability, accessibility, and thorough stakeholder alignment, meaning you will need to be comfortable with a slightly more deliberate pace of product development.

Other General Tips

• Master the STAR Method: When answering behavioral questions, strictly follow the Situation, Task, Action, Result format. Emory University interviewers appreciate structured, concise storytelling that clearly highlights your specific contribution and the measurable impact.
• Emphasize "We" but Highlight "I": University culture is deeply collaborative. While you should show that you are a team player who values cross-functional input, make sure you clearly articulate the specific decisions you made and the actions you took to drive the product forward.

• Showcase Your Adaptability: Especially for an Associate Product Manager or temporary role, interviewers want to know you can hit the ground running. Highlight past experiences where you successfully onboarded quickly, learned a new domain, or adapted to sudden changes in project scope.

• Ask Insightful Questions: At the end of your interviews, ask questions that show you understand the landscape. Inquire about how ETS measures success, what the biggest pain points are for their current users, or how they manage the balance between custom builds and vendor integrations.

Summary & Next Steps

Stepping into a Product Manager role at Emory University is a unique opportunity to apply your product skills in an environment that directly supports education, research, and campus life. You will be challenged to untangle complex enterprise workflows, build consensus among diverse stakeholders, and deliver technology that makes a massive institution run smoother. It is a role that requires a sharp analytical mind, deep empathy, and a collaborative spirit.

This compensation data provides a baseline for what you can expect in the market for this type of role. Keep in mind that for an Associate Product Manager or temporary position, the exact rate may vary based on your specific years of experience, the duration of the contract, and internal university pay bands. Use this information to ensure your expectations are aligned before entering the final stages of the process.

To succeed in your upcoming interviews, focus your preparation on clearly articulating your product execution frameworks and your ability to manage complex stakeholder relationships. Practice telling your professional stories with structure and confidence. Remember that your interviewers are looking for a partner—someone who is organized, communicative, and passionate about solving problems. Continue to leverage resources like Dataford to refine your approach, trust in your preparation, and step into your interviews ready to demonstrate the unique value you will bring to the Emory team.