Associate Product Manager

Role: Associate Product Manager Location: Bucharest, Romania Job type: Full time, Permanent – Hybrid Why QS? At QS, we believe that work should empower you. That’s why we foster a flexible working environment that encourages every employee to own their career whilst flourishing personally and professionally. Our company values underpin everything we do – we collaborate, respect and support each other. It’s our mission to empower motivated people around the world to fulfil their potential through higher education, ensuring that everyone has access to opportunities that change lives. Our diversity makes us stronger. By sharing our experiences, we learn from one another and achieve more together, driving progress across the sector. At QS, you’ll be responsible for implementing real change in the international higher education landscape. You’ll take on meaningful challenges that see a positive impact across the business and the wider sector. We’re confident you’ll feel right at home here. QS was named as one of Newsweek’s Top 100 Most Loved Workplaces® in the UK (October 2023), recognising the respect, trust and appreciation that drive our culture every day. And as a gold-accredited Investors in People organisation – putting us among the top 28% of workplaces globally – it’s official: QS is a place where everyone can thrive. As an Associate Product Manager, this is what you’ll be doing: QS Stars is an internally recognised evaluation and rating system designed to help universities understand, benchmark and showcase their strengths across a broad range of performance areas. It provides a comprehensive assessment against internationally recognised standards, resulting in a rating that highlights areas of excellence as well as opportunities for improvement. It supports institutions of all types and missions, from globally recognised universities to emerging providers seeking to strengthen their reputation and performance. Universities use QS Stars to inform strategic planning, support quality enhancement initiatives, benchmark their performance, demonstrate credibility to external stakeholders, and communicate their achievements to prospective students, partners, employers, governments and accreditors. The assessment process provides institutions with valuable insights, helping them convert data into action and evidence of excellence into stronger visibility and impact. The Associate Product Manager plays a central role in shaping and evolving QS Stars. They are responsible for developing methodologies, improving the assessment framework, identifying new opportunities for institutional value, enhancing reporting and benchmarking capabilities, and working closely with operational, technology and commercial teams to deliver an outstanding client experience. Through the development and continuous innovation, the role will be responsible for ensuring QS Stars remains a relevant, credible and impactful tool that helps institutions understand their performance, drive improvement and showcase excellence to the world. Role responsibilities: Act as the QS Stars methodology and product expert, maintaining a clear understanding of methodology requirements, evaluation logic, customer needs, market context and operational implications. Lead discovery work and proposition development around new methodologies alongside the Product Manager for methodology enhancements and expansion opportunities, including Skills, Sustainability, specialist evaluations and new target markets, to continue growing the number of institutions engaging with QS evaluation products. Conduct competitor analysis to identify market trends, benchmark evaluation approaches, inform methodology development, strengthen product positioning and identify opportunities for further growth and stronger client partnerships. Gather regular customer feedback through customer calls, Customer Success, Institutional Support, Sales conversations, audits and other relevant channels to identify needs, gaps and improvement opportunities. Collaborate with teams across the business to translate research, customer insight and methodology decisions into practical guidance, documentation and tools. Create, maintain and improve internal and customer-facing documentation for QS Stars processes, methodology interpretation, specialist evaluation areas and product positioning. Support teams with accurate product guidance, templates, enablement materials and tools to enable consistent product positioning, delivery, customer journey support and customer support. Support the implementation of new or upgraded QS Stars methodologies and product developments, including scoring logic, translations, definitions, evidence files, internal training, practical guidance, enablement materials and launch support. Provide regular updates to leadership on discovery progress, methodology risks, documentation gaps, customer feedback themes, launch readiness and recommended next actions. Develop and support GTM materials for new or updated QS Stars and other evaluation propositions, including product messaging, sales enablement content, launch inputs, customer-facing explanations and internal guidance to ensure teams can communicate product value consistently. Any other duties that fall within the purpose and scope of the role Key skills and experience: Experience in methodology development, product research, higher education evaluation, product operations, customer success enablement, GTM support or a related role. Strong analytical skills, with the ability to interpret complex information, assess evidence, identify patterns and translate findings into clear product recommendations. An understanding of product methodologies and processes Ability to work confidently across teams and communicate methodology and product decisions clearly to different audiences. Comfortable working with data, databases, CRM systems and structured product information, with strong attention to accuracy and data quality. Able to produce concise internal, customer-facing and GTM materials, including guidance notes, enablement content and product messaging inputs. Demonstrable learning skills, curiosity and willingness to build expertise in QS Stars methodology, higher education trends and emerging product opportunities. Comfortable experimenting with AI responsibly to improve efficiency, while applying sound judgement and quality control. Able to manage ambiguity, competing priorities and independent delivery while seeking input where needed So, who are we and what do we do? QS is the world leader in higher education services, analytics, insights and intelligence. From consultancy to student mobility, academic partnerships to branding solutions, our services power both institutional and individual success. We’re behind the world’s most widely read university rankings (Meltwater 2023). Our QS World University Rankings® reach hundreds of millions, shaping decisions and guiding futures. Since launching in 1990, our impact and influence have only grown. Today, we work with more than 2,000 of the world’s leading higher education institutions, over 12,000 employers, and governments seeking change and socioeconomic development through higher education. Join QS and you’ll join an 800-strong community of problem-solvers, creators, collaborators and change-makers based in 40+ countries and 11 international offices, including Australia, Malaysia, India, Romania, Singapore, France, Germany, the USA and our headquarters in London. With every talented new hire, business acquisition and bold initiative, we’re strengthening our reach and delivering even greater value to institutions and learners worldwide. Are you ready to shape the future of higher education? We take investing in our people very seriously. As standard you will have: Access to an annual bonus scheme (for qualifying roles only) 21 days annual leave (one additional seniority day is added to the annual leave each year, up to a maximum of 25 days per year) Sick without certificate leave: Three days paid medical leave, without medical certificate Wellness Allowance of 110 RON to support your personal wellbeing. Meal tickets Medical subscription to Regina Maria A vibrant social environment and multicultural and multinational culture But that’s not all. Outside of these standard benefits we also offer resources to allow professional growth, and wellness initiatives to nurture a healthy mindset: Free subscription to the Calm App – the #1 app for sleep, meditation, and relaxation A focus on welfare which is led by our global wellness team, with mental health first aiders globally Access to a variety of diversity and inclusion initiatives and groups Strong recognition and reward programs – including a peer-to-peer recognition platform, quarterly and annual QS Applaud Awards, Connect with your Career annual PD event Support for volunteering and study leave Free subscription to LinkedIn learning – with over 5000 courses and programmes at your fingertips Options to join our outstanding global Mentorship programme Like what you’ve heard? Great, apply now! As a candidate, we know the application and interview process can be daunting and so it’s important that you have a great experience with us. Our dedicated Talent Team will work hard to ensure you are fully informed at all stages, and you are really excited by this opportunity to do meaningful work in the education space. Equal opportunities QS Quacquarelli Symonds is proud to be a fair and equal organisation where everyone has the same opportunity to achieve their full potential, irrespective of their background or personal attributes. We celebrate our diversity and believe through sharing our experiences we can learn from one another, be stronger together, and enable our business to thrive.