Lead Product Manager

Job Description About Athena: Athena is India's largest institution in the premium undergraduate study abroad space. Founded 11 years ago by two Princeton graduates, Poshak Agrawal and Rahul Subramaniam, Athena is headquartered in Gurgaon, with offices in Mumbai and Bangalore, and caters to students from over 25 countries. Our vision is simple yet profound: to help students become the best version of themselves. Athena's transformative, holistic life-coaching program bridges depth and breadthsciences and the humanitiesto encourage students to think deeply, act meaningfully, and create impact. Through our flagship program, Athena students have secured admissions to the world's top universities, including Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, Cambridge, MIT, Brown, Cornell, UPenn, and UChicago, among others. As pioneers in the study-abroad space, Athena offers a creative, mission-driven, and intellectually stimulating environment, making it the perfect place for individuals who wish to shape the future of education while growing their own professional and leadership capabilities. About the Role: As a Product Manager/ Product Lead at Athena, you will be responsible for conceptualizing, designing, and implementing innovative systems, tools, and products that drive efficiency, consistency, and excellence across the scholar journey. You will own the full stack of our internal product offerings including our CRM, Database, Dashboards, AI tools and user app, and be responsible for elevating them to enable the next phase of our growth journey. You will collaborate closely with client-facing teamsConsultants, Writers, and Mentorsto identify inefficiencies, streamline processes, and enhance both the internal and student experience. This is a role for someone who combines product management rigor with creative problem-solving, thrives on ownership, and has a deep interest in the education and premium services sector. Key Responsibilities: 1. Product Design & Process Innovation - Identify inefficiencies across the scholar lifecycle and design innovative tools, systems, and processes to streamline them. - Collaborate with cross-functional teams (Consulting, Writing, Operations) to map workflows, uncover pain points, and co-create solutions. - Design products and platforms that improve time efficiency, reduce redundancies, and enhance user experience for both clients and staff. - Take regular feedback from internal teams and clients to iterate on existing tools and processes. 2. Premium Product Development - Ensure all Athena products embody premium quality and user experience, aligned with the brand's ethos and clientele expectations. - Work on digital and non-digital touchpoints that represent Athena's excellence, ensuring consistency across all platforms. 3. Research & Strategic Insight - Stay updated on emerging trends in undergraduate admissions, education technology, and writing coaching. - Leverage industry insights to inform product roadmaps and strategic decision-making. - Anticipate shifts in the higher education landscape to ensure Athena stays ahead of the curve. 4. Operational Excellence - Develop data-driven frameworks to evaluate process efficiency and product performance. - Partner with internal teams to ensure smooth implementation and adoption of new systems. - Maintain a balance between strategic vision and executional detail. Education & Experience: - Undergraduate/Postgraduate degree from Tier-1 colleges like IIT/BITS/ISB - Strong preference for candidates with product/startup experience - Ideal for professionals with 25 years of experience in product, ed-tech, or tech-led roles. Skillset: - Strong analytical, technical and problem-solving skills; comfortable defining metrics, running experiments, and making data-driven trade-offs. - Demonstrated ability to deliver complex product projects in fast-moving environments. - Clear, confident communication. You write and speak to move projects forward and align stakeholders.