Product Owner (Volunteer)

Product Owner (Volunteer)

PromiseStack | Product Strategy, User Experience & Product Delivery

Organization: Mentor A Promise (MAP)

Division: PromiseStack

Location: Remote / Hybrid (NYC Collaboration as Needed)

Type: Volunteer Leadership Role

Commitment: Approximately 5–10 Hours Per Week

Minimum Commitment: 6-Month Commitment Required

Reports To: Chief Product & Technology Officer

Works Closely With: Product Managers, Delivery Managers, Agile Coaches, UX/UI Designers, Software Engineers, Data Teams, PromiseLearning, PromisePrograms, PromisePublic, PromisePeople, and Executive Leadership

About Mentor A Promise

Mentor A Promise (MAP) is a New York City–based nonprofit organization supporting children, youth, and families experiencing housing instability through mentorship, literacy, social-emotional learning, educational enrichment, workforce development, technology innovation, housing initiatives, and community-centered opportunity.

As MAP expands its technology ecosystem—including learning platforms, volunteer systems, operational tools, and community solutions—we are committed to building products that are accessible, impactful, and mission-driven.

Technology should not exist for its own sake.

It should solve meaningful problems.

It should create opportunity.

It should improve lives.

About PromiseStack

PromiseStack is MAP's Product, Technology, Data, and Innovation Division.

The division is responsible for designing, developing, launching, and continuously improving the digital products, platforms, and systems that support MAP's mission.

PromiseStack helps transform ideas into products that create measurable impact.

Role Overview

Mentor A Promise is seeking a strategic, user-centered, and collaborative Product Owner to help guide the development and continuous improvement of MAP's digital products and platforms.

The Product Owner serves as the voice of the user and the steward of product value.

This role works closely with stakeholders, designers, engineers, program leaders, and executive leadership to define priorities, manage product backlogs, clarify requirements, and ensure that product development remains aligned with organizational goals and user needs.

The Product Owner helps answer critical questions:

• What problem are we solving?
• Who are we building for?
• What should we build next?
• How do we maximize value?
• How do we measure success?

This is a product leadership role focused on strategy, prioritization, user experience, and delivery.

Core Responsibilities

Product Vision & Strategy

Help define and support product direction by:

• Understanding user needs
• Identifying opportunities for improvement
• Supporting product roadmaps
• Aligning features with organizational goals
• Prioritizing high-impact initiatives
• Translating vision into actionable product plans

Ensure products remain mission-driven and user-centered.

Product Backlog Management

Own and maintain product backlogs by:

• Defining user stories
• Prioritizing work items
• Clarifying requirements
• Managing feature requests
• Refining product requirements
• Ensuring development teams have clear direction

Help teams focus on delivering the highest-value work.

User Research & Stakeholder Engagement

Partner with:

• Students
• Mentors
• Families
• Volunteers
• Staff
• Program teams
• Community stakeholders

Gather feedback and insights to better understand user needs and challenges.

Help ensure products are built with users—not just for users.

Product Delivery & Team Collaboration

Work closely with:

• Software Engineers
• UX/UI Designers
• Delivery Managers
• Agile Coaches
• Data Teams
• Product Leadership

Participate in:

• Sprint planning
• Backlog refinement
• Product reviews
• Release planning
• Acceptance testing

Help ensure product teams remain aligned and focused.

Requirements & Acceptance Criteria

Develop:

• User stories
• Functional requirements
• Product specifications
• Acceptance criteria
• Workflow definitions
• Feature documentation

Help ensure clarity throughout the development process.

Product Performance & Continuous Improvement

Partner with PromiseMeasure and technology teams to:

• Monitor product adoption
• Evaluate user satisfaction
• Analyze performance metrics
• Identify improvement opportunities
• Measure feature effectiveness

Use data to inform future decisions.

Product Launch & Change Management

Support:

• Product launches
• New feature releases
• User onboarding
• Documentation creation
• Stakeholder communication
• Change adoption efforts

Help ensure successful implementation and adoption.

Potential Products

Depending on organizational priorities, the Product Owner may support:

• PromisePath (Student Learning Platform)
• PromiseLink (Mentor Engagement Platform)
• Volunteer Management Systems
• Internal Operations Tools
• Data & Reporting Platforms
• Community Engagement Applications
• Educational Technology Products
• Future MAP Innovation Initiatives

First-Year Priorities

Within the first year, the Product Owner will help:

• Establish product management standards
• Create and maintain prioritized product backlogs
• Strengthen user feedback systems
• Improve collaboration between stakeholders and development teams
• Support roadmap development
• Launch or enhance key MAP technology initiatives
• Improve product documentation and requirements management
• Build product success measurement frameworks

Success Measures

Success in this role includes:

• Strong product adoption
• Improved user satisfaction
• Well-prioritized product backlogs
• Successful product releases
• Clear product requirements
• Strong stakeholder engagement
• Improved alignment between product strategy and organizational goals
• Measurable product impact

Qualifications

We welcome candidates from technology, nonprofit, education, product management, startup, consulting, and innovation backgrounds.

Helpful experience may include:

• Product Ownership
• Product Management
• Business Analysis
• User Experience Design
• Agile Development
• Technology Strategy
• Software Development
• Program Management
• Digital Product Development

Strong candidates often demonstrate:

• User-centered thinking
• Strategic prioritization skills
• Excellent communication abilities
• Product planning experience
• Stakeholder management skills
• Problem-solving and analytical thinking
• Ability to translate ideas into actionable requirements

Experience with Agile, Scrum, Jira, ClickUp, Asana, Notion, Airtable, Miro, Figma, Google Workspace, or similar product management tools is highly valued.

Product Owner certifications (CSPO, PSPO) or equivalent experience are welcomed but not required.

Why This Role Matters

The success of a product is not determined by the number of features it contains.

It is determined by the value it creates for the people it serves.

The Product Owner helps ensure that MAP builds the right solutions, at the right time, for the right reasons.

This role transforms user needs into meaningful products and meaningful products into measurable impact.

What You'll Gain

• Product leadership experience within a mission-driven organization
• Opportunity to shape technology solutions that support youth and families
• Collaboration with designers, engineers, data teams, and executive leadership
• Experience building products from concept to implementation
• Professional references and letters of recommendation
• Meaningful impact supporting children, youth, and families experiencing housing instability

How to Apply

Interested candidates should apply directly through Idealist and submit:

• Resume or CV
• Brief statement of interest
• Relevant product, technology, business analysis, or product management experience

Please share experience involving:

• Product ownership
• Product management
• User research
• Agile development
• Stakeholder engagement
• Digital product development
• Technology innovation

Help build products that matter.

Because great technology is not measured by what it can do.

It is measured by the opportunities it creates for the people it serves.

This role holds the pieces together.

From user needs to product vision to delivery—help ensure every feature creates value before it is built.

Thank you for your interest in volunteering with our organization. At this time, volunteer opportunities are limited to individuals based in the United States due to legal, safeguarding, data-privacy, and programmatic requirements. We appreciate your interest in our mission and your understanding of these constraints.