Product & Innovation Development Manager

Job DetailsJob Location: Remote - Palo Alto, CA 94306Position Type: Full TimeEducation Level: 4 Year DegreeSalary Range: $115,000.00 - $135,000.00 Salary/yearTravel Percentage: Up to 10%Job Shift: DayJob Category: Business DevelopmentThe Role Benetech is a technology nonprofit that has spent over 25 years expanding access to the written word for people with print and learning disabilities. Our flagship platform, Bookshare.org, is the world's largest accessible digital library. We are now building Bookshare+, an AI-powered remediation platform that helps students with learning differences access classroom materials and build independence.    This is a hybrid role that bridges two critical functions: helping secure the innovation-focused funding that fuels our work, and accelerating how we build, deliver, and adopt AI across the organization. You will spend roughly half your time supporting grant development and funder stewardship as part of the Development team, and the other half driving internal AI adoption and supporting product operations. Critically, you will also serve as the primary liaison between the Development and Product & Engineering teams, ensuring that what we build and what we fund stay tightly aligned.    Today, our fundraising narratives and our product roadmap can drift apart. Grant proposals describe impact we intend to deliver; product teams build toward usage and outcomes. This role exists in part to keep those two sides in sync: making sure funders understand what the product actually does, and making sure the product team understands what we have committed to deliver. You will be the person who sits in both rooms and ensures continuity between them.    This role is well-suited for someone who thrives at the intersection of technology, storytelling, and impact whether early in their career with exceptional learning agility, or more experienced with a track record of cross-functional coordination. You may come from a range of backgrounds, but you must demonstrate strong learning agility, sound judgment, and the ability to operate across functions. You do need to be someone who reaches for AI tools instinctively, learns new technology quickly, and is energized by working across functions in a mission-driven organization. An education background is a strength here: understanding how teachers, students, and schools actually work makes you better at both telling our story to funders and shaping how our product evolves.  Key Responsibilities Innovation Grants & Fundraising (~50%)  Working as part of the Development team, you will support the full lifecycle of innovation-focused grants, from prospecting through stewardship. You will not own a solo portfolio from day one; you will contribute to a team effort that collectively secures 5-8 figure awards.  Research, prospect, and qualify technology and innovation-focused funding opportunities from foundations, corporate funders, and public/private initiatives  Draft and contribute to proposals, LOIs, grant narratives, and budgets in collaboration with program staff, finance, and the VP of Advancement  Coordinate with the Development Manager, Grants on submission calendars, compliance requirements, and reporting timelines  Translate complex technical outcomes and product milestones into clear, compelling narratives for funders and stakeholders  Execute stewardship activities including acknowledgments, impact updates, progress reports, and renewal communications  Track the innovation-grant pipeline, prospect status, and outcomes in Salesforce  Monitor trends in AI, accessibility, and edtech funding to identify emerging opportunities  Maintain a library of grant language and reusable support documents  AI Transformation & Product Operations (~50%)  Internal AI Adoption Find and test AI tools that can improve workflows across Benetech teams, from content operations to grant writing to stakeholder communications  Run lightweight internal pilots: evaluate tools, document what works, and build simple playbooks so others can adopt what you learn  Partner with Product & Engineering to surface internal pain points that we need funding for ahead of time, prototype ideas.   Stay current on emerging AI capabilities relevant to accessibility, education, and nonprofit operations, and translate those into practical recommendations    Product Operations Support & Cross-Team Liaison  Serve as the primary link between the Development and Product & Engineering teams, ensuring grant commitments, product roadmap, and impact narratives stay aligned  Translate product progress, usage data, and roadmap decisions into language that supports grant reporting, proposals, and funder conversations  Bring funder requirements, deliverable timelines, and compliance needs into product planning so the team can account for them proactively  Support the product team with stakeholder coordination, cross-functional communication, and preparation of materials for leadership and board audiences  Help synthesize usage data, pilot feedback, and market signals into clear summaries that inform roadmap and go-to-market decisions  Assist in maintaining product documentation, competitive intelligence, and internal alignment materials  QualificationsRequired:  Bachelor’s degree in education, computer science, public policy, or a related field  1-3 years of professional experience in building software, fundraising, education, product operations, technology, or a related field; a relevant graduate degree (e.g., M.Ed., MPP, or similar) may substitute for professional experience  Demonstrated fluency with AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Gemini) in academic or professional contexts, not just awareness but regular, practical use  Strong writing skills with the ability to communicate clearly across technical and non-technical audiences  Comfort with ambiguity and fast context-switching; you can shift between a grant narrative and a product data summary in the same afternoon  Self-directed with strong project management instincts; you manage your own workstreams without waiting for detailed instructions  Ability to ask clarifying questions and identify gaps between expectations, timelines, and capacity.  Familiarity with standard collaboration tools (Google Workspace or Microsoft 365); Salesforce experience is a plus but not required  Genuine passion for Benetech's mission of accessibility and equity in education  Preferred:  Master’s degree in education, computer science, public policy, or a related field  Familiarity with product management concepts: roadmaps, user research, metrics, prioritization  Experience leading or supporting AI adoption, digital transformation, or process automation initiatives  Experience with or exposure to national and governmental funders  Bonus: Background working in K-12 or higher education settings, particularly with students with learning differences or print disabilities  Bonus: Experience in a nonprofit, edtech, or mission-driven technology organization  Travel Obligations Travel for this position is estimated to take up to 10% for company required and funder meetings Physical Demands and Working Environment The bullet points below are representative of the physical demands and working environment that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made for individuals with disabilities to perform essential job functions. Remote office setting: proximity to office equipment that includes electronic devices. Must remain at a workstation for at least 50% of the time; will need to use equipment that includes electronic devices. Perceive and interact with text, media, and people. Communicate and accurately exchange information with text, media, and people. Why This Role  Most early-career roles ask you to specialize. This one asks you to range. You will learn nonprofit fundraising from the inside while getting hands-on exposure to product operations and AI transformation at an organization that is genuinely embedding AI into its mission. You will be the connective tissue between teams that need to stay aligned, working directly with senior leaders across product, engineering, and advancement.  If you are the kind of person who finished a Master's in Education and thought "I want to do something bigger with this" -- someone who cares about learning differences, is excited by what AI can do, and wants to build skills across fundraising and product rather than picking just one lane -- this role was built for you.  Benefits we offer Benetech offers excellent benefits which include: Unlimited Vacation time, Sick time, 401K match, subsidized Medical, Dental and Vision benefits, fully paid STD, LTD and Life insurance, Voluntary benefits, phone and internet reimbursement (up to $50/mos each), initial office set-up budget, 10 paid holidays and Shutdown pay during December holidays.